Mnemic
Passenger

THE REVIEW

Third chapter of the Mnemic saga titled "Passenger," again released by Nuclear Blast with production by Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory).

Not much has changed from the two previous productions, the influences can still be considered to come from Fear Factory and Meshuggah for the instrumental parts, and for the vocal parts, from Soilwork (even though many talk about In Flames influences in the sung parts, but honestly, I don't really hear them, I'd say there are many more similarities with Soilwork).

In the vocal field, the new feature is represented by the new singer Guillaume Bideau (Scarve) who offers an outstanding performance, perfectly at ease between growl and clean vocals. The album is enriched by the featuring of Shane Embury (Napalm Death), Jeff Walker (ex Carcass), and Roy Z. In this production, Mnemic finds a dimension that is slightly more their own, even though the influences of the aforementioned bands can be heard, and compared to the previous albums, the choruses are catchier.
As I was saying, the formula remains almost unchanged with imposing riffs, growl put in the right place, wide melodic openings, and some electronic inserts. The album opens with the sample of a plane takeoff, then flows into the fury of "Humanaut" in which, in addition to all the influences already mentioned, Spineshank also comes to mind as in other parts of the album (now you might ask: "just how many influences do these guys have? Is there anything that's actually theirs??" In fact, you're not entirely wrong to ask such questions XD) "In The Nothingness Black" I think represents the summary of the entire album, great thrash and death outbursts, super catchy melodic parts, and breakouts that slightly remind of metalcore.
"Meaningess" features Roy Z's contribution in writing the lyrics, I would say the most "commercial" track on the album. 

Shane Embury and Jeff Walker participate in "Psykorgasm" although honestly, they don't contribute much. The other tracks flow pleasantly (though at times also verbose) without offering great surprises since they more or less follow the same pattern.

Overall, a definitely good album, which will appeal especially to fans of Fear Factory
and Spineshank above all. A band that tries to enter the metal pantheon, the main issue though is finding their own dimension, as all the Danish records have had a strong impact
but then lose their grip over successive listens. We trust in future productions…