Review Summary: Mnemic refuse to impress and choose to settle into the area of the familiar and boring instead.
Mnemic have steadily seen an increase in popularity with each release. Arriving from Denmark, the band plays a fusion of metal genres that range from the sampled effects of industrial metal to the melodic song structures of melodic death metal. Even more impressive given their diverse combination of genres is the fact that the band have never come across as sounding
dense in their music. As past releases have shown, listeners are generally presented with the all that Mnemic have to offer up front with a set of howling vocals, chugging guitars, and a few samples every now and then; as a result, there’s generally not much growing room for the material with each subsequent listen. While this does makes for a fun “pick up and play” type of listening experience, those that are searching for a bit more in their music - as far as subtle melodies and intricate guitar riffs go - have generally been disappointed with the band's past releases.
Sons Of The System is the fourth studio album from Mnemic, and within its contents, the band have promised a more atmospheric and catchy album. However, contrary to anything that the band might tell you, things haven't really changed that mych in their sound. The band still plays their commercialized conglomerate of metal genres that places even more of an emphasis on the
commercialized aspect this time around as well. Generally speaking, the songs follow a drawn-out verse-chorus structure that showcase the howling, Anders Friden-styled vocals of Guillaume Bideau while he is supplemented by the groove-type guitar riffs. I’ve found that whether this works or not generally depends on only two aspects of the music: the track length and how well the band transitions from verse to chorus. Mnemic have a problem with overstating their welcome on a few of the tracks – e.g. “March Of The Tripods”, “Hero(in)”, and the title track. These all exceed five minutes in length, and given Mnemic relatively simple “chug-chug” instrumental nature, listeners will have to fight just to sit through them.
When the band formats the song at just the right length and with a proper transition, a fun, if not generally forgettable, song can be created. “Within” and the keyboard-accented “The Eraser” are an example of this where the band plays to their strengths and do not try to move into the areas of the epic and progressive. “Mnightmare” is probably the strongest cut here and houses the album’s best chorus that comes off as passionate and generally believable in context. However, on average, the melodies of Guillaume do not seem to stay with listeners for long; the vocalist has a bad habit of drawing out a rather uninteresting chorus with an extended note at every turn. This wouldn’t be so bad if he utilized this tactic in the songwriting every now and then, but the fact is, it’s in nearly
every song and quickly wears thin as a result. The album really suffers because of this, and given the generally boring nature of the instrumentals, halfway through the album, listeners may become restless and bored. Also worth mentioning is that it's a little troubling that the band have refused to show improvement with their instrumentals on the
Sons Of The System. Considering that this is their fourth album from the metal group, one would like to see a guitar solo every now and then or even just a captivating riff with well-implemented drum fills. That's not to say the boys aren't competent and sound respectable, it's just that this aspect of the music makes it sound like they aren't trying to improve anymore.
The title of
Sons Of The System is an allusion to the oppressed that are under control of higher powers and acts as the main lyrical subject of the album. However, I find that the title represents the sound that Mnemic have come to offer listeners thus far with their albums. The band is slowly becoming more popular, more commercial, and slightly catchier without becoming more refined with their instruments; in essence, they’ve built a sort of “system” to create so-so songs and albums that, while fun every now and then, generally tend to fade from memory - as a result for this particular listener, fade from my album collection as well. If you are a fan of the band’s past work, then you will not be disappointed with
Sons of the System; if you are anything besides a fan, however, you probably will not have any reason to check this out.
