The first audio proof of artistic activity by this Danish act, was the Collision Scenario promo released in 2007 under the production of  Tommy Hansen. MEMORIAL got immediately busy  by booking shows in their homeland and in Germany. Later on, the Danes booked some supporting act slots beside bands like VITAL REMAINS, DEVILDRIVER and MNEMIC, to name a few. The bio sheet says the band is well known for the energetic live performances but this is not the subject of our 'virtual' discussion; we are here to discuss their debut named In The Absence Of All Things Sacred.
Nothing Is Sacred enters with a slow tempo intro in the vein of MACHINE HEAD and turns into a faster Thrashcore assault. Fast riffing and drumming are the first good signs that give their place to the SLAYER-esque guitar break and then... The vocals kick in and they mark my personal turn off; a Metalcore distorted voice spits out the lyrics following the predictable recipe we find in 666 other bands also from this scene. Don't the bands see that by using the same singing profile they get lost into the crowd? Even the pretty good solos cannot help them since the microphone work dominates the music. I think we have enough of the Anselmo wanna-be singers and it's time for this scene to move on.
The good thing with MEMORIAL is that they have fueled the music with the Thrash oriented energy spanning from distinct guitar riffs to the fast drum work and the tempo changes. I REALLY liked the DEVILDRIVER meets MACHINE HEAD foundations found in the solid rhythm section and the general pissed off attitude. In order to be totally fair with MEMORIAL I have to admit that the Metalcore elements stay mainly in the vocals and leave unaffected the music that leans towards the heavier patterns of the late Thrash scene. Especially, the guitars during the solos and the breaks convinced me to give the band some credit and not 'bury' their album. After all, this is their debut album and there is always plenty of room for development and personal sound creation. Let's hope that the band will work their way out of the restricted Metalcore scene that is so crowded that is going to explode!
So, I think it is safe to say that MEMORIAL chose to walk the safe path of Metalcore for a fast publicity boost. Their energetic music will get them to the end of the road but will not differentiate them for the rest of the similarly sounding bands. It is best to utilize this 'boost' towards the search of a more personal sound and why not, build another more interesting singing profile and attitude.