Μνήμα (Mnima) - Self-titled Demo

Digging your own grave I: The first spadeful of dirt. 

Black metal has always been a genre that waxed and waned for me, either due to the time of year, or because of the headspace I found myself in. For the past couple of Novembers, I have been indulging in the practice commonly referred to as Nothing But Black Metal November (NBBMN for short), and this time around I decided to emphasise spending “quality time” with a small handful of artists. Not so much running through entire discographies, but rather familiarising myself with some albums. Among those was Μνήμα’s debut, Disciples of Excremental Liturgies, which I found myself spinning time and time again over the course of the month. It wasn’t my first contact with the band, but it was the most substantial one, and the grip it had me in inspired me to look further back into the band’s catalogue. Lo and behold, their entire discography was available for 12,5€ on Bandcamp, and who am I to say no to such a deal?

This leads us to the band’s 2017 demo, and what was the world’s first taste of Μνήμα, and boy was it a bitter one, full of hate and vitriol. At a mere 13 minutes, it manages to showcase the band’s penchant for unremittingly harsh black metal, in addition to proving that they’re not your average bedroom black metal project that thrives on demos put together by pimple-addled teenagers who just got into the genre. Μνήμα operates on two gears over the course of this release: sparse tracks with bass-led melodies, and punishing assaults on the senses. Of the two, I’m actually inclined to say I prefer the former, as the simplistic riff that is coupled with the gut-wrenching cries and moans (the Greek word “Σπαραγμός” comes to mind in describing this particular emotion) on “I” actually made my hair stand up in alarm. It’s a very particular thing that I’ve always found chilling, and its use here is further elevated by the drawn-out nature of the tune. It sounds truly forlorn and miserable, and having that be the introduction to Μνήμα’s musical world makes for one hell of a mission statement.

As for the other half of the aforementioned equation, the band’s skill in stringing together outright good riffs is evident on “II”. It’s a simple track, but it’s executed in such a way that it manages to worm its way into your psyche and stay there. Whether it’s the ripping tremolo riff that kicks things off, or the pounding passage that occurs halfway through, things remain intensely engaging, despite the barren nature of it all. Whereas other bands in this niche would content themselves with playing moody arpeggios or monotone single-note tremolo riffs, Μνήμα decides to grab you by the throat and drag you down themselves, rather than have you sink into misery over the course of a prolonged snoozefest. 

Another key aspect of this approach is X.’s vocal performance, a melange of tormented shrieks, growls, and wails that is formless in nature, but loosely follows along to the music. His voice fades in and out, and the fact that it is drenched in reverb makes it feel all the more distant and disassociated from the person it’s coming out of. Again, not something one would define as novel, but it synergises delightfully with the erratic nature of music, further amplifying the chaos therein.

Really, the demo’s biggest weaknesses are the fact that the last two tracks are merely mirroring the two that preceded them – although “IV” possesses a far more melancholic tone than the intro – and its length. Effective as the first two songs might be, it’s primarily because they take up the lion’s share of the demo’s brief runtime, and as such have the time to immerse the listener, something that the rest of the demo doesn’t have the time to capitalise on. Although raw and depressive black metal projects tend to meander, when done right, the extended lengths of the tracks are actually a boon for maintaining the tone that was set up over the course of a project. Unfortunately, the demo format isn’t always conducive to this, and it’s further hampered by the decision to basically write condensed versions of the first two songs for the second half.

All the same, this demo remains a surprisingly addictive release, in part because of how short it is. I’d be hard-pressed to say that it bored me at any point, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t visit it repeatedly even outside of the confines of writing about it. It’s raw black metal that ticks all the genre boxes, from the lo-fi production to the genre-standard riffing. All except for the one next to “boring music”, that is. Μνήμα was born into this world kicking and screaming, raging against an intangible malaise that seeps through every pore of our world, the music doing a lot with very little. Although imperfect, this demo has doubtlessly enticed me to further explore the pitch-black corridors of the sepulchre Μνήμα occupies, and I can already tell it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

Highlights: I, II

Rating: 65%