By the time the self-titled debut album by Nevermen (the supergroup trio of Anticon-affiliated MC Doseone, TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, and Faith No More's Mike Patton) finally appeared in early 2016, the project had been in development for the better part of a decade.
The trio stress that there is no leader to Nevermen, and they all contribute equally, intertwining their vocals and finishing each other's thoughts, but it's hard to really mistake Patton's roaring of voice. The album generally has an aggressive, adrenaline rush of energy to it, but they break from that during "Hate On," which builds with a slow, quiet beginning, gradually revealing the trio's vocal harmonies and eventually gaining a softly clipping beat before hitting the guitar pedals near the song's finish. "Tough Towns," which salutes cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland, similarly lapses into ambient space for an extended time period, and closing track "Fame II: The Wreckoning" is nearly still for five minutes before its splashing, hopeful finale.