Nemesea have been absent for a long time. Even in the last couple years, the band have been very quiet. Perhaps it was creative energy building up into a brand new classic? Well let’s find out…
[tracklist]
01. Hear Me
02. Twilight
03. Forever
04. Let It Burn
05. Time To Make It
06. Can’t Believe It
07. Light Up The Sky
08. Get Out
09. Bones
10. Hold On
[/tracklist]
[details]
[record_label]Napalm Records[/record_label]
[release_date]29th April 2016[/release_date]
[/details]
It’s not exactly clear why the Dutch pop-metallers left 5 years on the clock to release a follow-up to 2011’s ‘The Quiet Resistance‘. It was that album that certainly left me with the impression that Nemesea were gaining some traction in the increasingly crowded world of female-fronted metal. Perhaps the band turned around and decided they wanted to truly pull themselves away from that stereotype and change direction of the band. Well that’s exactly what this band have done – and we do understand art takes time – but what has changed exactly?
It’s pretty evident from the opener of ‘Hear Me‘, the few seconds of diddling and a sudden burst of flatter, cleaner distortions the band have chose to down the path of appealing to a more alternative audience. It’s almost directly definitive of the entire ‘Uprise‘ album – similar chord progressions from their old metal tracks, but with entirely different tones and atmosphere.
It’s more or less underlined with the track ‘Twilight‘ that the band have written to fit into that universal appeasement category with a chorus that could be easily featured into the next Spiderman movie with rushing blockbuster film visuals crossing minds, almost exactly what happens when one thinks of Australian pop-rockers Tonight Alive.
The above criticism really comes to the fact that Nemesea are a different band now, but it does not reflect that the music is actually not good. It is. Tracks like ‘Forever‘ and ‘Light Up The Sky‘ are particularly enjoyable given how catchy their choruses are, however if you had prepared yourself to indulge in some hard-hitting gothic metal, that is not what you are going to get out of ‘Uprise‘, the title itself being a bit misleading into what a Nemesea fan would expect.
One could argue that Nemesea would have been better off possibly forming a new band and create a new musical branding that would have defined them a lot better. I’m sure that the band has fans that would follow them to the end of the earth and would give ‘Uprise‘ a chance, and as well they should. Let’s face it though, metal fans are harsh, and they are probably not going to appreciate the transition from gothic metal to alternative rock.
[verdict]No[/verdict]
[why]Nemesea have decided to take the alternative rock route and ‘Uprise’ certainly won’t appease any original fans of the band. The music is arguably well-written for it’s genre, but musically it’s a completely different band.[/why]
