Enemies of Reality
| Enemies of Reality | ||||
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| Studio album by Nevermore | ||||
| Released | July 29, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | 2003 at the House of Rock & Metalworks, Seattle, Washington | |||
| Genre | Progressive metal, thrash metal | |||
| Length | 40:49 | |||
| Label | Century Media | |||
| Producer | Kelly Gray | |||
| Nevermore chronology | ||||
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Remixed and Remastered by Andy Sneap in 2005.
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Enemies of Reality is the fifth album by American heavy metal band Nevermore, released in 2003 by Century Media records. A special limited edition was also released with a black jewel case and a bonus DVD. It contains intense neo-classical guitar solos by guitarist Jeff Loomis.
Due to a poor reception toward the album's production, it was remixed by Andy Sneap, and released in 2005. This version found greater approval.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The worms on the album cover are a direct reference to the lyrics of the title track, "Enemies of Reality," in which Warrel Dane sings, "Open wide and eat the worms of the enemy." There are other lyric-inspired images in the booklet, namely an open hand holding a glowing sun (taken from "Ambivalent," where the lyrics say "The sun in my hand becomes my despair"). At the beginning of the song there is message played backwards that repeats the pre-chorus "we are the useless by-product of souless meat."
Enemies of Reality is infamous for its widely-disliked production by Kelly Gray. Many fans felt that the mix was inferior to that of previous albums and did not do the band or its music justice; specifically, various complaints noted flat drums, distant vocals, a lack of "punch" to the bass, and the guitars sounding like nu metal. In 2005, Enemies of Reality was remixed by Andy Sneap, who produced Nevermore's Dead Heart in a Dead World and would later produce This Godless Endeavor. The new mix was received pleasantly and gained the album a new level of respect and praise.
At the end of the CD booklet is a dedication to the late Death frontman Chuck Schuldiner, which reads: "This record is dedicated to Chuck. Let the metal flow into eternity..."
On a side note, the track "Noumenon", is named after the philosophical concept of things as they actually are, as compared to the concept of phenomenon, which is how things appear. The term was popularized by Emmanuel Kant who used it to help explain his philosophy of idealism. Lyrics from the song like "Truth has become media controlled", and "Reality is distortion of perception" seem to explain the concept of Noumenon.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written and composed by Jeff Loomis and Warrel Dane.
| Enemies of Reality | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Enemies of Reality" | 5:11 | |||||||
| 2. | "Ambivalent" | 4:12 | |||||||
| 3. | "Never Purify" | 4:03 | |||||||
| 4. | "Tomorrow Turned into Yesterday" | 4:35 | |||||||
| 5. | "I, Voyager" | 5:48 | |||||||
| 6. | "Create the Infinite" | 3:38 | |||||||
| 7. | "Who Decides" | 4:15 | |||||||
| 8. | "Noumenon" | 4:37 | |||||||
| 9. | "Seed Awakening" | 4:30 | |||||||
- Bonus videos (2005 reissue)
- "Enemies of Reality" (video clip)
- "I, Voyager" (video clip)
- "Enemies of Reality" (live at Wacken 2004)
[edit] Limited edition DVD tracklist
- "Believe in Nothing" (video)
- "Next in Line" (video)
- "What Tomorrow Knows" (video)
- "Engines of Hate" (live U.S. 2001)
- "Beyond Within" (live U.S. 2001)
[edit] Personnel
- Nevermore
- Warrel Dane - vocals
- Jeff Loomis - guitars
- Jim Sheppard - bass
- Van Williams - drums
- Production
- Kelly Gray - production, engineering, mixing (original version)
- Carl Peterson - assistant engineer
- Eddie Schreyer - mastering (original version)
- Gerald Wilkes - management
- Neil Sussman - legal representation
- Karen Mason-Blair - band photography
- Travis Smith - art, layout
- 2005 reissue credits
- Andy Sneap - remixing, remastering
- Zach Merck - director and producer of "Enemies of Reality" video clip
- Kevin Leonard - director and producer of "I, Voyager" video clip
- Christian Jungebluth - mixing and mastering of "Enemies of Reality" live clip
- Lars Ratz - executive producer for "Enemies of Reality" live clip
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums Chart[2] | 87 |
| French Albums Chart[3] | 130 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Enemies of Relaity". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r649931. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl. http://dutchcharts.nl/search.asp?search=nevermore&cat=a. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Les charts français". lescharts.com. http://lescharts.com/search.asp?search=nevermore&cat=a. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
[edit] External links
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