Stratovarius have been around for quite some time now, and this album ‘Nemesis’ is their fourteenth opus so far. Who thought that this band would be finished, when Timo Tolkki left the band, ought to re-think his or her words? ‘Nemesis’ is an album that is bursting with energy, right from the opening track ‘Abandon’, which goes back to the all too familiar old Stratovarius sound. The second track goes in another direction, and sounds much more melodic, but despite a rather soft piano intro, contains some very heavy riffing.
Timo Kotipelto’s voice sounds still like in their early years, and this means either you like it, or you hate it. This due to the fact that he has a rather high-pitched sometimes even nasal sounding voice. The guitars on this album are fantastic, scorching, roaring, riffing, and hitting just the right notes. Stratovarius sound as bombastic as ever, and I find the keyboards play a very big role in these songs.
Despite being called ‘Nemesis’, listening to this album had absolutely nothing to do with a nemesis, on the contrary, this is rather a privilege.