Posted: March 27th, 2008
Contributed By: Nick

	Purchase @ iTunes Release Date: January 23, 2006 via Rainy Day Records
	Neverset is: Shawn Hamm (Vocals) Ryan Ray (Guitar) Joseph (Bass) Nate (Drums)

Overview: If you’ve visited Tunelab on more than one occasion (g’head, admit it, you love us!), then you have probably seen or heard tidbits about an unsigned band out of Dallas, Texas by the name of Neverset; if not, maybe it’s time you started swinging by here more often. Self-promotion aside, Neverset, a former featured band of ours, has racked up quite an impressive portfolio having existed for just about four years. The quartet quietly released ‘Behind Every Door‘ in late 2005, but persistence and patience served Neverset well. As the fanfare surrounding the band’s album blossomed in subsequent months, national acts began to take notice of Neverset, and the band earned spots opening for artists such as Hinder, Buckcherry, Candlebox, and Three Days Grace to name only a few. Perhaps the band’s biggest break came recently, being invited by Sevendust for a slew of dates this spring, after having their soon to be released new album produced by Dust drummer Morgan Rose, as well as Sevendust producer Shawn Grove. Look for Neverset in a town near you alongside Sevendust, Saliva, as well as Overscene.

The Good: Neverset treads ground not dared by many bands nowadays-revisiting their rapcore predecessors and reviving the genre we left in the dust years ago. While this sounds dismal, Neverset pull it off with grace on ‘Behind Every Door‘, carefully and astutely revamping rapcore without stepping on your toes. The album opens with the fireball “Breathe”, a straight gut punch, no frills rocker that makes the band’s presence known. The deceivingly catchy “My Scars” is the first to unwrap Neverset’s rapcore blitz, hammering home the fact that Neverset could put some of the said genre’s former heavy hitters to shame. ‘Behind Every Door‘ ventures in unexpected territory with “The Last Hardest Thing”, a highly focused and telling affair that could damn well compete with just about anything presently spinning on active rock radio. Neverset soon return with “Don’t Wanna Know You”, a brisk and vivacious effort that never backs down, setting up the listener well for the atmospheric and soaring “Bitter Lies”, a song that proves its effectiveness by fluctuating seamlessly from smooth and ear-catching to pugnacious and ear-splitting. The crunchy and peppy “Wake Up” does its name justice, which is followed by “Falling Away”, coupling dynamic vocals and a thick, enveloping guitar and rhythm section mix for one of Neverset’s most thorough songs. ‘Behind Every Door‘ sails off with two of its finest hours, as the fist-pumping, yet eclectic “My Enemy” and the delicate, flawless craftsmanship of “Blame” prove Neverset truly do save the best for last.

The Bad: I know I said Neverset takes the rapcore (getting tired of seeing that word?) DNA and molds it into something that fits in the present, but more often than not, the band feels more like a wolf in sheep’s clothing rather than establishing their own identity. From start to finish, I hear more ‘Infest’-era Papa Roach, Darwin’s Waiting Room and Element Eighty than I do Neverset, making the songs seem rehashed and quite dated. Despite many high points for Neverset on ‘Behind Every Door‘, there are a few glaring lows, specifically the song “Headake”. With such groundbreaking lyrics as “f–k you bitch, you can suck my dick!”, as well as a terrifying barrage of unnecessary primate sounds and poor delivery ala Nullset, it makes you pray you avoid what Neverset ate for breakfast the day they penned the aforementioned horror story. Yes, Neverset are solid musicians with a tight sound, and a good bulk of the album proves my thesis; however, with such a talent pool as these four clearly possess, I am still scratching my head as to why they chose to reincarnate this angst-ridden rap rock when their true niche seems to be in melodic hard rock in the vain of Flaw.

Bottomline: In the end, ‘Behind Every Door‘ almost feels like an episode of Intervention. Before you give this a bad connotation, allow me to explain. Neverset’s lifestyle is rock music, and the strongest part of this “rock” lifestyle is when they approach either melody filled, guitar driven hard rock or impassioned, dynamic mid tempo rock. Sadly, they have an addiction to the rap-rock past that overshadows their true form and heartbreakingly lends themselves to sound needy and dependent upon bands from yesteryear; even though Neverset might sound high and mighty during these efforts, they are refusing to let themselves grow and develop into the potential force they could really be in the rock music world today. Whether intentional or not, Neverset rolled the dice with the style and direction ‘Behind Every Door‘, and I commend them on taking a chance and sticking to their guns; although a solid revival of a long since forgotten genre overall, there is a time and place for everything, and arguably, 2008 is not the time nor place to bring rapcore (last time, I swear) roaring back. Nevertheless, it is only fair to cut Neverset some much deserved slack, as ‘Behind Every Door‘ was recorded almost three years ago, after the group had been together for about a year and some change; for a band in its toddler stages, this is a rather proficient bundle of songs. With new material around the corner, I am hoping with confidence Neverset got clean of their “addiction”, and I have high expectations for what this Texas foursome can storm back with this year after achieving “sobriety”.

Rating: 6 out of 10