Tag Archives: mnemic

Features, PiercingMetal Says

Mircea Eftemie Updates Fans On Mnemic’s Status

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The strange thing for me was that I had recently been thinking about this always energetic and fascinatingly forward thinking Metal band and was saying to myself “how have I lost track of them”. I figured that based on too many things coming at me from all sides it was easy for this to be the case but upon digging around I noticed this Facebook Post yesterday by the bands founding creative Mircea Eftemie. He lines out the current state of affairs and sadly they are not too good if you have been a fan of these guys at any point in their career. I’ve copied and pasted his status update for you to examine below.

Logo - Mnemic

Dear Facebook friends, followers & foes,

Its been over 6 months since the last update, and therefore I must humbly apologize.
Being the last original and founding member of Mnemic, I feel that it’s my responsibility and finally time to break the silence and shed some light on the bands current situation and prospect. I am sure anyone who have been following our endeavors, listening to our music, or had some sort of a relation to Mnemic, have been wondering what’s in the melting pot?
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Music, Reviews

Revisiting “Metal Edge” Magazine: The CD Reviews – Part 7

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These album overviews were originally written for Metal Edge Magazine when I was a contributor to their “Hear Us Out” CD reviews section back in 2006-2007. With the magazine wrapping up publication a few months ago, I decided to add them to the context of our PiercingMetal presentation. I felt that by doing this I would not only be raising the horns in remembrance of the magazine but would also be able to showcase just how different writing for a major publication was when it all came down to it. Since “Hear Us Out” notations were usually “100” words in length, these posts will feature several reviews each until we run out of them. The freelance writing tenure at Metal Edge Magazine was discussed on THIS LINK so please check that out when done. Here are the reviews, so “Hear Us Out”.

Madina Lake: ”From Them, Through Us, To You” (Roadunner Records)

Madina Lake is quite the Rock band as they work the angles of melody with clever abandon and throw down tasty riffs to bring out some memorable tracks on their major label debut. They present emotion without an Emo stain and rock as hard as the big boys on tracks like “House Of Cards”. Catchy hooks and detailed lyrical storylines bring listeners one classy piece of music that was thought out for a change and should appeal to a wide audience. Big things await the listener in the region of fictional town Madina Lake, lets let the guys take us on a tour into their world.

Marion Raven: “Heads Will Roll” (Eleven Seven Music)

The way I see it, Marion Raven stands ready to capture the hearts of music fans everywhere. This Norwegian siren was part of the Pop sensation M2M long ago, who shares the song writing today with rockers such as Nikki Sixx. The title track proves that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Her strong vocals and stunning look makes me confident that good things are waiting for her as she sings of strength and empowerment. Raven appears with Meat Loaf on the single “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” and with this on her resume I am sure she is paving a solid path to success. Are you ready for the next big thing?
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Features, Interviews

PiercingMetal Talks To Mnemic’s Mircea Eftemie (12/10/2006)

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Mnemic is one of the harder working Metal bands and you can tell this by the amount of touring a drive that they display during a performance. The group has appeared on a number of successful tour efforts, and most notably one with Meshuggah and Arch Enemy and while this is an incredible achievement for any band, it did not come without some level of dramatics. Just over the course of a year, the band has replaced their lead singer not once but three times. I was assigned an interview with one of the bands founders Mircea Eftemie by Metal Edge magazine and this appears in the “issue here” edition. We discussed the bands beginnings, the trials faced by their lead singer changes and some news about their latest release “Passenger”. Since this issue of the magazine is now off the stands, we have been permitted to present you with the unedited and completely uncensored conversation. Read on.

PiercingMetal: Let us talk about beginnings. What led to the formation of Mnemic? Who inspired you to get the ball rolling so to speak?

Mircea: Well, it all started with Rune, Brian and Me. We all came from different Death Metal bands, and been playing that style of music since the early 90s. In around the late 90’s (97 or 98) the whole Death Metal scene unfortunately kind of faded away back in Denmark, and everyone started to play either Progressive (which is really gay) or Nu-Metal (which is even gayer), and I guess it was sort of a transition for everyone in the scene back in Denmark. When everybody was doing that, for me, because I cannot really speak for the others, but I know it was almost the same, a band like Meshuggah pretty much opened my eyes to a completely new level of musicianship, new techniques and a new level of brutality. When we all heard the Destroy Erase Improve album we pretty much entered a new world. It was more the way Meshuggah’s thinking and originality was, and that’s what truly inspired us – to think different – then bands like SYL (City), Crimney (Peat) etc. came into the picture and we started our band as a 3 piece, and here we are now.
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Music, Reviews

“Passenger” by Mnemic

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Artist: Mnemic
Title: “Passenger”
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: 1/19/2007
Genre: Future Fusion Metal
Rating: 4/5

The past few years have been interesting and tumultuous in the world of the band Mnemic and that is an understatement right off the bat. The events of their recent past was almost as chaotic as some of the music they deliver night after night and with the new release “Passenger”, they are showing that strength can come from hurtles and pitfalls and often give sway to a stronger and more focused entity. With the new release the band introduces the listener to the talents of their new lead singer Guillaume Bideau (formerly of the band Scarve). As tracks like “In Control” and “Stuck Here” lay the slam down – you come to realize that a perfect candidate is finally in the role. Bideau joins the band replacing Tony Jelencovich, who toured with them on the Meshuggah and Arch Enemy jaunts. It has been quoted that he is the singer who should have been in the band from the very start. He does a great job on his own debut in the band and truly seems more a contributor to their branded Future Fusion Metal. If you are unsure of what “Future Fusion Metal” actually is and sounds like then you need look no further than Mnemic, for it is an amalgam of Industrial, twisted syncopations and riffs along with an angry and in your face brand of Metal. “Passenger” also comes to life after several years of straight touring and this seems to have helped the band grow in the musical sense as well. Having seen them live with each of their singers I always knew they could play but on this recording this is a tightness that you feel on every track. They admit a fondness for Meshuggah and their influence – but when Mnemic does what they do it is not merely as some clone of the Swedish technical Metal giants. This is a crunching and brutal slab of Industrial Metal that pays homage to ones inspirations but does not come at the cost of any individuality.
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Events, Reviews

Soilwork @ B.B. King Blues Club (11/5/2006)

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Artist: Soilwork
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: Mnemic, Threat Signal, Darkest Hour
Date: 11/5/2006
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

There seems to be no stop in the touring when it comes to the bands I was planning to see this evening and this is never a bad thing when you consider that we are talking about Mnemic and the mighty Soilwork from Sweden. The groups made some incredible touring memories for the Metal fans of New York over the past year as not only did they perform a killer headlining set with Dark Tranquillity and Hypocrisy but also they returned later in the year to support Industrial Metal veterans Fear Factory. Joining them on tour would be Darkest Hour and Threat Signal. The club would be shaking to its foundation with all this Metal to enjoy that’s for sure. Here are some of my thoughts on to the way everything transpired.
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