Another Healthy Dose of Feminine Power from Japan - A Review of Nemophila's Revive

No other country has as many creative, energetic and memorable all-female rock and metal bands as Japan. Nemophila is yet another group of this kind, revolving around Mary's Blood guitarist Saki. The five ladies have come together two years ago, have released three successful extended plays, one compilation and two singles before coming around with debut album Revive that offers the perfect opportunity to discover this quirky quintet.

The record opens with the liberating single and title track ''Revive'' that impresses with dynamic and melodic riffs, fast and tight rhythm section and melodic and powerful clean lead vocals. The song gets to the point in just three minutes and a half and is an instant hit. The music video that comes along with it shows how much the five musicians are enjoying themselves playing the music they love.

Up next comes ''Dissension'' that might be the record's heaviest tune with its aggressive riffs and the use of fierce screams. This track takes no prisoners and maims everything on its way through four highly entertaining minutes.

''Hypnosis'' on the other side focuses on a more atmospheric, introspective and smooth approach that offers a welcome break from the band's usually more diversified, powerful and quirky style.

The quintet proves with the memorable ''Game Over'' that it can also write catchy, focused and melodic pop songs without ever drifting away into shallow stereotypes. This track should certainly be released as an upcoming single and would deserve much radio airplay.

At the end of the day, Nemophila's Revive is an excellent release for everyone who appreciates a dynamic mixture of heavy metal, hard rock and pop music in the key of bands such as Band-Maid, Lovebites and Mary's Blood. This genre combination might sound odd at first contact to Western audiences but has proved to be quite efficient in Japan throughout many decades. This record doesn't revolutionize the female-fronted heavy metal scene but it's entertaining from start to finish through its eleven songs with a perfect running time of forty-four minutes. Crank up the volume, play this at your next party and have as much fun as the five musicians had when recording this album.

Final Rating: 80%