Nevermore are set to return to the stage in 2026 for the primary time in over a decade, with guitarist Jeff Loomis confirming the band will debut a revamped line-up — and presumably new materials — at Wacken Open Air.
“Nice information for everybody,” Loomis mentioned in a brand new video message. “We’re going to be making a return to Wacken after nearly 16 years. Subsequent yr in 2026, we make our return to the Wacken stage together with some new band members and presumably new songs as effectively. However we’ll undoubtedly be enjoying you the outdated classics and rocking the stage.”
The confirmed line-up up to now options Loomis alongside founding drummer Van Williams, plus a brand new bassist and vocalist, each but to be revealed. The group launched a world search earlier this yr, receiving greater than 650 submissions from hopefuls around the globe earlier than deciding on their last decisions.
Nevermore‘s comeback comes 15 years after inner variations noticed Loomis and Williams go away in 2011, resulting in the cancellation of deliberate excursions. Vocalist Warrel Dane maintained on the time that the band hadn’t damaged up, however acknowledged it will be onerous to proceed with out Loomis — insisting he would not make one other Nevermore report with out him.
Whereas each males left the door open to a reunion, Dane‘s dying in 2017 from a coronary heart assault on the age of 56 made the prospect way more complicated. Loomis has since mentioned a part of the explanation for leaving Arch Enemy, the band he’d performed with for a decade, was to relaunch Nevermore. “I needed to sort of be behind the driving force’s wheel of my very own music once more,” he instructed Metallic Magnitude. “Reforming my outdated band… was a really massive a part of my life for a very long time.”
Not everybody welcomed the transfer. Co-founder and authentic bassist Jim Sheppard publicly criticized the choice, calling it “fully disrespectful” and saying nobody had contacted him earlier than transferring forward. He later softened his stance, including: “With that mentioned, I want them the most effective.”
Regardless of the pushback, Loomis says the brand new line-up “honors our legacy whereas forging a brand new path ahead” and guarantees the band will likely be “greater and higher than it ever was.” Wacken 2026 is about to be the primary main efficiency of the reactivated Nevermore, although earlier reveals have not been dominated out.
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