Nemophila - Oiran (Review)

Band Nemophila, who was created in early September 2019, has attracted my attention from the very first post on Twitter. However, I didn't hear the first single right away: international version was released a bit later than the main one - on April 6th. However, I managed to listen this and now I will tell you what's interesting there.

My Rating: 78/100 Best song: Oiran

I know Japanese culture very well. And if you saw only five beautiful girls with very loud biographies, extended-range guitars, a drawing of a woman in Japanese clothes on the cover and a reference to David Bowie, then I saw more. Cover art, by the way, is also far from being as simple as it seems, but more on that later.

Album structure is as follows. First track is as if band Bridear make a cover on Pantera song. First track also has extreme vocal techniques. Second track is something with an “acid” synthesizer and a lot of pinch harmonics. Third track is something melodic and calm. After took off the headphones, there remains some sense of incompleteness. It was as if a big bet were made on the first track, and then “somehow”. Perhaps they wanted to do something like a contrasts game. But this turned out to be somewhat peculiar: after the super emotional first track, the others seemed kind of lethargic. Well, the attempt counted, although there is still something to work on.

A vocalist is something incredible. The vocal performance is very emotional and very convincing. Even in the least interesting song (track 3), the vocalist shows high skill. But, there is a feeling that the vocalist forces all this out of himself. That is, its limit is well known, but the attempt to overcome this takes some not quite clear forms. Well, I failure to find the other flaws. And this is a good start.

Instrumental parts - it's difficult to write a lot of text here. Nevertheless, it can be noted that the situation is twofold. In first track, the guitars sound interesting: the listeners are greeted with rather emotional parts on extended-range guitars. It's noticeable that in the first track they make a big bet: guitarists have a very groove and very angry constructions on locrian (if I'm not mistaken) scale. But then the guitars somehow fade away: in other tracks, the guitarists are lost in the mix against the background of other instruments. Rhythm section also does not stand idle. The entire release is filled with high intensity drums. Even at an average pace you can hear interesting drum loops. This is a big plus towards the drummer. Also there are additional instruments. For example, an “acid” synthesizer in the style of some Korg Wavestation (2 track), as well as an “industrial” (3 track).

Of course, I understand everything: this girls just wanted to show that they are nothing more than entertain the audience. This is noticeable in the release name itself, it's noticeable on cover art, it's noticeable in sound. But I, as a music critic, see all their flaws. And I can say this. This is something like a disease in similar bands: make a big bet on first track, and then, when the listener is already under the influence of these emotions, put all the others in playlist. Someone might say, “It's a unique style” or something like that. No guys, this is a mistake. Perhaps they are just having fun or not working at full strength. Perhaps they just wanted to quickly release their first work. In any case, it remains to be hoped that they will not curtail activity in a one or two years. Because the project has really good potential.