NEVERMORE guitarist Jeff Loomis recently spoke with Jon Wiederhorn at Guitar World. An excerpt from the story is available below:

While Loomis improvised many of his solos on past albums, he prepared large portions of his lead work for The Obsidian Conspiracy in advance. “We really wanted to see what the songs needed,” he says. “I wanted to tell stories with the leads, which is why there’s not a lot of pure shredding. It’s more about creating a feeling that comes from the heart and soul. At the same time, I didn’t write out the solos completely, because when you do that it just sounds too worked out to me. So it was about 75 percent worked out and 25 percent ‘let’s go for it and see what happens.’ ”

As for Nevermore’s open guitar spot, the band didn’t give it much thought during the making of the new album; Loomis played all of the guitars on the record. But over in Hungary, an ambitious young player and Nevermore fan named Attila Vörös was looking for them. The guitarist eventually tracked down Broderick’s girlfriend over the internet and sent her links of him playing Nevermore songs. She forwarded the clips to Loomis, who was blown away by Vörös’ talent.

“His playing is amazing,” Loomis says. “He really did his homework, too. He knew exactly what was going on with all the little nuances in the songs. So I invited him over to my house and auditioned him, and I really didn’t have to show him much of anything. He just knew what to do. We’re all very excited, because he’s a great player and a good kid. There’s a very good chance that we’ll end up making him a full-time member.”

Go to this location for the complete story.

As previously reported, New Jersey-based progressive metal masters SYMPHONY X have announced their headlining North American tour featuring Nevermore, SOILWORK, POWERGLOVE and BLACKGUARD. The trek will launch on April 21st in Philadelphia and wrap-up in West Springfield, Virginia on May 22nd.

Exclusive pre-sale tickets are available now at EnterTheVault.com. VIP tickets/packages are available for select shows and will include early entry and a Meet & Greet. After December 1st, tickets can be purchased via regular ticketing outlets.

Confirmed dates for the tour are as follows:

April

21 - The Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA
22 - Best Buy Theatre – New York, NY
23 - The Palladium – Worcester, MA
25 - Metropolis – Montreal, QC
26 - Salle Albert Rosseau – Quebec City, QC
27 - The Opera House – Toronto, ON
29 - Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH
30 - Blondie’s – Detroit, MI

May

1 - Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
2 - Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
4 - Ogden Theater – Denver, CO
6 - Showbox – Seattle, WA
7 - Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
8 - The Grand Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
10 - The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA
11 - Marquee Theatre – Tempe, AZ
13 - Trees – Dallas, TX
14 - Scout Bar – Houston, TX
15 - Backstage Live – San Antonio, TX
17 - The Club at Firestone – Orlando, FL
18 - Culture Room – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
19 - The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
20 - Volume 11 – Raleigh, NC
21 - Tremont Music Hall – Charlotte, NC
22 - Jaxx – W. Springfield, VA

(Photo by Dale May)