Dreaming Neon Black by Nevermore

Dreaming Neon Black is the third studio album released by Seattle progressive metal band Nevermore, and was released through Century Media in 1999. Unlike its predecessor, The Politics of Ecstasy, this album is very emotional and contains many slower, ballad-type songs. Dreaming Neon Black is also a concept album; according to Nevermore's lead singer, Warrel Dane, "it's a very simple story about a man who slowly goes insane after losing a woman that he was very close to. Progressive levels of insanity are expressed in the songs, he goes through phases of denial and self-blame, blaming God, then denouncing God. The ending is a little...tragic, a little depressing. Shakesperian. Everybody dies, it's all happy", The story is based on Dane's personal experience: one of his former girlfriends, Patricia Candace Walsh, ceased contact with him when she joined a religious group and was never heard from again, and he began having nightmares of her crying out to him as she drowned. In reality, Walsh and her husband, Douglas Zyskowski, were hitchhiking in Georgia on a way to a religious workshop when they both fell victim to serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, also known as The Truck Stop Killer.The spoken word samples from the intro "Ophidian" and its 10-second reprise at the end of "Forever" are from the Clive Barker movie, Lord of Illusions.