Protest the Hero, Periphery, Jeff Loomis Tour?!? YES.
Protest the Hero will hit the road in March and April along with Periphery, Jeff Loomis , The Safety Fire, and Today I Caught the Plague
3/25 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
3/26 Lawrence, KS @ Granada
3/27 Dallas, TX @ Trees
3/28 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
3/30 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine
3/31 Phoenix, AZ @ Club Red
4/1 Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club
4/2 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
4/3 Portland, OR @ The Branx
4/4 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
4/6 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
4/7 Denver, CO @ Summit
4/9 St. Louis, MO @ Pops
4/10 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II
4/11 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
4/12 Columbus, OH @ The Outland Ballroom
4/13 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
4/14 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
4/16 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
4/17 Orlando, FL @ The Social
4/18 Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater
4/20 New York, NY @ Gramercy
4/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
Obviously this is a pretty killer tour. You know my stance on Protest the Hero, and seeing them again will be great. Jeff Loomis has a new album coming out and besides that….it’s JEFF LOOMIS! Think of how much shred there will be at these shows! Throw Periphery in and you have yet another tour well worth seeing. Schweet.
-Chris
Nevermore- The Obsidian Conspiracy
When a well-established band with one of the best guitar players in the game, wait five years to release a new album, you’d expect they would have a lot to live up to. With their last release widely considered to be their best, the hype built even more. Luckily for us (and Nevermore); the wait is over.
Beginning with a brooding opening riff, Nevermore quickly settle into form as Warrel Dane’s vocals soar over a crushing verse, before attaining even loftier heights in the chorus of the opener “The Termination Proclamation”. 
The third track; “Moonrise (through Mirrors Of Death) closely captures the “classic” Nevermore sound with punishing verses, great guitar leads, and one hell of a hook for the chorus. The band takes their sound to a new level with their first single “Emptiness Unobstructed”, which provides the most memorable chorus on the CD, as well as possibly the most easily accessible Nevermore track to date. Other tracks like “And the Maiden Spoke” experiment with eerie acoustics that not only add a haunting aspect to the song, but add depth to the lyrical content as well. The band leave their most punishing track for the conclusion of the album, the title track absolutely SLAYS!
The virtuosity of Jeff Loomis is on full display, as every guitar part is top-notch. Whether it be the dizzying riffs of the aforementioned opener “The Termination Proclamation”, the acoustic intro of “She Comes in Colors”, the solo on “Without Morals” or basically the entirety of the closing track “The Obsidian Conspiracy”; Loomis once again proves he is still one of the premiere guitar players in the metal genre.
This is a much more accessible release from Nevermore, but there is still enough “classic” sounding tracks for hardcore fans to salivate over, while other songs provide a more mainstream sound that will no doubt attract some additional fans. Five years is quite the lay-off between albums, thankfully Nevermore have made The Obsidian Conspiracy well worth the wait.
-Chris
