Mnemic
Sons Of The System

I had a feeling even before, but listening to the new Mnemic album confirmed it: the Danish combo is probably one of the most inconsistent and fluctuating bands among the new generation.

Starting with a convincing debut (the decent "Mechanical Spin Phenomena"), the group had already stalled with the second album "The Audio Injected Soul," with a clumsy and obviously failed attempt to replicate the good start. However, in 2007, thanks to the refreshed energy with the addition of a new singer (ex-Scarve Guillaume Bideau) to the lineup, the group unexpectedly (for me) produced a good album. "Passenger" proved to be a right balance between violence and melody, indispensable and characteristic elements of their sound, as they claimed to want to carry the torch (succeeding little or not at all) from bands like Fear Factory (the former Fear Factory bassist Christian Olde Wolbers had also been the producer of the penultimate album), Strapping Young Lad, and Meshuggah. But with this latest album, they ended up seeming more like a poor copy of the latest In Flames and a nastier version of the old Linkin Park.

In Flames and Linkin Park are indeed the names that act as pillars, or better yet, as compasses for "Sons of the System." Just listen to a track like "Mnightmare" and wonder if it's not really Chester Bennington and company playing in the throes of a more "metal" direction than usual.

It's not that Linkin Park particularly bothers me (I can't certainly say they're among my frequent listens), they simply already exist, and in their "genre" (if there's even a genre that identifies them, but I care little for genres), they do their job better than all other clones. It's a shame that Mnemic, who had a slightly different direction, have joined the bandwagon.

Overall, the album is a disappointment for those who still have "Passenger" in their ears. The Danes clumsily stumble between semi-orchestral tracks that try to give an almost epic cut like "The Erasing," "March of the Tripod" (here, too, the echo of In Flames' "Soundtrack to Your Escape," to which a heavy sedative has been given) or the concluding "Orbiting," real fillers like "Fate" and "Elongated Sporadic Bursts" sustained in some parts by riffing heavily borrowed from Melodic Death Metal and in other parts by danceable rhythms somewhat akin to Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson, which also peek through in "Within," a fairly lackluster opener-title-track ill-suited to its role.

Mnemic manage to convince only when they rely on the teachings of their original influences, as in "Diesel Uterus" (which I would have seen much better as an opener) and (less so) in "Hereo(In)" where the Meshuggah influence emerges strongly. Alternatively, in the excellent "Climbing Towards Stars" where a groove metal riffing and the old industrial vein shake hands, this time mixing in the right dose the clean vocals, but too little to lift the fortunes of the album.

An album that can surely please those who appreciate that metal (at least in words) "extreme" filled with melodies and clean vocals, but at least for me, given Mnemic's tendency to make one decent album and one disappointing one, next time might be the right one, but not this time.