Dutch trio Nemesea, back here for their fourth full length studio effort, have already carved something of a name for themselves in Europe with their pleasing-to-the-ear mix of electronica and spritely gothic pop rock; Uprise, whilst unlikely to snare too many new followers, keeps up the good work in providing easy listening anthems for the darker minded young people amongst us…

Take the track Forever, for instance; Slightly downbeat verses reminiscent of latterday Within Temptation welded to a tres moderne post-hardcore chorus barrage of ‘whoa-oh-ohs’ see the track designed to appeal to just about anyone with a pair of ears and an interest in ‘alt.rock’. Add to the fact that Marina Ophuis’ vocals are about as pop-friendly as you’ll ever read about in the pages of Sentinel Daily and you’ve got yourself a can’t-fail radio friendly unit shifting package. Let it Burn is more of the same, it’s supremely yearning verse somewhat spoiled by Ophuis’ lack of oomph come chorus time. A pop act might slather a bit of vocoder over the vocal here to cover up any deficiency, which thankfully Nemesea don’t do, but the song really lacks a Sharon den Adel-type belting to bring it home.

Still, that’s just personal taste poking its nose in, I guess, and really Ophuis fronts the project well for the most part. She’s more suited to less demanding tracks like Time to Make It, where the salvos of electronica and nicely controlled guitar heft back her up to the max, or the slightly muted but no less appealing Light Up the Sky, a song which could easily appear on any idol-type singers album without causing a second glance with its Snow Patrol styled angst and slightly-shy-of-uplifting chorus.

It’s not all good news, however, with the likes of Get Out being just a bit too lightweight for fans of a more rockular bent; Likewise opening track Hear Me doesn’t really do enough to get the juices flowing but, overall, if you like a bit of pop sensibility as a leavening agent to all the sturm und drang then you’ll find Uprise mostly satisfying.

Uprise is released by Napalm Records on April 29th