Timothy K. Calvert (November 7, 1965 – April 30, 2018) was an American

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

guitarist. He was known for his dark, moody style of songwriting created through his frequent usage of dissonant passages and diminished chords. He was associated with the bands Forbidden and

Nevermore Nevermore is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1992. The band was formed after three of its members — vocalist Warrel Dane, bassist Jim Sheppard and guitarist Jeff Loomis — ended their prev ...

. Calvert was an accomplished guitar player who played in a neoclassical style, featuring an abundance of arpeggios and sweep-picking. He started guitar lessons with Bob Marshall in

Castro Valley Castro Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Alameda County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, it was the fourth most populous unincorporated area in California. The population was 66,441 at the 2020 census. Castro Valley is ...

and eventually took lessons from Jim Bedford in

Hayward, California Hayward is a city located in Alameda County, California, United States, in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area, and the third largest in ...

for about 10 years. He played

Jackson Guitars Jackson is a brand of guitars sold by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Jackson was originally an independent manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars named after its founder, the American luthier Grover Jackson. Th ...

throughout his entire career.

Career

He began his career in the mid-1980s in a

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band called Militia before joining Forbidden in 1989. He made his recording debut in 1990 with the band on their second album ''

Twisted into Form ''Twisted into Form'' is the second studio album by American thrash metal band Forbidden. It features one line-up change from their debut – 1988's '' Forbidden Evil'' – with Tim Calvert replacing Glen Alvelais on guitar. The result is a mo ...

'', co-writing much of the material and bringing a darker and more progressive sound than its predecessor, '' Forbidden Evil''.Metal Storm
/ref> Calvert played on two more Forbidden albums, ''

Distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

'' in 1994 and ''

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

'' in 1997. After the dissolution of Forbidden, Calvert was asked to replace Pat O'Brien in the progressive thrash metal band

. Nevermore wanted Tim as their second guitarist because lead singer Warrel Dane and bassist

Jim Sheppard James Patrick Sheppard (born May 8, 1961) is an American musician. He was the bassist and founding member of the progressive metal band, Nevermore, and its predecessor, Sanctuary.Mustica, Giorgio.An Interview with Jeff Loomis: Cooling The Burn ...

had toured together with Calvert in the early 1990s when Dane and Sheppard played with Sanctuary and Calvert was in Forbidden. Dane stated in an interview he and Sheppard were amazed by Calvert's technique and were very happy when Tim accepted their invitation. Calvert played on and contributed to their classic concept album ''

Dreaming Neon Black ''Dreaming Neon Black'' is the third studio album released by American heavy metal band Nevermore, and was released through Century Media in 1999. Unlike its predecessor, '' The Politics of Ecstasy'', ''Dreaming Neon Black'' contains many slow ...

'', released in 1999. Calvert left Nevermore in 2000 after the Dreaming Neon Black tour ended to pursue a full-time career as a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, attending school and working in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

initially before moving to

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

, California for his first assignment, then

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, Utah and later

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota. His entire professional piloting career was with

SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner Mainline (air travel), mainline airlines. The comp ...

. In 2010, it was announced Calvert and a number of other prominent metal musicians were supposed to make an appearance on the first album of an AC/DC tribute band formed by Bay Area veteran vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza called AC/DZ, but the album has yet to be released.

Death

Calvert died on April 30, 2018, of complications from

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

. He was 52.

References

External links

Tim Calvert
at Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, Tim 1965 births 2018 deaths American heavy metal guitarists Forbidden (band) members Nevermore members American commercial aviators Deaths from motor neuron disease in California People from Alameda County, California Rock musicians from California