Nevermore have taken the dark poetic vision of "Dreaming Neon Black", fueled that with "Dead Heart"'s power and flawlessly written songs, to give us a Godless endeavor.

Their last release "Enemies of Reality", while good but not their best, I thought was an expression of frustration, and the band also made that issue clear as various factors detoured the albums direction, and its initial production.

The opening three tracks on "Godless" show the bands back with well focused songs and creative vision. New to the Nevermore family is guitarist Steve Smyth who apparently works well with the band as riffs are delivered in traditional Nevermore fashion, heavy as shit, crunchy and extremely tight. Jeff Loomis allows each solo to, while being very technical, very appropriate and purposeful to the songs melody and chorus. He is unquestionably one of the top shelf players and deserves to be respected as.

Singer Warrel Dane also continues to make sure that he sings, yes that’s right people, he sings his lyrics as opposed to screaming them, which does not make their music any less heavy. Warrel has that slight psychotic quality to his voice, allowing it to be abrasive, smooth, and soulful giving each track its individuality. And lets not forget Jim keeping the bottom end ballsy and ground shaker Van on drums, another who is a top player of his instrument. Love those pings and dings he throws in, such precision.

Nevermore always mix up their arrangements, going from full on thrash to a somber and deep ballad (example; ‘Sell My Soul for Stones’), to doomy dark passages. All these qualities to Nevermore’s formula allow each album to be varied yet always very consistent as a listening experience. I have yet to listen to an album and feel it was not written by the four core members.

Nevermore continue to be a prominent and highly intrinsic piece to Heavy Metal of today and tomorrow. Love this band.