Onward - THE NEVERENDING SUN

Just curious if anyone here is familiar with this now-defunct US power metal band featuring Toby Knapp on guitars and Michael Grant (now in Crescent Shield) on vocals. They released two pretty killer CDs on Century Media in the early 00s (EVERMOVING and REAWAKEN), but then the band split up when CM suddenly dropped them in 2003.

After the band's breakup, Knapp was selling a CD for a while through the Onward website consisting of the demos for what would've become their third album (THE NEVERENDING SUN) so I ordered one. Pretty cool stuff, even if the packaging was el-cheapo (see pic below)



Pretty cheesy, but hey, it came with a hand written "thanks for your support" note from Toby Knapp himself, so I'm not complaining.

So anyway, since I'm currently addicted to CDBaby, I'm trolling thru the metal titles there and suddenly I stumble across a new, offical-release version of THE NEVERENDING SUN that I never knew existed. It looks like it's got a full color cover and booklet now, and there appear to be three extra songs on this version that aren't on the earlier CD, instead of the three god-awful sub-bootleg quality live songs on the one I have. (see pic)



Does anybody out there have this "second edition" of the disc? Are the songs remastered/remixed in any way? (the sound quality of the original CD I have is actually pretty good, considering they're just demos, but it would be cooler if they were tweaked a little.) Is it worth picking up this new edition even though I already own 90% of the stuff on it? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

I dont have that cd but of course its worth buying it again. It got different artwork and that is always a good thing for buying a cd again.

I'm waiting for that CD from a trader. If that fails, I'll order it! GREAT band!

kmorg wrote:

I'm waiting for that CD from a trader. If that fails, I'll order it! GREAT band!

Cool, another Onward fan! I thought I was the only one.

But yea, GREAT band, I agree... unfortunately they got cut down in their prime. Knapp was talking about re-forming Onward with an all new lineup a year or so ago but I don't think anything ever came of it. Probably for the best.

I have the other two albums and like them. Don't pull them out that much, but I dig it! Haven't heard this one though.

Here's where y'all can find the NEVERENDING SUN disc on CDBaby if you're interested:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/onward

I'll probably get round to this one next time I order from them.

I have Evermoving and it's pretty good stuff. I'm a huge Crescent Shield fan, so
I had an interest nin checking them out.....sort of backwards.....

http://www.opengraveshop.com

It's $6 from that site. Comes free with stale cigarette smoke smell, too. Awesome!

Eyesore wrote:

http://www.opengraveshop.com

It's $6 from that site. Comes free with stale cigarette smoke smell, too. Awesome!

hahaha, they can send it to me free when they finally get that Once Dead CD out!! I paid for that CD for at least a year and a half ago! It's number 10 on their bestseller list, and it's not even out yet!

Good band, I saw them at the Milwaukee Metalfest one year.-TJ

Eyesore wrote:

http://www.opengraveshop.com

It's $6 from that site. Comes free with stale cigarette smoke smell, too. Awesome!

Sweet! And they've got that "Anal Gorec*m P*ssflap Slap" CD I've been looking EVERYWHERE for too!! (hahaha)

I'm guessing they don't get a lotta power metal fan-traffic on that particular distro site, hence the reason the Onward disc is so cheap there... thanx for the tip Eye.

He's got some good discs in that discount section. I just bought an Ivanhoe CD from him last night, and they're not easy to come by. So there's some good stuff there, you just take a chance of getting cancer when opening the package.

Kmorg, did you ever get the "new and improved" version of this Onward disc you were waiting for? If so, what's the verdict? Is it good enough for me to buy again?

Fat Freddy wrote:

Kmorg, did you ever get the "new and improved" version of this Onward disc you were waiting for? If so, what's the verdict? Is it good enough for me to buy again?

I'm curious about both versions now. I picked up Reawaken recently and it's pretty badass!

Eyesore wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Kmorg, did you ever get the "new and improved" version of this Onward disc you were waiting for? If so, what's the verdict? Is it good enough for me to buy again?

I'm curious about both versions now. I picked up Reawaken recently and it's pretty badass!

Yea, I saw the review you wrote of it on your blog, that's what made me resurrect this old thread. I'm thinking of placing a new CDBaby order this week and this Onward disc may be on it.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Kmorg, did you ever get the "new and improved" version of this Onward disc you were waiting for? If so, what's the verdict? Is it good enough for me to buy again?

I'm curious about both versions now. I picked up Reawaken recently and it's pretty badass!

Yea, I saw the review you wrote of it on your blog, that's what made me resurrect this old thread. I'm thinking of placing a new CDBaby order this week and this Onward disc may be on it.

The guitarist made a blog post in March offering it for $6. I sent him a message asking what version he was referring to. Might be better to wait until he writes back...

Interesting. I just got Cypher Seer today and it's the same singer from Onward! Wacky and weird coinkedink.

Yes, Cypher Seer is pretty great as well. Just listened to that yesterday or the day before and was smartly rocked!

scottmitchell74 wrote:

Yes, Cypher Seer is pretty great as well. Just listened to that yesterday or the day before and was smartly rocked!

It's sounding pretty sweet to my ears.

I like that Grant guy. I have Crescent Shield as well and his vocals are a big draw.

scottmitchell74 wrote:

I like that Grant guy. I have Crescent Shield as well and his vocals are a big draw.

He's in that band, too? Nice. That's been on my want list ever since it came out.

Wait...now that I think about it, I may own that one at this point. Hmmm. I'll have to remember to check at home...

It's my favorite of the three bands I have that he sings in.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Kmorg, did you ever get the "new and improved" version of this Onward disc you were waiting for? If so, what's the verdict? Is it good enough for me to buy again?

Yes, I did get it. But I haven't had time to listen to it yet.

No Crescent Shield. =(

You'll have to pay for that one, I'm afraid. I couldn't get it for less than $11-12, I think.