NEVERMORE's Founding Bassist JIM SHEPPARD Blasts JEFF LOOMIS's And VAN WILLIAMS's 'Completely Disrespectful' Use Of Band Name

NEVERMORE's founding bassist Jim Sheppard has blasted guitarist Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams's apparent decision to resurrect the band without "consulting" him, calling their plans "completely disrespectful".

On Friday (December 27),Loomis and Williams both shared a one-minute video teaser containing various NEVERMORE-related imagery and what appear to be the silhouettes of Loomis and Williams along with the text "Resurrecting The Dream". The teaser ends with the NEVERMORE logo along with the line "A New Chapter Rises" and the year "2025".

Two days later, Jim's wife Priscila Sheppard posted the following statement on her Facebook page: "Since I have been receiving a few messages from James fans regarding a post Van Williams made on social media, I feel I need to respond to you with an update.

"James has never been contacted about Van's plans with Jeff using the NEVERMORE name. I am sorry you think James is involved. We do not know about their plans, and it is completely disrespectful of them to use the name NEVERMORE without consulting Jim Sheppard, as he is one of the founders of the band.

"We are waiting for clarification on this alleged project and will proceed from there, whether or not clarification comes from them. No further comment for now. Thank you."

NEVERMORE effectively split up in 2011 when Loomis and Williams announced their departure from the band due to personal differences with singer Warrel Dane and Sheppard. Warrel later described NEVERMORE in an interview as "the greatest band that alcohol ever ruined."

Dane died in December 2017 in São Paulo, Brazil at the age of 56 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.

In a 2019 interview with Metal Master Kingdom, Loomis was asked if there were any plans to resurrect NEVERMORE without Dane. Jeff responded: "It's one of those things where I think NEVERMORE had such a special sound and it was simply because of all the musicians that were in that at the time. Van, me, Warrel, Jim. We had numerous different guitarists in the band throughout the years. We had Chris Broderick, we had Tim Calvert, who sadly passed away. A lot of good players. Steve Smyth, Curran Murphy. All these guys were a part of NEVERMORE in the past. Honestly, in my vision, it's important that you move on in your life. I really would like to remember the spirit and the attitude that we had as a band with the music and just move on from there. Because without Warrel, it's just not feasible, in my mind. [He is] sadly missed. He was one of my best friends. Things like that happen and it's a very sad situation. It really was. But we have the music to remember it all by."

In 2018 interview with France's Loud TV, Loomis stated about Dane's passing: "It's a sad situation with one of my best friends that I grew up being in a band with. [He was] one of the best lyricists in metal, I believe, that was ever out there — a fabulous person. He was a troubled person too at the same time; he had some issues. We had many great times together in the past, and we had many bad times, but I would say that the good times outweighed the bad. And in the end, we were talking still as friends, and we talked in the end before he passed away. We were on good terms. It's a very sad loss to the music community and he'll be well remembered as one of the great vocalists of a metal era."

Loomis added that Warrel had been "struggling with drinking and things like this" for years before he died. "I'm not getting into too much detail there," he said. "He had some troubles. I'm gonna miss him a lot. He was a great friend of mine and he was a wonderful human being."

Asked if there was any talk of a NEVERMORE reunion before Warrel passed away, Jeff said: "I think that once you do something for such a long time and you make your mark in the music world, sometimes things do have to come to an end. And, unfortunately, with my situation with NEVERMORE, after 18 years of being in the band, it marked kind of an end of an area. And for me personally, it was kind of moving on to another chapter in my life. There was talks, like maybe [in late 2016] about maybe doing a reunion show, but it never happened, of course. Obviously, now it's not going to happen."

Loomis "amicably" left ARCH ENEMY in December 2023 and was replaced by Joey Concepcion.

Jeff, who was the main songwriter in NEVERMORE, joined ARCH ENEMY in late 2014, but was not involved in the writing for the latter act's last two albums, 2017's "Will To Power" and 2022's "Deceivers".