Nemesea

According to HJ, The Quiet Resistance is a balanced mix of the first two albums, combining heavy riffs and symphonic musical landscapes with pop sensibilities and electronic music influences. The former jazz guitar student wrote most of the new songs on guitar, piano and computer. Singer Manda added the lyrics, which go beyond the usual gothic rock lingo and fairytale stories. “Lyrics are very important. They can be comforting, but they can also shake things up. My lyrics are pieces of my life, personal experiences that I weave into little stories,” she explains. One of the central themes on this album is being in control, or losing it. “If you want to change things in your life, you just have to go for it.”

The current line-up of Nemesea is a tight-knit unity; complementing HJ and Manda are Sonny Onderwater (bass), Frank van der Star (drums) and Lasse Dellbrugge (keyboards). In addition to Manda’s amazing vocals, there are a few remarkable vocal guest performances on the new album, giving it an interesting vocal range and variety. Delain’s Charlotte Wessels lends her amazing voice to ‘High Enough’, and Marcus Klavan (vocals) and Matt Litwin (turntables) of American band Bulletproof Messenger contribute to the dynamic nu-metal track ‘It’s Over’. One of the songs that stands out is bonus track ‘Allein’, which features German singer Heli Reissenweber of Rammstein cover band Stahlzeit. HJ: “this song turned out to have this Rammstein feel, so we decided to push it as far as we could with partly German lyrics.”

Joost van den Broek, former keyboardist of After Forever, co-produced, mixed and mastered the Quiet Resistance. The band became friends with him when they toured with After Forever in the early stage of their career. His influence was refreshing, says HJ. “We needed someone who could make our sound heavier. He connected all the dots, and wrote all the symphonic arrangements, together with our keyboardist Lasse. He gave us a very big and heavy sound, both in the production and in the mix.”