earMUSIC
2013
1. Abandon
2. Unbreakable
3. Stand My Ground
4. Halycon Days
5. Fantasy
6. Out Of The Fog
7. Castles In The Air
8. Dragons
9. One Must Fall
10. If The Story Is Over
11. Nemesis
To this point, I'd have to count getting rid of Timmo Tolkki as sort of a mixed blessing for Stratovarius. The band has undoubtedly gotten better, and certainly less dysfunctional since Tolkki was shown the door. Certainly, few can blame the band for moving away from their founder who had seemingly lost his marbles. The flip side is that, while good, Polaris and Elysium did leave at least me wondering if we'd ever get another total classic like Visions or Destiny again. I don't intend it as a slight when I say, while good, those albums are not on the level of the stride the band hit between Fourth Dimension and Infinite. Those were albums when Tolkki pretty well owned the band so it does leave one to wonder if Stratovarius can really hit those heights again though.
My first experience with this album's songs was the EP Unbreakable which came out in advance of the full length and contained the single Unbreakable. I immediately fell in love with the one track from the album and I do have to say it set my expectations high along with a lot of buzz on this album that it was the best since Visions. Granted, I'd heard this before, but those songs on the EP made me start to buy in.
Listening to Nemesis as a whole though, I have to say that Unbreakable was a bit of a tease and I have to remember this band tends to come up with at least one very good single on even a bad album. In this case, the album starts off very strong with Unbreakable and Abandon which have great energy and melodies that measure up well with anything the band has ever done. From there though, the verdict on this album immediately gets a little murkier.
Next up, the totally unlikeable Stand My Ground rears it's ugly head. This song is simply put a total mess. This is just a completely bizarre song that sounds like Stratovarius trying to be dark and heavy in an almost Nevermore/Thrash way with subdued, distorted vocals and weird shouty gang vocals. Then we build up to an epic chorus that sounds over the top and out of the place. This is pretty much of a perfect example of a band trying to expand their sound and completely failing. Nice try I guess? Halycon Days tries for a little bit of a darker vibe as well, but manages it better and still sounds mostly like happy power metal. The fusion of sounds is still a bit odd at times with the dark sounding backing choral vocals, but this one is a just bit more grounded in what the band traditionally is.
Worth noting as having the exact opposite problem of the previous couple is Fantasy which is a totally typical happy power metal song. Just standard by numbers fare and it fails to really stand out except as the polar opposite of the last couple. Things recover a bit with Out Of The Fog which has more edge and aggression without sounding like it's out of Stratovarius' comfort zone.
Without going through every song track by track, I'd have to say from here on out things are good, but not quite great. Basically, the band tries to experiment with a darker feel at times and the results are mixed. I give the band credit for trying something here, but I can't say I'm totally sold on the finished product. This album has moments of greatness, but the best moments are really the first two songs and the rest of the album doesn't keep that level of quality going. I do like the song Dragons though which is swift and powerful with an anthem quality to it.
I guess the best word for Nemesis is uneven. This is about on par with the past couple Stratovarius albums, but with better highlights and more lackluster deep tracks. Only one of the songs is really Bad (Stand My Ground), it's just that Nemesis still doesn't find that next level or at least sustain it through the entire album. I think that the band just needs to be who they are a little bit more, maybe tone down the production a hair, and bring back a bit more of the neoclassical influence that Tolkki brought to the band. If there is a lesson to be found here it's that maybe not every band needs to jump on the dark power metal bandwagon. I'd say this album is worth it for Stratovarius fans and general power metal fans may find it worth it for the strong highlights. The album in general does not really rank anywhere in my favorite Stratovarius releases though.
Highlights: Unbreakable, Abandon, Out Of The Fog, Dragons
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Unbreakable
3. Stand My Ground
4. Halycon Days
5. Fantasy
6. Out Of The Fog
7. Castles In The Air
8. Dragons
9. One Must Fall
10. If The Story Is Over
11. Nemesis
To this point, I'd have to count getting rid of Timmo Tolkki as sort of a mixed blessing for Stratovarius. The band has undoubtedly gotten better, and certainly less dysfunctional since Tolkki was shown the door. Certainly, few can blame the band for moving away from their founder who had seemingly lost his marbles. The flip side is that, while good, Polaris and Elysium did leave at least me wondering if we'd ever get another total classic like Visions or Destiny again. I don't intend it as a slight when I say, while good, those albums are not on the level of the stride the band hit between Fourth Dimension and Infinite. Those were albums when Tolkki pretty well owned the band so it does leave one to wonder if Stratovarius can really hit those heights again though.
My first experience with this album's songs was the EP Unbreakable which came out in advance of the full length and contained the single Unbreakable. I immediately fell in love with the one track from the album and I do have to say it set my expectations high along with a lot of buzz on this album that it was the best since Visions. Granted, I'd heard this before, but those songs on the EP made me start to buy in.
Listening to Nemesis as a whole though, I have to say that Unbreakable was a bit of a tease and I have to remember this band tends to come up with at least one very good single on even a bad album. In this case, the album starts off very strong with Unbreakable and Abandon which have great energy and melodies that measure up well with anything the band has ever done. From there though, the verdict on this album immediately gets a little murkier.
Next up, the totally unlikeable Stand My Ground rears it's ugly head. This song is simply put a total mess. This is just a completely bizarre song that sounds like Stratovarius trying to be dark and heavy in an almost Nevermore/Thrash way with subdued, distorted vocals and weird shouty gang vocals. Then we build up to an epic chorus that sounds over the top and out of the place. This is pretty much of a perfect example of a band trying to expand their sound and completely failing. Nice try I guess? Halycon Days tries for a little bit of a darker vibe as well, but manages it better and still sounds mostly like happy power metal. The fusion of sounds is still a bit odd at times with the dark sounding backing choral vocals, but this one is a just bit more grounded in what the band traditionally is.
Worth noting as having the exact opposite problem of the previous couple is Fantasy which is a totally typical happy power metal song. Just standard by numbers fare and it fails to really stand out except as the polar opposite of the last couple. Things recover a bit with Out Of The Fog which has more edge and aggression without sounding like it's out of Stratovarius' comfort zone.
Without going through every song track by track, I'd have to say from here on out things are good, but not quite great. Basically, the band tries to experiment with a darker feel at times and the results are mixed. I give the band credit for trying something here, but I can't say I'm totally sold on the finished product. This album has moments of greatness, but the best moments are really the first two songs and the rest of the album doesn't keep that level of quality going. I do like the song Dragons though which is swift and powerful with an anthem quality to it.
I guess the best word for Nemesis is uneven. This is about on par with the past couple Stratovarius albums, but with better highlights and more lackluster deep tracks. Only one of the songs is really Bad (Stand My Ground), it's just that Nemesis still doesn't find that next level or at least sustain it through the entire album. I think that the band just needs to be who they are a little bit more, maybe tone down the production a hair, and bring back a bit more of the neoclassical influence that Tolkki brought to the band. If there is a lesson to be found here it's that maybe not every band needs to jump on the dark power metal bandwagon. I'd say this album is worth it for Stratovarius fans and general power metal fans may find it worth it for the strong highlights. The album in general does not really rank anywhere in my favorite Stratovarius releases though.
Highlights: Unbreakable, Abandon, Out Of The Fog, Dragons
Rating - 3.5/5
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