Memento Mori is the Mammoth formed by former Hexenhaus guitarist Mike Wead, and former Candlemass vocalist Messia Marcolin. For this band they recruited Hexenhaus bass player Marty Marteen and rhythm guitarist Nikkey Argento. The last of the original members to join was then King Diamond drummer Snowy Shaw. These five men got together and produced one of metal's only ground breaking albums, "Rhymes of Lunacy." I say that Rhymes of Lunacy is ground breaking for the sole reason that it is. Never before had an album been recorded that combined such grace, power and elegance. The songs immediately draw the listener in and don't let go until the end of the album.
Most thought that Memento Mori would be a Candlemass clone. Mainly because of Messiah's vocals. Messiah, though impressive on the Memento albums, does not sound like he did on the Candlemass albums. Perhaps it's the music that's different, I don't know, but I don't think that there is much of a comparison between the two bands.
For Memento Mori's next album they upped the stakes; they brought in a full time keyboard player, Miguel Robania. Until this time Mike Wead had been handling the keys, he obviously felt that the direction the music was heading, they needed a full time keyboard player.
The second album went under the name "Life, Death, and Other Morbid Tales." This album takes the rhymes of lunacy album further. This album feels the same as "Rhymes" does, though its songs are not as memorable. That isn't to say that the album is bad, quite the opposite, it is just that their first album set such high standards, it was next to impossible to live up to.
There is a time in between the second and third albums that vocalist Messiah Marcolin left. He was temporally replaced by Mr. Stefan Carlsson, the present vocalist of Pathos. Mr Stefan Carlson didn't feel up to replacing Messiah on the next album, so the band brought in Kristian Andren, previously in Tad Morose (now in Fifth Reason). They also replaced Snowy Shaw with Hexenhaus drummer Billy St. John. The band then went in to record their next album "La Danse Macabre." This album is probably the most unique of the Memento albums. It has a completely different feel to it than the other albums. Mr. Andren's vocals are a breadth of relief to those who had enough of the doom sound. He takes the band to an entirely new level with his abilities. Unfortunately, this line up could not last. Memento Mori wanted to get back to their earlier sound with their new album, "Songs for the Apocalypse, Vol IV," so Kristian Andren left the band and Messiah was brought back into the fold. This brought back the doom (but still not Candlemass doom). Billy St. John was also ousted for Memory Garden drummer Tom Bjorn, the best and most capable drummer Memento has ever had. As if these changes weren't enough, Miguel Robania is nowhere to be found on the album. Also, there are no keys on the album whatsoever.
With the now straight forward metal feel, Memento Mori are as strong as ever and have plans for a new album later. . . .