Finally got around to giving each track a listen now, actually. I'm sure my opinions will change after a few more listens, but listening to each track other than "Unbreakable" for the first time, anyway...
The overall new direction for
Nemesis kind of reminds me of Delain's new direction with
We Are the Others. The only difference is the downtuning and the electronic influences seemed to distract more from Delain's original sound while still fitting those new songs, but there's a sort of synergy between the new changes and Stratovarius's basic sound. So it sounds new, but it still sounds like Stratovarius where with Delain, my biggest gripe was that the symphonic elements practically disappeared.
The other thing I noticed is that Rolf Pilve seems like an okay drummer, but there's really nothing that stands out a whole lot. I definitely don't know as much about drums and the technical details, but I'm not hearing as much character in his work as with Jörg Michael's drumming. Though I suppose it might be unfair to compare those two since Rolf's new and Jörg left his mark on TEN Stratovarius albums in 16 years... He's got time to improve if he stays with the band, so I guess we'll see if he finds more of his own style.
Totally agree on "Halcyon Days" being one of the best tracks. The crazy riffs and the choirs worked well, but the electronic influence did sound a little off. But man, those riffs...
Sometimes the tone of a song just strikes a chord with me, and that was the case for "Fantasy." From a technical standpoint, it might not be very impressive, but there was something nice and catchy about it, and the keyboards worked especially well there.
So far, though, my favorite might actually be "Out of the Fog." Like any good 7-minute+ tracks, it doesn't seem to drag, and I heard a lot of nice chugging riffs, proof that Timo can still sing some pretty high notes (even if they're not as high as on
Episode or
Elements), and a fine solo that you somehow missed...
I wasn't particularly thrilled with "Castles in the Air," but the darker sound seemed to work for it. But you're right that there doesn't seem to be a lot of variety on this album. This song kind of sounds like
part of "Elysium," but doesn't really provide the listener with a lot of variety. It's the closest analogy I can make, since it doesn't even sound downtempo enough to compare to "Lifetime in a Moment" or "Somehow Precious."
The electronic bits seem to really work much better on "Dragons," which is another nice and catchy one. Coincidentally, I'm working on joining a multiplayer league called the Descent Rangers as a member of the Red Dragons team, and this song would be a great theme for the squad if it weren't for the tone of the lyrics. If it sounded more "I dare you to beat them" then "You're strong enough to defeat them," then I'd use it.
"One Must Fall" didn't really stand out much at all, to be perfectly honest. The title drop in the chorus was just about the only thing I remember after the first listen.
There's an odd slightly Eastern sound to the intro to "If the Story Is Over" (unless I'm actually hearing a modulated whistle
), and the acoustic guitar and symphonic instruments provide a very nice atmosphere. Too bad there weren't more of these stylistic departures on the album. This song certainly sounds like Stratovarius, and really, out of all the albums I've listened to (as of writing this, I haven't gotten around to their self-titled album), I think the only song that doesn't sound like Stratovarius is "Full Moon," which was merely a bonus track anyway. My only complaint is that the instrumentation seems to be trying to drown out Timo's voice when the heavy guitars and drums kick in, but other than that, I really enjoyed it. Why wasn't there another calmer song like this?
And at last, the title track, which starts with some nice neoclassical elements I also missed throughout most of the album. That might be why the electronic parts were iffy throughout... Jens's more classically-inspired synths have always worked on songs like "Blind," "Event Horizon" and of course the instrumentals, but when they start sounding more techno-pop, then there's a chunk of the classic Strato sound missing right there. One of my other complaints is that the way the song was put together, it sounded like it was closing when the chorus only halfway through started in. This is why most of Stratovarius's longer songs work but this one didn't really work as well for me: it sort of dragged for the last two minutes, and it wasn't even seven minutes long. Maybe if the different elements had been put together in another order (perhaps starting with the closing choirs and then building up?), I wouldn't have felt this way.
Overall, I agree that it feels a little "blah" compared to
Polarius and
Elysium, but granted, the last one was a VERY hard act to follow. I do like the sound changes for the most part, but I also feel like there's a lack of songwriting variety and that's the big drawback here. There was catchy stuff, it was just a bit too homogeneous, but as you said, it'll probably evolve into a nice, fun listen over time, especially for me after I give it some time.
Topic: \m/ The Heavy Metal Thread \m/ (Read 4276 times)
