Nemesea – The Quiet Resistance

Releasedate: 17-11-2011; Label: Napalm Records
By: Martine Goffard

In the same line as Delain, After Forever and Epica, we have Nemesea; another punchy Dutch band, carried by a cute and charismatic singer. “The Quiet Resistance” is only the third album of the band, formed in 2002. It’s a fresh and electro, alternative metal album that still leaves you unsatisfied. I explain…

It begins with a dark, eerie, electro intro. It’s really surprising, as you await to get blasted by some trash metal screams at any moment. Then starts Caught In The Middle. This song makes the album. It’s a hit. It’s catchy, fast, well structured, a lot of variations in Manda’s voice with crystal-clear a capella transitions. This could be broadcasted on the radio and deserves a video clip. Afterlife is a bit too much similar with less charm but we can only admire how easily Manda switches her voice from scathing low tone to pure high notes. High Enough takes us high indeed but it’s thanks to the angel voice of Charlotte Wessels from Delain, singing here as a guest. We can enjoy a good choir work on Release Me. We even have a song about 2012, for paranoiac people probably, as you can hear short passages of apocalyptic radio news on an electro background. The album ends with Allein. Yes, it’s in German but no, it’s not Rammstein. They just invited Heli Reissenweber, vocalist of the Rammstein cover-band “Stahlzeit”. And it sounds nice !
Now, the black spots. This album is far too mainstream. With such capacities, they could have taken more risks than that. It’s a shame. The guitars are barely audible on many songs, at a point that you wonder if this is still metal. The songs are short but 14 songs, when they all look cast in the same mould, it’s boring. Then the big flop: Whenever. It’s a copy/paste of Within Temptation (I hope this is a tribute). If You Could is just irrelevant on a metal album.

Line-up:
Hendrik Jan de Jong – Guitar
Sonny Onderwater – Bass
Manda Ophuis – singer
Lasse Dellbrugge – keyboard
Frank Van Der Star – drums

Tracklist: 01. The Quiet Resistance 02. Caught in the Middle 03. Afterlife 04. Whenever 05. If You Could 06. High Enough 07. Say 08. It’s Over 09. I Live 10. Stay with Me 11. Rush 12. Release Me 13. 2012 14. Allein

Links:
Nemesea Facebook