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 (original) Andy Sneap (2005 reissue) |
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| Nevermore chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Chronicles of Chaos | 10/10 |
| Sea of Tranquillity |  |
| Sputnik Music | |
| Rock Hard |   |
Enemies of Reality is the fifth album by American progressive metal band Nevermore, released in 2003 by Century Media records. Due to the mixed reception of the album's production by Kelly Gray, it was remixed and mastered by Andy Sneap for its 2005 reissue.
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 soulless meat."
On the last page 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..."
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 Immanuel Kant, who used it to help explain his philosophy of transcendental idealism.
Enemies of Reality was written and recorded during a time of personal and professional tumult for the members of Nevermore. Warrel Dane attributes the sound of the album to the challenges that the band members faced during this period: "Enemies Of Reality was a difficult album to make. We were all going through a difficult time in our lives. We were all really fucking angry people, and I think that kind of shows on that album."
Among the professional challenges that the band faced was that Enemies of Reality was the final album in the band's inaugural recording contract with Century Media. This interfered with the album's creation in an audible way, with the recording budget for Enemies of Reality becoming an aspect of the negotiations. However, Dane's description of the situation indicates that both band and label were tough in their negotiating positions:
Basically, they [Century Media] wanted us to re-sign and do a new contract before our old one was done and we didn't want to do that. We wanted to fulfil our original contract and then go on from there because there were a number of labels that were interested in working with us. [...] We were playing hardball back and forth with the label and that's why that record ... it was a difficult period for us. We were all pretty pissed off and angry and that shows in the music. Our budget got slashed for that record just because of the fact that we had not re-signed. I think it came down to "Well, re-sign now or this is your budget because that's what is says in your contract." You can't argue with that. We didn't re-sign. We didn't buckle under and I think it paid off in the end because we got what we wanted [for our next contract]. We got everything that we wanted in our new record deal ... everything that we've worked ten fucking years for and deserve, we got. We learned how to play the game and we played it very well.
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