Warrel Dane

Warrel Dane (* March 7, 1961 in Seattle, Washington; † December 13, 2017 in São Paulo) was an American singer and founding member of the metal band Nevermore. Since 2007 he was also active as a solo artist.

Content of the song

With his first band Serpent's Knight, formed in 1981, Dane released the LP Released from the Crypt in 1983. After Serpent's Knight broke up, Dane formed Sanctuary with Jim Sheppard, formerly bassist in the glam metal band Sleeze. In 1986, the first demo was released, which led to a four-year record deal with Epic Records a year later. Sanctuary released two albums on Epic until a change in style desired by the label divided the band into two fronts; Dane and Sheppard decided to leave the band. After the breakup of Sanctuary, Dane worked as a cook in Seattle for four years.

During this time, Dane's next band, Nevermore, was formed in 1992, though he and Sheppard were still officially signed to Epic. In 1995, Nevermore released their first self-titled album on the then newly formed Century Media label. In 2006, while on tour for the Nevermore album This Godless Endeavor, Dane began writing his first solo album. This album, Praises to the War Machine, was released on April 25, 2008 via Century Media. Warrel Dane died of a heart attack in São Paulo on December 13, 2017.

Style and texts

Compared to his early phase, the Sanctuary period, Dane sang less high and gothic or partly thrash metal influenced on the Nevermore albums. That he had a rarely used, relatively deep vocal range can be heard especially on some cover versions (Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, Love Bites by Judas Priest, Lucretia My Reflection by The Sisters of Mercy and Silent Hedges/Double Dare by Bauhaus).

Dane's texts are usually very critical of society, often they can be applied to current (US) politics. Dane described himself as a Democrat and was an open opponent of George W. Bush's policies. In addition, various philosophical topics were omnipresent, occasionally changing perspectives were used to put a topic into an ambiguous context. Dane, especially on more recent works, placed great emphasis on metaphors that could often be interpreted in multiple directions. On his solo album Praises to the War Machine, he also sang about personal issues for the first time, such as in the song Brother, which he wrote for his brother who was suffering from cancer. On the Behemoth album The Apostasy, Dane is involved as a guest vocalist on Inner Sanctum.