Review Summary: Best album of the year? Completely agree. Now we wait for Korn.
Every once in a while an album comes along that meets all expectations and more. We waited and waited and finally Gemini Syndrome released their sophomore album, It now came down to what they had in store, we took deep breathes, the tension in the Lair was palpable, pressed play and "wham", it was like diving face first into subzero water. Memento Mori is the sophomore record of the year and a release we can be proud of. Gemini Syndrome has done it again another album as groundbreaking as "Lux", their latest seems to continue where "Lux" stopped, no steps backwards but a few strides forward. "Memento Mori" is perfect, an album almost without flaws (and if there were any they can be shoved aside), the album is one of those that can push you to the extremes of a song by song review despite it's length. Seems we are coming off too strong like the ultimate crazy fanboy( that maybe true) but that's no fault of ours we have justifiable cause.
Memento Mori is a well produced and crafted album, serious thought went into this album, it was apparent in the instrumentation, vocals and lyrics. The drumming on this record is absolutely insane, thumbs up to Brian Steele Medina, at times he absolutely stole the show but Aaron Nordstrom and co have also hit new heights in terms of delivery, and in our minds elevating themselves to the realms of geniuses. Starting with the first two tracks of the album, 'Anonymous' and 'Remember We Die' which also happen to be two of the three singles in the album, we classify these songs as the best starts to any rock album this year, they absolutely ensnare the listener and remind you of what you have been missing since their last record dropped, the two songs have everything we have come to love about Gemini Syndrome, the vocals, lyrics and instrumentation are still there, a prelude to what else the album had to offer and we were not disappointed. Every song the album offers is adorable, they pull to the soul with relateable messages, these messages alone make you know that every member of the band is a deep thinker, and when these messages are delivered in Aaron Nordstrom's spine chilling, crisp vocals, it leaves you with goosebumps (We were constantly plagued by those). Nordstrom's passionate vocal delivery on all the songs really helped push the message in each song, making every song worth the listen. This did not stop us from having favorites though.
'Anonymous' is one of our favorites, it had everything, hard hitting, in your face head banger, with a message, "do you ever think of pulling the trigger? imagine how important you'll be" that part in the second verse just left us speechless, real deep ish. The messages and lyrics in 'Remember We Die' and 'Sorry not Sorry' also make them one of our favorites in the album, while the first tells us about our mortality and finding reason to hold on to our frail lives, the later tells us about vanity and what should really matter. Other favorites are 'Alive inside' and 'Say Good Night', the later of the two songs really shows of Nordstrom's vocal prowess, the albums closing song 'Brought to Light' is also up there as a favorite and a very sublime way of bringing it all to a close.
Gemini Syndrome's 'Memento Mori' is by far the best rock release of the year on so many levels, the highest being the albums ability to get better after repeated listens, we just cant get enough of it, which cant be said for a lot of releases this year.
http://lanomiaslair.blogspot.com.ng/2016/08/gemini-syndrome-memento-mori-lanomias.html
Don't bite my head off, no one had done a review on it yet, thought i could give it a go.
Cheers
