Review : MNEMIC – “Sons of the System”

Mnemic – Sons of the System
released January 8, 2010 on Nuclear Blast

Rating: 4 / 5

As per the band’s own official description, “Mnemic is not, never was and never will be a band that is easy to categorize within the genres of metal.” Usually these kinds of self-proclaimed tags are exaggerated to the point where you cannot believe I single word of. Here’s an exception. Mnemic really can’t be put into one genre.

I can’t even really pinpoint exactly what the primary influences are here. Of course, the Meshuggah riffs are incredibly obvious, especially in “Diesel Uterus”. However, the only other band I can really hear is Strapping Young Lad, which isn’t overly strong. There are nice synthesizers that add a cool atmosphere and many of the riffs have a clanging bass resounding in the background. The thing that makes this music interesting is the modulation between heavy and light. They occasionally go into sections very reminiscent of melodic metalcore with clean vocals and light guitars.

As far as the album itself goes, it’s well-crafted, with the climax happening right at the center. My main complaint, however, would be that it’s 52 minutes long. I like my albums to be more around the 40-minute mark, just as they were when vinyl was still the format of choice. However, as far as pure sound goes, these guys are pretty damn good and really have a niche. I would personally like to hear some improvement on the clean vocals, but aside from that, good songwriting, musicianship, and production.

FCC: 10
Try 1, 2, 4, *6*, 8, 9

01. Sons of the System
02. Diesel Uterus
03. Mnightmare
04. The Erasing
05. Climbing Towards Stars
06. March of the Tripods
07. Fate
08. Hero(in)
09. Elongated Sporadic Bursts
10. Within
11. Orbiting