|
Mnemic
Album: Sons of the System
Release Date: January 26, 2010
Label: Nuclear Blast
Track Listing
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
12. Dreamjunkie
13. Sons of the System (Leather Strip Remix)
Reviewer: Eric
Mnemic has been around for twelve years now. In their time they have toured the
world with so many different bands from the Deftones to Fear Factory. Mnemic
knows a thing or two about the business but when it came to release their fourth
album, Sons of the System, you’d think things would change with the second
outcome from vocalist Guillaume Bideau.
These guys are one of the few industrial metal acts out there, well they use to
be. Gone are the days when Mnemic tried to outdo industrial metal legends
Meshuggah. What Mnemic is trying to do now is act just like their label mates
Sonic Syndicate.
If I were to make you listen to this album, without telling you if it was Mnemic
or Sonic Syndicate, there is a good chance you would either not respond or
choose Sonic Syndicate. I am not trying to be a funny guy here but this album
makes metal music sound like a joke. The sound is so-so and the record as a
whole pretty much has been done before, after a hundred times already.
Mnemic is taking modern metal (groove metal) and mixing it with another modern
style of metal, the oh-so popular metalcore genre. These two genres really do
not go too well. The music is created (I’m assuming here so don’t jump to
conclusions) to get some part of your body to go with the flow. There is no
reason why you wouldn’t tap a foot during these tracks.
When Mnemic isn’t trying to act like Machine Head, All That Remains, or
Killswitch Engage they are trying to ruin their image. I thought Mnemic was one
of the better up and coming industrial bands when they released their first
album. Songs use to have a meaning and you could tell each song apart. On Sons
of the System Mnemic figured longer is better. All of these goddamn tracks are
nearly four minutes apiece and they all sound the same. Each and every one of
these tracks could have ended at their half way marks. But no Mnemic wanted to
make long tracks to bore the living shit out of us.
I tried real hard to listen for the album to offer something new since I didn’t
want to have to give up on Mnemic. After half a dozen listens I could only hear
the same thing. Groove metal riffs with metalcore breakdowns. The drumming
reminds me of the whole 2009 catalog from metalcore albums and the singing made
me want to throw up.
Final Verdict
I thought Mnemic was a band we could look forward to whenever they released a
new album? The worst thing that happened to this band was the departure of Tony
Jelencovich back in 2006. After that moment the band has never been the same and
I don’t see them making a comeback with their old industrial metal roots. Sons
of the System is a Sonic Syndicate album in disguise and that is a bad thing
since Nuclear Blast puts out records from both bands.
Rating
6 out of 10
Mnemic Official Web
Site
Mnemic on
Myspace
Mnemic - Ghost
|
