August 19, 2012

Album Review: "Mnemesis" by Mnemic


If there is one thing that I've learned about Mnemic, it's that I usually take a few listens to truly appreciate every song in the way it's meant to be heard. I learned this the hard way after 2010's Sons of the System, which I initially only rated a 7 out of 10. Two years later, I've listened to that album from start to finish more than any other album during that time period, because it takes a few listens to discover all the hidden nuances that album contains, and many more listens to get tired of them. Sons of the System was the magnum opus of a band finally able to deliver everything they were capable of doing on one record. However, the group lost a lot of momentum and members in 2011, and many wondered if they could survive to make a fifth record. Doubt not the tenacity of founding guitarist Mircea Gabriel Eftemie, though. He and vocalist Guillaume Bideau, the only members left from the group that recorded Sons of the System, assembled a new group of musicians to become the newest incarnation of Mnemic, which led to the writing and recording of Mnemesis.