photos by Daniel Zetterstrom
In April, Jeff Loomis (#7 on our list of the Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists) and drummer Van Williams announced their departure from Nevermore. And while bands lose members all the time, few splits have ever rocked the metal world the way this one did. The idea of Nevermore without Williams and, especially, Loomis, seemed like blasphemy to a lot of fans — including this one. For Loomis is truly a guitar god; his style and sound define Nevermore, and if he retired tomorrow, his legend would already be assured.
But Loomis stayed quiet about the cause of the split, even as Nevermore vocalist Warrel Dane openly talked smack in the press. Instead of dwelling on the past, it seemed that Loomis wanted to concentrate on the future: In July, he teased a new solo effort — his first since 2008′s Zero Order Phase — and in August, he revealed that he’d recruited some pretty incredible collaborators for that album, including Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren, and 7 Horns 7 Eyes’ guitarist Aaron Smith, who is producing the release.
And while there’s still no official release date or even a title for Loomis’ first post-Nevermore outing, he has, at last, started to speak out on the whirlwind year he’s been experiencing… albeit cautiously. He’s granted interviews to a few European magazines, but MetalSucks is the only North American media outlet with whom he has discussed — and, as we understand, will discuss — the break-up. And, yes, as card carrying members of the Cult of Loomis, we were only too thrilled to be able to get his side of the story.
After the jump, read everything Loomis has to say about what went wrong with Nevermore, how he feels about Dane’s comments in the press, the current status of his relationship with Dane and Nevermore bassist Jim Sheppard, and, of course, some juicy details on his new solo album.
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