Singer Berzan Önen, guitarist Jack Cattoi and bassist Semir Özerkan have described the response to the reformed Nevermore lineup as overwhelming and admitted they expected the opposite.
The three musicians who joined Nevermore for its return were fans of the band long before they were in it. That is exactly why they braced for a rougher reception than the one they got.
Berzan Önen, Jack Cattoi and Semir Özerkan discussed the reformed lineup with the German podcast “Thicker Than Blood“. The three joined founding guitarist Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams, who revealed the completed lineup in February 2026 alongside a signing with Reigning Phoenix Music. Original bassist Jim Sheppard is not part of the reunion, leaving Loomis as the only remaining founder.
The vocalist’s job was always the hardest sell. Warrel Dane died in December 2017, and the search for someone to sing his catalogue ran through open auditions before Önen, previously of Inner Urge and My Torment, was chosen.
Asked how he approaches the material, Önen said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Well, Warrel is a huge, huge influence on me, on not just my singing style, but my writing — the lyrical part of me as well has been shaped by his work a lot. So it comes naturally to me. And I’ve been singing Nevermore songs for so long that, like I said, it feels second nature to me. But, of course, as I’m not trying to imitate him, I put my own twist and my own voice and my own taking of the songs in there as well. And you will see, once we get this new [Nevermore] album on the way, my lyrical style as well.”
On the reaction from the audience, Önen was blunt about what he assumed would happen.
He added: “ Oh, dude, it was overwhelming. Because for all of us, these are huge, huge shoes to fill ’cause Nevermore, it’s not like any other band. It’s a special band. So you need to respect that. And as a fan, I probably wouldn’t have welcomed the new guys. Yeah, I have to be honest… Yeah, of course, Nevermore fans are different than other fans as well. They’re much loyal, because, like I said, it’s really special, special music that these guys have created. A special genre in its own. So to receive this many positive feedback, it was overwhelming. Personally for me, because I adored Warrel. So, like I said, if I were not the one getting the job, I wouldn’t have accepted anyone at first. So I understand that perspective. But I’m so thankful that the fans have accepted me immediately, actually. It’s still unreal to me. It’s beautiful, man.”
Cattoi said the messages came from people he had spent years listening to: “It was incredible for me seeing people I looked up to, even my friends, they were reaching out to me, and that just makes my heart full every time I think about it. I was getting messages from some of my biggest inspirations on the guitar about this, and it’s incredible to be in this. And it’s still just crazy.”
Özerkan, who has played in Oceans Of Slumber since 2019 and also works with Necrofier, made his own history with singer replacements plain. The Alice In Chains vocalist he refers to is William DuVall, who took over in 2006, four years after Layne Staley‘s death.
Özerkan said: “I think there was only a couple of bands for me, including Nevermore and Alice In Chains. Then Alice In Chains found a new singer. Then I said, ‘F**k this s**t, man. I’m not gonna listen to this.’ Because I was just so emotionally connected to the first albums. But I like the new guy, man. The new album is great. So when Nevermore announced, in 2025, they’re gonna find [new members], I’m, like, losing my mind. I’m walking around the room, trying to get my head together. Because in my head, [it was], like, ‘How is this possible, man?’ I was, like, ‘Who’s gonna sing Warrel‘s part?’ Because for us, Warrel is like our dad or something. But that’s how I feel sometimes. Because I’m in high school listening to this song, like, getting crazy drunk and crying on the corner. But when this happened, man, I wanna thank everybody.”
He added: “I just want everybody to know we’re fans just like everyone, man. We love this band more than… It’s literally my all-time favorite American band. Because me and Berzan, when we grew up in Turkey, so a lot of bands were European bands. And then American bands were so far away for us. So, Nevermore, I will say Nevermore and Slayer was probably top two, three bands. Metallica was so close to us. When Nevermore broke up, man, I was heartbroken, man. And then Warrel died — when Warrel passed away, I drank all week. Literally, I feel like I lost somebody that I know. So this is very, very special that everybody’s so thankful and be accepting us, because I feel like we just joined up people that we already know almost, in a way. We’re just fans, big fans.”
The reformed band played its first show on April 1, 2026 at IF Performance Hall Beşiktaş in Istanbul, the first Nevermore performance since 2011 and one staged in the home country of two of its new members. The lineup had been filmed rehearsing in January at Swans Neck Soundworks in Väderstad, Sweden, for a documentary directed by Ola Englund.
Nevermore formed in Seattle in 1992 out of the wreckage of Sanctuary, released their self-titled debut in 1995 and built a following across records including Dead Heart In A Dead World and This Godless Endeavor before going quiet in 2011. Loomis and Williams have said writing on a new album is underway.
