Mnemic is one of the next generation ‘mechanical’ bands that combine elements from and between Fear Factory, Meshuggah and to some extend Strapping Young Lad. And quite like certain parts of the history, Mnemic doesn’t seem to want to break out from the rat race as things haven’t really changed dramatically on The Audio Injected Soul compared to the band’s previous release, Mechanical Spin Phenoma. Perhaps there’s a bit more of the flavor “Gothenburg” now in the cake; namely the modern In Flames-spice. And just like with the previous album: every note and melody is still laid down with utmost precision but the songs just seemed to lack the drive that made SYL’s City and Fear Factory’s Demanufacture so memorable. This seems rather frustrating as the band has made things even more tighter this time around…

There are plenty (and I mean plenty) of great smash-your-face parts laid around the album which make you pick up the baseball bats and bricks from the ground, ready to tear a new one for some innocent passerby… but as you’re about to actually commit the senseless beat down, the soundtrack to the violence shape shifts into something mellower and ‘nice’. It’s kind of like the band really doesn’t know which way they want to go with the music so they’ve just thrown in ‘best parts from the masters’ without looking too much where they’ve added the philosophically different parts (and skipped checking if they fit or not) – making the outcome quite contradicting.

One thing that this album comes near perfection in is the production done by Tue Madsen. It’s one of the most powerful ones (if not the most powerful one) I’ve heard in a long time. The wall of sound is unbelievable and you can basically see the sonic waves tearing down walls and busting people’s balls into diamonds. It really brings the best out of these able musicians. I guess the binaural recording technology really paid off; other band’s take notice.

Despite all the great talent in the band, it pains me to say that The Audio Injected Soul falls short as the songs seem to be without a determined direction. Now that the audio part has been incorporated with the mechanical exoskeleton, someone should inject it with personality and clear objectives to conquer. Perhaps then I’ll finally be on my knees begging for forgiveness.

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