The late Nevermore / Sanctuary frontman Warrel Dane’s final recordings are to be released. The record will go by the name of “Shadow Work” with an October 26th date through Century Media with pre-orders going live August 31st. Warrel Dane had passed away on December 13th, 2017 in São Paulo, Brazil while working on a new album.

R.I.P. Warrel Dane

Century Media‘s Jens Prüter and Stefan Franke had the following to say of this:

“We are looking forward to release these 40 minutes of music in October. We and many other workmates at Century Media Records have known Warrel for years, have been through thick and thin, and are fans of his art just like the many, many people supporting him since the ’80s. The dedication his band, Travis Smith and our team invested in completing ‘Shadow Work‘ was astonishing and the entire record carries an eerie atmosphere of Warrel already feeling that this might be his last work. It is heartbreaking that he was right in the end. Rest in peace, friend.”

The artwork for “Shadow Work” was commissioned by Warrel before his death. The artist Travis Smith had the following to say of this:

“[Warrel] told me he wanted the cover for this one to be a personification of one of its songs, affectionately titled ‘Sweet Madame Satan, And Why.’ I dug up the skeleton of an old idea we’d talked about once before, and with a few details and alterations of his own, it was exactly what he had envisioned. He ‘loved it,’ approved it, and then gave me an outline for what he wanted to do for the back cover to complement it as a sort of prologue.

I finished the additional artwork taking inspiration from old conversations, titles, absorbing passages from his notebooks, and some lyrics that he’d passed along earlier…

Thank you for everything these past 20 years… It was an honor. It will be missed. You are missed. I know we did you proud.”

His former band mate’s released the following collective statement:

“To give birth to a work like this, is for us a tribute to someone that was like family and honor his memory by sharing some of the savage poetry that he created and was ultimately so proud of.

Warrel came into our lives like a storm, took us into a very intense ride, we roamed endless roads into the unknown, into places that we never dreamed of both inside and outside our minds, and left. He was someone who lived with us, dreamed with us and enjoyed our hospitality, and in return gave us so much back. Some of us acted like his mother, some of us saw him as a father figure, some of us took care of him in some of his darkest moments. Yet he was a friend, and somehow, will be always there.

To record such an album, and to work alongside an artist as gifted as Warrel, is somehow like being enthralled by his brightest light, and, at the same time being engulfed by his darkest shadow. There is so much to say, and yet nothing to say. In the meantime, we are proud to share this portrait of the storm we went through in form of art. Light, peace and love.”

Here’s the tracklisting:

01 – “Ethereal Blessing”
02 – “Madame Satan”
03 – “Disconnection System”
04 – “As Fast As The Others”
05 – “Shadow Work”
06 – “The Hanging Garden” (The Cure cover)
07 – “Rain”
08 – “Mother Is The Word For God“