French ambient groove metal band MIND IMPERIUM is yet another band using the COVID-19 pandemic to their advantage and used their time away from touring to work on new material with their sophomore album "Nemesis" being released at the end of March earlier this year. The story of the band began in late 2013, with an intent to create a groove metal band that also blended with dark, melancholic ambience. The group, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Nogh, bass guitarist and backing vocalist Carol and drummer and backing vocalist Fabien, released their first EP "Amongst the Ruins", under the moniker MY IMPERIUM IN that same year. After then playing live extensively and receiving praise for their work, the band went through some lineup changes in 2016 and a hiatus as the core members worked on other projects. They soon got the band back together for their first full-length album "Way to Carcosa" released in 2018.

MIND IMPERIUM, now established with a full-length album and even more positive words, went out on a major tour across France and Belgium with their friends from AEON PATRONIST in support of both band's recent albums. The band continued touring until the pandemic hit and spent the rest of 2020 bringing "Nemesis" to fruition. They took some time to refine their songs and did not hit the studio until February of 2021 which concluded in April in both Tidalwave Studio and Dark Faery Records studio. With artwork from Bertran Bouchardeau and additional design done by Gridwise Studio, the album was mixed by Patrick Damiani who has worked with CARACH ANGREN, SOPOR AETERNUS, FALKENBACH, and ROME with mastering by Robin Schmidt from 24-96 Mastering Studio who has done work for THE BLACK KEYS, PAUL WELLER, and MUMFORD & SONS. The band says of the album, ""Nemesis" portrays our unspeakable despair, but goes further. It is the unheard scream of our oceans stripped of all life by the hand of men, the bloodstained ashes of our forests whose life is burning away, the cub bereft of its mother's warmth, the father without a son"

Unfortunately, outside of the opening track of "Nemesis", while groove bordering on death metal is certainly present, I don't hear a lot of ambient elements from MIND IMPERIUM. While they borrow heavily from moody poets such as lines from an Edgar Allan Poe book of the same title in the ethereal, brooding and drone-filled opening track "Spirits of the Dead" and a rather dark line taken from John Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale" featured in the only other ambient track "Entangled in the Void", it's pretty standard crushing groove metal. It's quite well done, though and I rather enjoy Nogh's vocal delivery, it often reminds me of the old KILLSWITCH ENGAGE when Howard Jones was with the band, particularly on "Screaming Out Your Name" which could easily be a metalcore song. Highlights from the album are the title track "Nemesis" which moves back and forth between regular and cut-time with an anti-anthemic chorus and the pummeling, yet groovy pivotal middle track "Burning Embers".