Earlier this morning, a promoter friend had posted a reflective word of “thanks” to former Nevermore current Sanctuary singer Warrel Dane and after some initial shock the news hit his online community of friends and associates like a steel rod to the jar. Warrel Dane had indeed passed away only a few hours earlier. The singer suffered a heart attack while in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He was 56 years of age.
The first time that I ever heard Warrel sing was when he was in the band Sanctuary, and was the song “Future Tense” that I found being a part of a compilation cassette that a friend had given me. It was some sort of record label promotional thing and while I was hooked on the track, I never got around to finding the album nor seeing the band. The above and below photos hail from a Sanctuary appearance in 2012 when they were a reunited group. They sounded terrific for sure and it brought a lot of people back in time. It was the first of three times that I would get to see the band performing.
These next two photographic inclusions hail from way back in 2005 at an appearance of Nevermore when PiercingMetal.com was only about three months old. The band was a superstar on the Century Media Records label and came through NYC quite often. Those who enjoyed the bands offerings will attest to the skills that Dane possessed as a singer in terms of not only his delivery in concert but in the composition of the bands lyrics. They were at times quite thought provoking and often spoke to the grim times that lie ahead. With the band Nevermore you were always left thinking about the situations around us.
Nevermore was a band that really kept you on the edge of your wits if you were seeing them in concert. They were excellent live. Many hoped that the current hiatus was going to end after some more Sanctuary work but with Warrel’s passing this is probably never going to happen and how could it even make sense to try. If you don’t have some of the Nevermore albums in your collection yet, you should look into fixing that since some were re-issued not too many years ago and include bonus tracks.
As is my general practice, I didn’t go deep into life and every aspect of his career as that’s been written down already. Warrel’s fans are encouraged to leave their memories of him down below in our comments as his body of Metal work was vast and very much enjoyed by so many people. I’ve linked his own Wikipedia entry so more of his career can be examined at your leisure. We shall miss his sonic register for sure and wish his family, close friends and band mates along with all of his fans the deepest of condolences. Rest In Peace Warrell, you were super.
Official Artist Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrel_Dane
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warreldanefans/