MEMOIRA - review added 3rd March 2009
Album Review: Memoira (Self Titled) (2008)
For fans of: hard rock... and symphonic feminine voices
Finnish band Memoira officially came into existence in 2007, but the story really began in 2001 when guitarists Jani Haanpää and Marko Heurlin started playing together. Over time, they were joined by Lassi Nuolivaara (keyboards, vocals), Timo Fetula (drums), Jussi Lamminharju (bass), and the suspiciously attractive Jemina Pitkälä on lead vocals.
The band's sound has hints of Within Temptation and Evanescence wrapped in a warm cuddly blanket of gothic progressive metal. Jemina is the vocal equivalent of a taut leather cat suit, knotted whip and pink fluffy handcuffs; She dominates the record with mellifluous abandon. Whether she is up there with the best singers of the genre is debatable, but she's got a bloody got voice nonetheless.
Discussing individual songs on this album seems almost pointless. There's a flow from start to finish with a common theme playing through just about every song. Okay, there isn't a great deal of variety from one track to the next, but within each song there are myriad key changes, guitar and keyboard wanderings and drum intricacies. Every song is like an entire album condensed into a 4-6 minute timeframe. It makes for a busy listening experience, but there are plenty of records out there with this approach that have been obscenely successful.
Lassi Nuolivaara has a stab at singing on 'Shadow On My Name'. His voice is perhaps not up to the standard set by Jemina, but he never gets his feet wet in the pool of awfulness. As soon as he and Jemina launch into harmony, the result is considerably better.
This is one of those albums that, I'm afraid, does very little for me... but, this says more about me than the record. I've never been a massive fan of operatic female voices layered over heavy rock, and this does little to change my awkward little mind. The production is not the best, but the performances deserve plenty of praise.
If this style of music is your thing, Memoira's debut may be one of the best examples of this genre you'll hear. Memoira may have circumnavigated my heart strings, but there's no doubt they'll tug on plenty of others.
Check out... 'Liberation'. It seems to be growing on me even though I don't like this style of music!
Track List:
1. Arise (Intro)
2. Experimenters Farewell
3. Haunted
4. Destiny Of Yours
5. Incurable
6. Shadow On My Name
7. Half Alive
8. Liberation
9. Amortization
Label: Nightmare Records
Artist's websites: Memoira , MySpace
