Mana

Nemesea is a very young band from Groningen (Holland) that’s going to surprise many people with this debut album "Mana."
Although here they are quite an unknown band, in their country there were already big expectations about this album, because there they have supported-act After Forever in many occasions. And, indeed, their style is comparable to AF or also Epica, without being a copy of none of them.

Nemesea plays symphonic metal with female vocals in the vein of those previously mentioned bands, but in comparison with them, I would say that their music has a more rhythmic-oriented style, more based in powerful guitar riffs and notorious bass lines to give form to their songs. They have some progressive influences that become very clear in some moments. There aren’t grunts at all (except in one song in which they appear very shortly), but there are some choir arrangements (very well introduced). I also have to point the narrated passages that appears in several songs, those which, far from boring, give a much deeper and more dramatic dimension to their music.


Technically, all band members show a good level. The singer Manda Ophuis has a very versatile, warm voice and which sound is surprisingly similar to Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering), mainly in the slowest parts, although the way she uses her voice and her vocal melodies also reminds me a bit of Floor Jansen (After Forever).
But the thing that has surprised me most (positively) is the style of the guitarist Hendrik Jan de Jong. Sincerely, there are some passages on this album that make me think I am listening to an hypothetical new album of the Norwegian gods Conception, because his guitar playing, (especially in the solos, their structure, sound and good taste for the melodies), reminds me clearly to the great Tore Ostby (Conception’s guitarist). He has been the producer of this album as well. The role of the keyboards is also prominent, generally as accompaniment but also with some solo parts.

Another aspect to highlight, and not less important, because is probably one of the most special elements of this CD, is its atmosphere. It’s difficult to describe, and maybe only a matter of personal taste, but the whole album oozes a very special, enchanting and almost hypnotic aura that makes the listening very pleasant.

"Nemesis" starts the album with deep percussion sounds that go deriving in presence of keyboards. Is a magnificent instrumental that goes "in crescendo", in the end the guitars appears announcing the beginning of the first actual song of the album, called "Threefold Law", a fast, direct track, with fantastic choir arrangements and a slight arabic atmosphere created by the keyboards which reminds a bit of the old After Forever style.

"Empress" is another powerful track that perfectly shows the style of Nemesea: good guitar riffs, prominent bass lines, interesting keyboard arrangements and the fantastic vocal melodies of Manda Ophuis.

"Angel in the Dark" begins in a very calm way, with a deep piano and soft singing of Manda. The song goes becoming harder as advances, but keeping up the great atmosphere and melancholy as the rest of the album.

After these first four tracks comes kind of a conceptual part called "Mortalitas", which includes the four following songs. The first of them is "The Taker" that after a beginning with bells and a solemn spoken voice shows us the typical elements of this band again: cool riffs and excellent vocal melodies. On this song appear the only grunts (during some brief seconds) on the whole album. "Dies Irae" is a short and nice choral interlude sung in Latin. The third part of "Mortalitas" is called "Moriendum Tibi Est", and it’s in my opinion the most brilliant track of the whole CD. A progressive metal instrumental that begins with the same opening riff of "The Taker", and after it becomes a technique boast, full of very good guitar and keyboard solos, especially the one that begins in the minute 2:18, with an absolutely wonderful melody that again reminds a lot of Conception. Fantastic!. The fourth and last part is "From Beneath You It Devours", a slow, calm song in which it seems that we are listening to Anneke van Giersbergen herself, such is the resemblance of Manda Ophuis with her when she sings on this softer way.

"Lucifer" brings back the metal side of Nemesea. It’s one of the best songs, combining fast and powerful parts with some more electronic and calmer passages, and, once again, delicious vocal melodies.

"Disclosure" sounds a bit different from the other songs, a bit more gothic, I’d say. It features an exquisite guitar solo. "Beyond Evil" is a mid tempo song with a repetitive but very cool guitar riff that is combined with some atmospheric and very dramatic parts. "Cry" is a really beautiful ballad, with lots of sadness and melancholy, although I thing they could have developed it more. It’s too short. The album ends with an "Outro" of strange keyboard sounds.

In a genre like this that is starting to be a bit saturated with too many similar and not really good bands, it’s really pleasant to find a young and very talented band like Nemesea, adding a fresh sound to the scene. In my opinion, Nemesea is without a doubt the best young female fronted band I’ve discovered in the last times along with Epica.