So, does anyone out there remember the 12 minute closing track on Epica’s last album? It was all technical prowess, grandiose arrangements, big orchestration and complexity. Well forget that – what about if you could have a similar sound but a complete opposite in attitude? Punchy, short melodic and ultra catchy songs full of energy and with vocal lines that lodge in the brain from the first listen onwards – ladies and gentlemen, I give you Nemesea.
And what a breath of fresh air “Uprise” is too! Don’t get me wrong, I like all the traits Epica convey, but sometimes I just want to bung on an album and just hear great songs written for impact and memorability. Ironically, Nemesea’s debut was actually of the symphonic ilk back in 2004, but soon the band realized this style wasn’t really them. So, four albums down the line they offer up 10 tracks of top notch catchy gothic rock/metal, enhancing their own distinct style with dashes of Lacuna Coil, Amaranthe, Roadrunner era Within Temptation, Delain, Beyond The Black and latter day After Forever, highlighting the breadth of the genre that the band will appeal to.
Each band member gives it his all admirably from start to finish, but right on the top and pushed unashamedly to the fore are the fabulous vocals of Manda Ophuis, note perfect with wonderful tone and variation, she carries every vocal line as well as anyone I can think of. Bluntly, there is a “Bollocks to this, let’s get to the chorus” feel on many of the tracks, an almost Eurovision attitude (in a good way…no, really!) in the way the band try to lodge a melody in your head as early as possible in each song. The music varies in tempo and flits between rock and metal when each track needs it. There’s only one real ballad in the ten tracks on offer and every single one has something that just dares you to try and forget it.
So it’s impossible to pick a favourite really, but if pushed the dynamic ‘Forever’ is a great track with it’s slower tempo, snappy male backing vocals (used really well throughout the album) and obviously a great chorus. But that means I have to balance things by mentioning the totally club-worthy gothic electronica (with a Metal attitude) of ‘Get Out’. But then I have to balance THAT with the Lacuna Coil groove of ‘Hear Me’….so that means I MUST praise what is possible my absolute favourite track ‘Can’t Believe It’ which not only has a brilliant chorus, it has woah-woah parts too!! What more could you want…
So there you have it, 9 tracks (+ a ballad) unapologetically catchy gothic rock/metal in around 40 minutes – it’s just long enough to make you want to put the whole album on again, but in case you wanted to see the band’s sensitive side, the Ltd Edition has four acoustic versions of tracks from previous albums. Nemesea really do have it covered. OK, there’s no real desire to impress with technicality on “Uprise”, but why should they and this is by no means a dumbed-down album. Far from it, it takes real intelligence to construct songs that are this catchy and memorable without being cheesy or disposable.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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