Review by Ben for Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy (1996)
Fantastic, tight thrash metal with numerous memorable classics. In other words, another great Nevermore album.
I got onboard the Nevermore bandwagon a long time after most of their fans. They only hit the scene around 1995 which is a few years after I’d pretty much given up on hearing any new good thrash metal bands. That’s a decision I now regret as this US band has been one of the brightest lights in thrash for well over a decade now. As soon as I was completely blown away by This Godless Endeavour in 2005, I knew instantly that I’d lived 10 years of life denying myself one of its greatest pleasures. The good news was that I had a long journey of discovering their earlier albums ahead, which began with the equally excellent Into the Mirror Black by Sanctuary (three members would go on to form Nevermore). The Politics of Ecstasy is the band’s second full length album after the self-titled debut (that doesn’t rate all that well on RYM), so seemed a good enough place to travel next.
Let’s get a few things straight before I go on though. Firstly, Nevermore are quite lightweight thrash metal. If you’re expecting a band like Nuclear Assault, Kreator or Slayer, you’re likely to be disappointed. There are undoubtedly thrash elements to most tracks on this album (and throughout their whole discography), but their music can just as easily be labelled intense heavy metal. Secondly, vocalist Warrel Dane is one of those vocalists that you either love or hate. I personally love his clean, emotional style and think he takes what would otherwise be merely above average music and puts it on a whole new level of excellence. Others claim him to be the vocal equivalent of the antichrist (in a bad way) but then I can only assume they haven’t heard Sean Killian from Vio-Lence. With all of this said, let’s look at The Politics of Ecstasy.
From my very first listen I knew I was going to love this; it was only a question of whether it would meet the standard set for me by This Godless Endeavour. The riffs are cool throughout and have that modern edge to them, but despite the standard thrash metal blueprint, riffs are not always the focus for Nevermore. It’s all about memorable, entertaining song writing which means the band rarely get caught up in trying to smash the listener into submission or branch out into overly technical, progressive realms. Instead they concentrate on producing numerous tight and catchy tracks that let Warrel work his magic all over the place. When the band do display their technical ability, such as on 42147, they are clearly capable of stupendous musicianship and immensely creative writing, but then they’re just as likely to keep things simple yet emotional such as on The Passenger, which I have no problem with at all.
As is always the case, the leads are awesome and always serve a purpose within each track. The lyrics are excellent, intelligent and thought provoking. The drumming is tight and powerful if not particularly amazing. It’s everything I’d hoped it would be when pressing play and I can only imagine I’ll soon be struggling for superlatives when reviewing their next few releases. Highlights for me are The Seven Tongues of God, Next in Line, Lost, 42147 and epic closer The Learning. If a few of the remaining tracks hadn’t been slightly underwhelming (the title track and The Tiananmen Man are not really that special and Precognition is a worthless instrumental) then I would have been forced to give The Politics of Ecstasy full marks. As it is, this is a thoroughly engaging album that will get plenty of overdue play time in The Trickster’s den.