History & Biography In mid-2016, Nuclear Blast announced the signing of Memoriam, the band of Karl Willets (Bolt Thrower) on vocals, Scott Fairfax (Cerebral Fix) on guitar, Frank Healy (Benediction and Cerebral Fix) on bass and Andy Whale (Bolt Thrower) on drums. The band was formed in January and would issue a debut in the year. The demo was called The Hellfire Demos and issued as a single by Cosmic Key Creations. The band released its debut album, called For The Fallen, on March 24th through Nuclear Blast Records. The band would release its new album Requiem For Mankind through Nuclear Blast in June 2019. Fairfax also joined Massacre in 2020. Memoriam released its fourth album, To The End, through Reaper Entertainment in March. All Is Lost was a video supporting the 2023 album. The band was booked for Enter The Eternal Fire Fest 2024. The group was also on stage at the 2024 edition of Germany's Summer Breeze festival.
Reviews MEMORIAM - RISE TO POWER - REAPER 
Miss Bolt Thrower, do you? Well, you should. This fan does, but here is a consolation band instead. Memoriam offers up Bolt Thrower’s Karl Willetts on vocals and the rest of the band cooperate too in order to bring you the sound of the deceased group. It is not just the sound though. Memoriam also gets into the politics, which many modern bands repeatedly parrot they wouldn't. The old English scene of Bolt Thrower, ENT and Napalm Death was never shy about wearing its politics on its sleeve and Memoriam continues that heritage.
The big magazine and webzines always whine and demand originality - though somehow never mind that the height of unoriginality is bands jumping on post-rock or post-metal bandwagons - but who needs originality if the tried and true is good? Frankly, this is more of the good.
The theme of Rise To Power is war and its ghoulish participants and abiders. The thematic cover by Dan Seagrave addresses this. The illustrator, incidentally, has been prolific and is going from strength to strength.
Never Forget, Never Again (6 Million Dead) deals with the holocaust. The intro has a vibe like Iron Maiden’s The Prisoner. It is a slow start before exploding. The music is pounding death metal at a slow, mid and rapid pace i.e. the band is still mixing doom and death. The vocals are deep and gruff like Lemmy-gone-growling. Never Forget… takes me back to Bolt Thrower and For Victory's Lest We Forget. Memoriam’s last album’s second track was This War Is Won. Here it is Total War. It contains a melodic solo topped with savagery. I Am The Enemy takes its time to get going and for a minute harkens back to the goth-lite of Cemetary, which is a waste of time and of good chugging death. It drifts into Bolt Thrower and goes heavy on cymbals, but again goes weaker as it reverts to Cemetary goth-ish sound soon. It is repetitive. The Conflict Is Within is heavy on bass sound and again the natural successor to Bolt Thrower and Cerebral Fix. It is heavy as lead and throws in pinch harmonics making up for the weakness of the preceding track. It ends on a slow serene note. Annihilation's Dawn is a powerful title so it has powerful drumming. Bravo. This is what fans get from these guys. The combo is heaviness, the minimum frills and loads of pounding power. All Is Lost has this light drum sound suddenly and is repetitious again. Some momentum is lost for sure. Then comes Rise To Power and it may be a title track yet the doomy cut is also a weaker one that determines that the bane of Memoriam's existence is the repetitiveness the band resorts to often. The first half wins. The second half is a mixed bag.
The name dropping included Bolt Thrower and Cerebral Fix so far, but Asphyx would not be off the mark either. This is a sixty because it is above average. - Anna Tergel
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