NEVERMORE: 'The Obsidian Conspiracy' Artwork Unveiled

Century Media Records has set a May 31 European release date (June 8 in North America) for "The Obsidian Conspiracy", the long-awaited new album from Seattle metallers NEVERMORE.

The drum tracks for "The Obsidian Conspiracy" were completed in the group's hometown of Seattle with SOILWORK guitarist Peter Wichers, who previously worked with Dane on the singer's solo debut, "Praises to the War Machine". Longtime friend and collaborator Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, ARCH ENEMY, EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD) once again handled mixing duties.

The captivating and dynamic cover art was once again created by the great Travis Smith (OPETH, KATATONIA) and can be viewed now in the video clip below.

The following songs (among others) were laid down during the recording sessions for the follow-up to 2005's "This Godless Endeavor":

* "Emptiness Unobstructed"
* "Without Morals"
* "And The Maiden Spoke"
* "Termination Proclamation"
* "The Obsidian Conspiracy"
* "The Blue Marble and the New Soul"
* "She Comes in Colors"
* "The Day You Built The Wall"
* "Poison Throne"
* "Beautiful Mistake"
* "The Crystal Ship" (THE DOORS cover)
* "Transmission" (THE TEA PARTY cover)

According to Dane, the song "And The Maiden Spoke" "is going to blow your minds; it's twisted, progressive lunatic fringe riffing with vicious hooklines."

He added: "These songs are full of newfound rage, lyrically and musically. Jeff Loomis has come up with some amazing new riffs that will no doubt please old and new fans alike. Also, I think the combination of Peter and Andy will result in something very, very special."

In an interview with Cerebral Metalhead, Dane said of "The Crystal Ship" cover, "THE DOORS song was not my original choice. I really wanted to do this song called 'Waiting For the Sun'.

"When I listen to songs, of course, since I'm a lyricist, I gravitate towards cover songs (for which) I admire the lyrics. Jeff [Loomis] being a guitarist, he goes for the guitar stuff that he thinks is really cool. And that's how we came on THE DOORS thing.

"'Crystal Ship', originally he [Jeff] had taken the approach of making it a little heavy. And I tried to work with it and I said, 'Jeff, I don't think this is working. I think maybe what we should try is an all-acoustic approach to the song.' And when we did it, he was like, 'Dude, you're totally right.' And he was like doing five-layered guitar parts over this.

"When people hear it, it doesn't sound like THE DOORS anymore. I think that's what people expect when we do cover songs. 'Cause we've been known to deconstruct and recreate more than one song."