Hear Warrel Dane’s “Disconnection System” from His Final Solo Album

Ex-Nevermore and Sanctuary frontman Warrel Dane passed away last December at the age of 56. At the time he’d been living in Brazil working on his second solo album, although it wasn’t clear the extent to which any of the work from those recording sessions was far enough along to eventually be released.

Earlier this month the members of Dane’s band announced they would forge ahead and release the album, which Dane had already named Shadow Work (an especially haunting title given his subsequent death), and today we get the first taste of that album with “Disconnection System.”

The song itself sounds awesome; it SOUNDS like a Warrel Dane number before he even opens his mouth (more Nevermore than Sanctuary), simultaneously aggressive and plodding with that patented, locked drum-and-guitar groove and plenty of flashy guitar work. It’s a good bit heavier than anything on Praises to the War Machine, Dane’s first solo effort (produced/co-written by Peter Wichers, ex-Soilwork). Vocally, it’s difficult to make a judgment here because of the unfinished state of the vocal tracks at the time of Dane’s passing (the band decided to use both studio takes in various forms of completion and pre-production demos to comp together Dane’s parts on the final album). To put it bluntly, Dane’s vocals sound unfinished here — phrasing and cadence not fully fleshed out, takes a little bit rough around the edges — but that serves to make it more magical, a portrait of the troubled man Dane was at the time of his death. And even a rough Dane vocal take is a Warrel Fucking Dane vocal take, unmistakably him and undeniably great.

Check out “Disconnection System” below. Shadow Work will come out on October 26th via Century Media. Pre-order it here.