NEVERMORE Has 'About Six Ideas' For Upcoming Album: 'The Demos Are Now Starting To Flow'

In an interview with Germany's Moshpit Passion, guitarist Jeff Loomis spoke about the new lineup of NEVERMORE, which made its live debut on April 1 at IF Performance Hall Beşiktaş in Istanbul, Turkey. Joining Loomis and drummer Van Williams in NEVERMORE's current incarnation are the band's latest additions, Jack Cattoi on guitar, Semir Özerkan on bass, and new vocalist Berzan Önen.

Regarding what the new NEVERMORE material will sound like, having announced earlier in the year that the band had signed a new record deal with a deal with Reigning Phoenix Music, Jeff said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've got a late start on [working on new music], actually, because we spent so much time getting the band together that it's almost like — I don't wanna say that Van and I got burnt out or anything, but it was… Van really wanted to get back on tour again. He was, like, 'I wanna get back out and play again, man. I wanna play in front of people.' So it's kind of been backwards as we've approached this. But the demos are now starting to flow a little bit."

He continued: "I've got about six ideas going, some in the very infantile stages, some kind of complete. I think with Berzan being able to now come over to the United States, starting in November, it's gonna be huge because when you're writing something, man, in today's age, you can easily send demos back and forth via the Internet and stuff like that. But I ultimately love to work in person with people. You can really feel it and get more energy out of each other that way. So, I don't know — in a sense, I'm just kind of waiting for that, I guess. But we wanna really utilize the six months that we have completely to make the best album of our lives. And that's coming up between October and March, basically. That's what our plans are. We have kind of a structure worked out of what we're gonna do, a plan."

Loomis also talked about how Berzan and Semir were chosen for the new NEVERMORE lineup and how their musical contributions will affect the band's sound going forward. He said: "Berzan is his own person vocally. He just is able to sing [late NEVERMORE singer] Warrel's [Dane] parts almost perfectly. But at the same time, we wanna give him his own identity as well. We wanna give him that opportunity to be his own person and not just have to sing like what Warrel did. But as far as reading every check mark, he got every one. And so did Semir. It's, like, 'Check, check, check. Yep, he's that. He's that.' And so we had to make sure all those check marks were checked before we actually chose them. And they passed all that. I don't wanna say it was like a test or something, but it was more just like, 'These are the guys that we need in our band to make it proper.'"

This past April, Jeff told Brazil's Headbangers News about how the new NEVERMORE lineup came together:  "It definitely took — it took some doing. It took a while to get everything finetuned to the way we liked it, to make sure that it was even going to be possible. And that happened with finding the right people to complete the job. And we had to audition quite a few people to make sure that we found the right people that could actually do it. So, we're very, very fortunate that we have Mr. Berzan Önen on vocals, Mr. Semir Özerkan on bass, and Mr. Jack Cattoi on guitar. So these are the three new members. And, of course, it's still me and Van — me on guitar and Van on drums."

Addressing the fact that NEVERMORE's current lineup doesn't include the aforementioned singer Warrel Dane, who died in 2017, Jeff said: "The initial talks, back when Van and I first started talking about [putting NEVERMORE back together], was, can it be done? And I think so. If you can find the right people that can perform the songs in the correct way, it can be done. We weren't looking for a Warrel Dane clone either. We were looking for somebody that could still sing the songs, but also had his own personal style. So that's what we were looking for from the very beginning, and that's what I believe we found. And we're very happy."

Asked how the involvement of three new musicians will affect NEVERMORE's overall sound going forward, Loomis said: "The core of the NEVERMORE sound is not ever really going to go away. And I think that the core, you could say that that would be me and Van, where we're writing in the style of NEVERMORE and it's still holding its own weight there. But I think when it comes down to longevity in bands, you'll always notice that everybody contributes. Like a band like RUSH, for instance — everybody's contributing something in that band. And we don't wanna have NEVERMORE just be the Van-and-Jeff show. We wanna have the other guys contribute as well. We wanna have Berzan contribute lyrics. We want him to contribute lyric melodies. We want Jack and Semir to contribute riffs. So, will that change the core sound of NEVERMORE? I don't really think so. I think it's just gonna add to the dynamic and make it cooler, 'cause there's gonna be other little elements of cool musical passages that are gonna be available now to use. And I think it's just gonna be that much more interesting for the listener. It'll still have the same core elements as it did back in the day, but it'll be new and interesting with a new vibe, so to speak. And that's kind of what we're looking for for the new NEVERMORE."

Forged in the aftermath of SANCTUARY, NEVERMORE carved out a sound defined by precision musicianship, fearless songwriting, and emotional intensity. From their self-titled debut in 1995 through landmark releases such as "Dead Heart In A Dead World" and "This Godless Endeavor", NEVERMORE built a global following and a reputation as one of modern metal's most distinctive voices.

Following the band's disbandment, Jeff released the acclaimed solo albums "Zero Order Phase" and "Plains Of Oblivion", co-founded CONQUERING DYSTOPIA and spent nearly a decade as a member of ARCH ENEMY, contributing to releases, including "Will To Power" and "Deceivers". Van remained active through projects such as ASHES OF ARES and GHOST SHIP OCTAVIUS. Dane continued creating until his passing in 2017, leaving behind a body of work that continues to inspire musicians and fans worldwide.

Dane died in in December 2017 in São Paulo, Brazil while recording his posthumously released solo studio album, "Shadow Work". The musician reportedly had a heart attack during the night and could not be revived.

According to guitarist Johnny Moraes, who played in Warrel's solo band, Dane had a history of addiction and other health issues. "His health was already very weak because of his diabetes and his problems with alcoholism," he said.

The instrumental parts for Dane's follow-up to 2008's "Praises To The War Machine" solo album were almost completed and he had begun laying down his vocals shortly before his death.

Photo credit: Ola Englund