|
Nemesis Within
is the debut release from young Swedish band Assailant, who were formed by
Oskar Norberg and Joakim Jonsson, who later found vocalist Peder Sundquist
and together the trio started writing together. Now the trio needed
to complete the band so they brought in Patrik Larsson on drums, Marcus
Sundbom on guitars and completing the line up Peder Sandstrom on
keyboards.
The band are one
of the new breed of young bands that defy the whole genre thing and simply
want to just play their music to the masses.
The album itself
opens up with ‘Lies’, a clear assault on the senses with its rampaging
pace and outstanding vocals of Sundquist being one of the highlights not
just of the track, but the entire album.
The album
continues with ‘Buried Alive’, a great track that is full of swooping
guitar solos and some pretty intense rhythm sections courtesy of Larsson
and Jonsson.
On ‘Edge of
Forever’ the keyboards of Sandstrom make their presence felt along with
that amazing rhythm section and the incredible power of Sundquist’s
vocals. The track is so intense and it's because of that intensity
that this particular track is one of my favourite tracks off the album.
The band take a
modern approach to the whole metal scene and with ‘Downward Spiral’ this
is brought to the forefront with the guitars being allowed to run riot
against the intense vocals of Sundquist.
The modern metal
theme is kept up with ‘Until The End’ along with ‘Downward Spiral’, both
tracks wouldn't be amiss on Scuzz TV along side the likes of In Flames and
New Found Glory.
But it’s the
flamboyant keyboard tracks like ‘Eternal’ that really do it for me on this
album, you can’t beat a bit of flouncy fluffy keyboards now and again.
The intense
metal continues with ‘Mental State’, ‘Shattered’, and the excellent
‘Tomorrow’. The pace is picked up again on ‘Vanity Unfolds’, a song
that is very Lost Prophets in its structure, but with a lot more melody
and passion from the vocals.
The album closes
with Sundquist at his most intense on ‘My Awakening’, with the rest of the
band bringing up the rear with some pretty intense stuff themselves.
This is a very impressive first release from the band and the refusal to
be labelled into any genre makes this album accessible listening for all
fans of good modern metal. |
