Mana

In the early 2000s, a considerable chunk of mainland Europe's attention was taken by a loftier, yet still heavily romanticized variation on the Gothic train that rolled out of the 90s death/doom station. This style, which eventually split off into what now is widely recognized as the Epica sound, took out most of the slower doom elements and scaled back much of the death metal elements to something along the lines of a highly formulaic power/thrash character, all the while putting a greater deal of emphasis on symphonic devices and building a dense atmosphere of sound comparable to Rhapsody Of Fire's Hollywood soundtrack approach to metal. In light of the ongoing studio feats of After Forever and the eventual debut spawned by its sister band Epica, Nemesea comes into the equation a bit late for any claim of originality, but they've definitely took the instruction of their slight elders well and came out with a winner of a debut.

A casual listen to "Mana" reveals an album crafted by a fold of committed fans, holding very few surprises to speak of, but definitely carrying a sizable load of enthusiasm and an eye for detail. Guitarist H.J. De Jong is an overt fan of Mark Jansen, so much so that his riff work often just misses plagiarizing several ideas off of "Decipher", but there is a bit more at work when getting down to the detailing of the guitar work. Likewise, vocalist and co-founder Manda Ophuis is so close to an outright Sharon Den Adel clone that it gets difficult to tell during the ballads whether this album or "Mother Earth" is actually playing. Nevertheless, the consequential sound of melding these two familiar Dutch staples together makes for a fun listen, perhaps because the lyrical subjects aren't so heavily drenched in modern politics and the two guitarist arrangement is exploited a bit more effectively here than the Gommans vs. Jansen pair up, which primarily consisted of two rhythm guitarists doing virtually the same thing from start to finish.

The greatest plus "Mana" carries is a lack of shyness in ratcheting up the gallops and the tempo, even in comparison to the power metal tendencies of Epica. Right from the onset, "Threefold Law" cruises through with the same sort of high kicking drum work, galloping chug guitar work and lofty choral voices that was generally saved until later on "Prison Of Desire" and not quite thrown out as blatantly on "Decipher". The same story generally goes for the longer and more complex "Angel In The Dark" after the piano ballad intro, as well as the thrashing "Lucifer" with a galloping riff set right out of the Jon Schaffer school and a lot of Mid-Eastern melodic trappings. That's really the sticking point where the comparisons between Epica and this band come into play, the uncanny love of using an Arabic-influenced musical character that plays to a mystical character of sound. Arguably the only noticeable place where Nemesea breaks with Epica is in the lead guitar department, where several solos such as the one heard on "Mortalitis Part III: Moriendum Tibi Est" (even structuring the song titles like Mark Jansen would) have a fair amount of Blackmore and Malmsteen influences, though presented in a less outwardly virtuosic fashion than the likes of Stratovarius or Iron Mask.

It's a foregone conclusion that anyone who likes early After Forever and all of Epica's output will find a precious gem here. Originality isn't necessarily the most sought after trick of the trade, and when considering that this band opened up for After Forever on several occasions, it stands to reason that it was never really high on their radar at this juncture. To its credit, "Mana" goes a bit beyond simply imitating an up and coming sound circa 2004 but also breathes a little bit of additional life into it, presenting a version of it that's a bit more energetic and busy. Call it presumptuous, but I would argue that this debut edges out After Forever's entire output and stands toe to toe with anything Jansen has done with Epica since. It's chock full of memorable songs and lacks a lot of the meandering and extraneous samples and voice-over speeches that tend to interrupt an otherwise smooth flow sound on said albums. It's a bit hard to come by given its release on the now defunct Ebony Tears label, but if it can be found, it definitely deserves more love.