I’ve been following Danish band Mnemic since their first album “Mechanical Spin Phenomena” in 2003. This and its successor “The Audio Injected Sound” (2004) showed signs of a fresh face in the world of modern, futuristic metal or metalcore or whatever you want to call it. I was less impressed with “Passenger” (2007) which I thought was too Americanised and for that reason lacking in the originality of shape and ideas which was a feature of Mnemic’s music. “Sons of the System” brought them back on track and now they’re here again with “Mnemesis”.
I couldn’t say that Mnemic are always the easiest of bands to listen to, in spite of their up-front and modern style. There’s always loads going on. “Mnemesis” is no exception. I’ve seen the band play live twice and although I’ve enjoyed their performances, I’ve yet to find anyone in the UK to show any enthusiasm for them and I’ve had people admit to me that they don’t “get” them. It doesn’t help to be caught cold. Instant gratification is not really their offering. Mnemic do seem to receive greater acclaim from audiences in mainland Europe and elsewhere, and from other musicians, notably Metallica. I can see that Mnemic are a musician’s band. It’s a bit like your team’s midfielder who plays every week but you can’t work out what his contribution is, and then he wins the player’s player award.
On “Mnemesis” the band continue the good work of “Sons of the System” and exploit their immense ability to manage sound, which comes at the listener from all, and mostly heavy angles. Expansive heavy metal and deep riffs dominate. As the album develops, there’s cohesive breadth in the music on the magnificent and majestic “There’s No Tomorrow” and “Haven at the End of the World”. A strength of these particular tracks is that the band has cut down on the range of ideas, which can be overwhelming and frustrating. “Valves” and “Junkies on the Storm” are both guilty of this in my book. I’m not sure what either of them is aiming at. The guitar sections on “Valves” and the thunderous beat which meets a heavy commercial progressive element on “Junkies on the Storm” have great merit but the overall mix of ingredients is just too much. Vocally, the aim seems to be an expansive distant sound and on the last track “BlueDesertin a Black Hole” it’s achieved but on “Valves”, the chorus is just whiny. “Junkies on the Storm” could be great but highlights the danger of having too many ideas together and never gets going, instead just hanging in the air.
Mnemic can’t be accused of a lack of adventure or experimentation, and if on the one hand their music can be bewildering, on the other it’s usually dynamic. Vocalist Guillaume Bideau, who is the second most long-standing member of the band after joining in 2007, is on good form, adding metal and commercial value right from the controlled explosiveness and diversity of the opening track “Transcend”. Mnemic in fact tread an interesting line between a progressive, technical metal and commercial appeal. The groove-laden “I’ve Been You” is commercial but is also enhanced by a strong riff. I liked it, but I thought where Mnemic got it exactly right was on the following track “Pattern Platform”. There’s an off-beat heaviness, the growls are timed to perfection, the guitar work is admirably threatening and all in all this is an impressively shadowy song. And the magnificence doesn’t stop there. For the big, majestic and broad sound base, “Haven at the End of the World” and the slower and darkly moody “There’s No Tomorrow” win the honours for me.
Coherent atmosphere does help and it is there on this album but it’s not everywhere. The impressive outweighs the unfathomable though. There’s some great metal here with deep and thunderous riffs and added punch and feeling from the vocalist. “Mnemesis” certainly isn’t bland. All credit to Mnemic for not holding back and giving us their unique take on thoroughly modern metal.
(7 / 10 Andrew Doherty)
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