Serenity – Nemesis AD

Welcome to the world some 500 years ago. And welcome to the world of Albrecht Dürer. Another welcome to Austrian Symphonic Metalists Serenity’s modern interpretation of his creative power. And a final welcome to Nemesis AD!

Nemesis AD

Memoriae Alberti Dureri

Remembering Albrecht Dürer! The title of the intro speaks for itself. A church choir brings you into the mood for what to expect in the next ten songs.

The Fall of Man

Here we go! A powerful lead guitar line opens the song in best and well-known Serenity manner. “The Fall of Man” leads to the end of paradise. I think the message is understood.

Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)

It is the first time, Serenity partly sing in German, at least the title-line, and of course it is all about the well-known copper engraving by the master himself. The song perfectly combines orchestral arrangements, a heavy guitar riff, and soaring vocals. What do you want more? Historical topic, catchy melody, accurate arrangement, let’s already call it a hit of the bull’s eye.

Soldiers Under the Cross

We become a wee bit melancholic. Soldiers fight under the cross, but which cross? So many armies used a cross as their battle sign of victory in the past. They are innumerable. What unites them is, they all lost and died a bitter death against their own will for the sake of higher powers. We don’t need more wars; it is nowadays more important than ever.

Reflections (of AD)

Let’s remain emotional. The sentimental intro leads us to a kind of fast power ballad. Vocalist Georg Neuhauser’s voice doesn’t stand back behind someone like (R.I.P.) Meat Loaf. It is a perfect song for perfect vocals. The choir in the middle of this eight minutes long opus does its best to catch up with Georg but soon he takes over again. A short but crazy guitar solo completes this song which is a little musical itself. Perfect.

Sun of Justice

A dramatic intro can’t be ignored before heavy guitar tunes take control. “Sun of Justice” almost features some progressive psychedelic moments. Almost, because symphonic power metal rules. That’s the stuff which really gives justice to sun, moon, light, darkness and all their eternal gods.

Nemesis

Speaking about gods, Nemesis is the Greek Goddess of Retribution. The song itself starts with some oriental tunes and a rough guitar riff before Georg takes over to tell the story about the anger of gods and the wages of sin. It is the more melodic song compared to the one by Arch Enemy. Nevertheless, the lyrics are mean. Nemesis has come to reign over our lives and fate as a god of rage and hate.

The End of Babylon

And we remain historical while becoming melancholic. This is the end. It is not our Armageddon but the end of Babylon. Babylon was the ancient city of 1000 languages which indeed didn’t end well. It is a sentimental song with a strong arrangement and orchestration. I can already imagine all the lighters up in the air during a live performance.

Crowned by an Angel

For a change, piano notes, cello and violins accompany Georg’s vocals in the beginning. The full orchestration with guitar, bass, drums comes together to carry the song away to a land of dreams and a coronation by an angel? Who wants to be the angel?

The Sky is our Limit

Some while ago I heard a song “The Sky is the limit” by German April Art. What a different song Serenity’s “our” limit is! There we were on the Alternative side, here we are on the Symphonic side. The song is very well and cleverly arranged with all the additional orchestration. But what both songs have in common is a simple fact. The sky might be the or our limit, but if you really, really want to reach something, there is no limit.

The Fall of Man

Surprisingly there are two songs with the same title on the album, the opener after the intro and the closer. In fact, they are the same song. You have heard the metal version at first and here we go with the orchestral, classic version. I like them both, the latter one seems to be a bit more uncommon, even for Serenity. What do you think? Which one do you prefer?

What is left to say?

With Nemesis AD, Serenity once again managed to create another masterpiece of Symphonic Metal. The additional guitar and backing vocals by Marco Pastorino of Temperance worked out very, very well. Serenity and Temperance will be touring together in February 2024 for good reasons. Save the dates below, it will be more than worth watching both bands.

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proof reading by DerminBoad