Nemesis (IRL)
Demo
5.4
True to form, traditional heavy metal clones have become increasingly popular over recent years, seeing many up and comers paying homage to the days of old when metal wasn’t really all that serious. The grand old 'daze' when bands just wanted to have loving relations with tons of tasty trim, drink high priced booze while experimenting with an assortment of party goods until all hours of the morning, and quite simply having a blast making the music they loved. Ireland’s Nemesis is trying to join the fray of the loyal breed by carving out and serving this self-titled five song demo. While a solid and somewhat entertaining piece of work, it is a bit marred by a lack of originality and a fairly shabby production that truly makes it sound like it was written and recorded 25 years ago.
The music is straight out of the NWOBHM archives and I almost feel like I’ve heard each song already somewhere along the line. And to be completely honest, the band members involved in this project will gladly take that as a compliment. While trying to add your own spin on the music from that period is not always a bad thing by any means, Nemesis has a difficult time pulling it off by neglecting to put their own stamp on their product. With tons of well thought out and quite solid twin guitar harmonies to be heard, as well as some very scrumptious lead work, the underlying riffs are just too hit or miss - and borrowed in many cases - making it difficult to take this as nothing more than a nod to the elder pioneers that came before them.
Most of the songs are up tempo as the drums do an adequate job at driving the songs to their destination, even if the chosen path is a bit bumpy and rough around the edges. Another thing I’d like to point out when it comes to the drum department is the very ‘band class’ sounding snare that lacks the solid poppiness I prefer, not to mention the kick sounds quite flat as well. Again, the melodic side of things in the git-fiddle department is well above par, with those sections sometimes overshadowing the finished product by being a bit too high in the mix. The vocals are fairly impressive, flaunting a singer that croons much like a Paul Di’anno crossing paths with a younger John Bush. This performance is probably the most notable facet within the band’s fold, but again I would expect a bit more individual personality next time around.
While there is plenty of potential here for something special to be thought up in the future, right now I have a hard time recommending this to fans of this style when bands like Pharaoh, Bible of the Devil and Crescent Shield have put together such quality offerings this year. Nemesis do have a couple of songs available on their Myspace page, so if you’re intrigued enough or simply have the right frame of mind for some rough around the edges old school then have at it.
