Send "Mnemic " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Mnemic are among industrial metal’s elite few that can rank with genre originators Fear Factory in terms of musicality and staying power. When they burst onto the scene with 2003’s Mechanical Spin Phenomena, fans and critics had high hopes for the band. 2004’s The Audio Injected Soul only raised expectations, as the band appeared poised for a huge breakout. However, after the departure of original vocalist Michael Bøgballe and the introduction of his replacement, Guillaume Bideau, on 2007’s Passenger, a split emerged among fans. Some claimed that Mnemic were becoming a sellout band and were transitioning towards playing metalcore, while others praised Bideau for helping the band to grow and keep their sound fresh. In the end, two groups emerged: those who aligned themselves with the old sound of the first two albums, and those who chose the new sound of Passenger. However, Mnemic should be able to bridge the divide between these groups with their newest album, Sons of the System, which brings together the disparate elements of their previous work and creates a cohesive, intense sound.This album shows a lot of vocal advancement on the part of Bideau. His singing is much more focused than it was on Passenger, and his screams reach Bøgballe’s level of rawness while maintaining clarity. The lyrics on this album still deal with Mnemic’s standard topics of the human mind, evolution, and futuristic themes, but the delivery is stronger with Bideau’s new and improved technique. Musically, this album succeeds because the band shows significant growth and expansion in their sound and influences. The most noticeable and best-fitting growth is in the addition of strong groove metal elements to the band’s sound. Tracks like “The Erasing” and “Hero(in)” showcase these elements best. The post-chorus riff on “The Erasing” is incredibly catchy and makes the whole song more interesting. “Hero(in)” uses the groove of its lead line to offset the irregular beat of the song, making the song more atmospheric without getting lost in its own arrangement....full text |
| Heavymetal |
| More than fairly American in their electro-metal attack, the Danish quintet known as Mnemic breaks step with their Euro melo-death brethren here on their fourth LP for Nuclear Blast, Sons of the System. While other Danish metal acts such as Raunchy or Volbeat ride the Gothen-thrash train straight to Funkytown (well...maybe not Volbeat), Mnemic harbors much more of an industrial fetish within their music, similar to that of Fear Factory or Strapping Young Lad. Indeed, much of the band's focus is placed straight upon driving home their mechanical message to the listener via the unrelenting, hammering riffing style of guitarists Mircea Eftemie and Rune Sigart, while ex-Scarve vocalist Guillaume Bideau dances circles around the songwriting with a versatile scream/shout/sing dynamic. ...full text |
| Angrymetalguy |
| Mnemic has been around in the æther for a while but I’ve never given them a proper listen until now. The band has good promo, they’ve toured Europe twice with metal giants (like ‘em or not) Metallica, they look like real metal dudes and they’ve got cred because a couple people I know compared them to Meshuggah back when they first came out. Unfortunately, Sons of the System sounds a lot less like Meshuggah and a lot more like Sonic Syndicate. This record is another convergence point for things that I’m not really keen on in the world of metal and I’ll give you a short run-down. At its base Mnemic is a groovecore band. The riffs are meant to be groovy, the drums tight and heavy and the atmosphere built to move your body to. Now and again they pull that off, but I think they’ve got a couple of things working against them on this front. First, groovecore sounds more and more like metalcore in my ears every time I listen to it because the production values are leaning more in the direction of triggered drums, “soaring vocal” choruses a la Killswitch Engage and a glut of predictable and uninteresting breakdowns. While expertly executed and smoothly produced, Sons of the System follows this formula off the cliff. The soaring vocals are completely forgettable, the chuggy parts feel thin and very rarely is there a groove that makes me want to do anything other than listen to something else....full text |
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