{"id":551,"date":"2001-09-20T01:28:00","date_gmt":"2001-09-20T01:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=551"},"modified":"2024-03-26T01:30:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T01:30:32","slug":"what-the-raven-said","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=551","title":{"rendered":"What the raven said"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the success of Megadeth and Metallica came a signing flurry that ended in an onslaught of mediocre releases and rapid band breakups. Sanctuary<\/strong>, however, fronted by future Nevermore<\/strong> vocalist Warrel Dane<\/strong>, was helped along through some production help from Megadeth\u2019s Dave Mustaine and, at least, garnered some great overseas press and kudos followed. Unfortunately, metalheads in North America, the band\u2019s home continent, didn\u2019t jump onboard and sales were less than stellar. Sanctuary\u2019s talented frontman needed refuge fast. End result: Nevermore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some bands hit their stride after they\u2019ve got a few albums under the belt. Such is the case of Seattle\u2019s Nevermore, which just blew through Sacramento on its national tour with Savatage<\/strong>. Dead Heart in a Dead World<\/em>, Nevermore\u2019s latest album on the Century Media label, is to power-metal culture\u2014fans of Helloween, Forbidden and Lefay\u2014what Nirvana\u2019s Nevermind<\/em> was for an earlier generation. After a few under-acknowledged releases, Dane and present company have hit the mark in a big way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outdoor stage at the Roadhouse<\/strong>, on Bell Avenue in Robla, south of what used to be McClellan AFB, is rarely used for shows. It was the perfect setting for the evening\u2019s metal undertaking. With a small lighting truss and little more than night sky as a backdrop, Nevermore played to the 150-plus attendees as if they were at a large outdoor festival in front of thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warrel\u2019s voice, as evidenced on \u201cNarcosynthesis\u201d and \u201cInside Four Walls,\u201d was in fine form, not unlike that of Forbidden\u2019s Russ Anderson. Van Williams<\/strong> played like a human metronome on such standout tracks as \u201cThe Heart Collector\u201d and \u201cDead Heart in a Dead World,\u201d the title track. Jim Sheppard<\/strong> looked maniacal as ever, standing in front of the huge blower fans; his bass provided a nice foundation for Jeff Loomis<\/strong>\u2019 guitar antics. On this night the band was sporting a second guitarist whose name escapes me, adding a nice foundation and extra boost of power to its hour-long set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most startling revelation of the night was Loomis\u2019 background vocals\u2014sung while playing the most intricate fretboard workouts\u2014which enveloped Dane\u2019s vocals in the most delightful rapture of sounds. Loomis can sing and steps up to the mic with passion and gusto; Dane made it all look too easy as he held long notes that could make middle-aged men go deaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The night\u2019s turnout, although small, didn\u2019t seem to hamper anyone\u2019s experience. Fans were pleased with the night\u2019s two-band line-up and felt their $20 was well spent\u2014sans having to walk through square dancing inside the club to get to the outdoor venue. It pleases this writer that there are still a few promoters out there willing to take chances on package tours. With crowd numbers such as tonight, it\u2019s not likely Nevermore will play Sacramento again. My advice to metalheads in the Sacramento Valley: Get off your asses and support these shows before we lose another venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(SN&R)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the success of Megadeth and Metallica came a signing flurry that ended in an onslaught of mediocre releases and rapid band breakups. Sanctuary, however, fronted by future Nevermore vocalist Warrel Dane, was helped along through some production help from Megadeth\u2019s Dave Mustaine and, at least, garnered some great overseas press and kudos followed. Unfortunately, metalheads in North America, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":552,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551\/revisions\/552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}