MNEMIC
Mnemesis
Nuclear Blast (2012)
Rating: 6/10
|
|
If you are talking about bands that have had a rough few years, Mnemic’s name will certainly pop up in short order. Mnemesis is the Danish band’s fifth album and on it they unveil a new second guitarist, bassist and drummer all at once, leaving only one original member; all of this coming not too far from the replacement of their original vocalist with Scarve’s Guillaume Bideau. Consistency is hard to keep when personalities change, yet Mnemesis is surprisingly cohesive although not near as groundbreaking as their early work.
Mnemesis opens with a bang with two of the three truly outstanding tracks on the album. ‘Transcend’ seems to tackle all the obstacles the band has had to overcome, establishing a firm musical base of American metalcore mixed with the band’s Gothenburg-style roots. This is a current that will run throughout the album and shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given the last couple of albums.
‘Valves’ is the song that takes me back to early Mnemic the most and is the album’s highlight in my opinion. Guitarist Mircea Gabriel Eftemie makes you wonder here if he might, in fact, be the best kept secret in heavy music. The guitar work is absolutely stunning as one guitar keeps the grind and the other floats along in a very Edge (David Evans, U2 guitarist) kind of way; atmospheric yet grounded in a sensible melody that people can relate to.
‘There’s No Tomorrow’ is a high point as well, rounding out the trio of outstanding tracks. The guitar work here, again, reminds me of bands like U2, Sense Field and Sunny Day Real Estate, but obviously having a heavier base to the songs. The vocals on ‘There’s No Tomorrow’ really soar and add a very introspective feel to the song that might otherwise have been absent.
Unfortunately, much of this album walks on well-tread ground. Songs like the title track, ‘Haven At The End Of The World’, ‘Blue Desert In A Black Hole’ and ‘Pattern Platform’ are mediocre at best musically and the rest fares little better. Don’t get me wrong, they are as solid as the majority of well-produced heavy music out there, but they fail to grab you in a lasting way. I can’t help but feel that Mnemic leans way too much towards current trends here, which is tremendously unlike the band of the first two albums (2003’s Mechanical Spin Phenomena and 2004’s The Audio Injected Soul).
Overall, there are some extremely bright spots here and no serious lows, but most of the album just sort of fades pleasantly into the background, failing to invoke strong feelings (either positive or negative). The three aforementioned tracks though give the listener something they can really deeply latch onto and for some that may be just enough.
Mark Fisher
