I had forgotten how much I missed Mnemic. Or maybe I had just forgotten what it feels like when a band isn't trying to be something, but just is something. The recovery could have been the biscuit. But it wasn't.
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Disclaimer: Apropos Magazine received access or a review copy. As always, we share our own impressions — unfiltered.
Six stars
There's something almost unfair about how easy Mnemic made it look. They stepped onto the stage as if they had never been away. No big arm gestures, no dramatic talking about “being back.” Just a band that played their asses out of their worn jeans and did it with a composure you can't fake.
The lead singer -- new to the lineup but with the attitude of a CEO who knows he's got the accounts in order -- came out in a dark suit and with a well-sheared beard. Nothing with corpse paint or leather vests. Just confidence and a voice that could carry both screams and fragility. And perhaps more importantly: an energy that seemed directed inward, toward the music, not outward toward the audience in hopes of gaining affirmation. It was a concert that didn't bow to the pressure of reunion expectations -- which is why it carried it.
It wasn't any hit parade, and it wasn't necessary. They played with a rhythmic precision and a drive that made even the least-known numbers seem like classics. The sound was crisp. The bass lay like a bulldozer under the laser shots of the guitars, and the drums clapped like a boss who knows he's right. At one point, the pace shifted so abruptly that entire pits stumbled into tact. It was beautiful.
What I particularly noticed was how little they tried to be something they are not anymore. Mnemic in 2025 doesn't sound like Mnemic in 2005, and thank god for that. They've put away gimmicks and youth style, and now stand as a band that sounds from experience -- without sounding tired. You could feel they still love it here. Not in that butter-ballad kind of way, but in that way where you play because you can't help it.
The crowd was in. Not euphoric, but attentive. As if they could sense that this was real, too. And maybe that's what you miss in a lot of newer metal bands — some authenticity. Something without ironic distance. Mnemic had it. Each song was delivered as a narrative, not as a TikTok soundbite. And it really is a rarity nowadays.
I got to thinking several times that they should have played later in the day. They had earned darkness and light and smoke cannons. But then again: Perhaps it was precisely the strength that it was all so naked. No stage effects, no makeup -- just music and intensity.
There was also room to point forward. A single new song got snuck in and it didn't sound like the old one at all. More melodic, more progressive, but still with the heavy anchor. That bodes well. I hope they dare to take the step and make something new. Not just playing on nostalgia, but challenging both himself and the rest of us.
For me, this was the biggest surprise of the evening. Not because I had figured it would be bad -- but because I had forgotten how good it could be. And because it proved that one can well be resurrected without becoming a parody. You just have to know who you are. And Mnemic does.
Reflection:
This wasn't a comeback. It was a rediscovery. And I hope they keep going.
