#VAGABONDZREVIEW: MEMENTO MAI - CHILD OF LIGHT

Good day everyone! Review time has come again, so let's dip into the new piece of music I happened to listen to.

I wasn’t familiar with this band or, to be more precise, project, named Memento Mai. The path for me to reach this independent artist was pretty obvious – the composer and musician Jesse Kiviluoma contacted me to ask about reviewing a project he’d taken part in. Here’s some information about the project, the vocalist and frontwomen Mai Mitikka provided me with:

“It was a year ago when composer and musician Jesse Kiviluoma contacted me via instant messaging proposing to start a project making rock/ heavy metal music, with me as the vocalist, also being in charge of the lyrics. The vocals and the instruments were to be recorded in locations where the musicians were based. Jesse would add up tracks together and mix and finish the songs.

Using messaging and sending files to one another, we started making the first Memento Mai song called Child of Light. Memento Mai is the name I chose for this project, Mai being my first name and Memento because some of the lyrics are based on my memories. The song

lyrics are also partly just a figment of my imagination tangled into thoughts of everyday life, with a twist of horror.

The song Child of light debuted about three months later, being my first musical endeavor with other musicians and having actual instruments on the track. The publication was made into Tik Tok, Instagram and YouTube as the first Memento Mai song with a simple music video without a lot of attention.

Second Memento Mai song is on the way and hopefully finished some time in the first half of 2023. In my opinion it is going to be a bit more dramatic than Child of light, diving deeper into the dark corners of the human mind.”

Let’s go for it!

Having read the project description, I face the thought, that something calm and catchy would come there in Child Of Light. Then let’s listen to this one and find out the outcome, shall we?

Rough and hard rock spirit can be caught in the very beginning of the song, say it’s not something I was prepared for. It possesses both mild and stiff sides that nicely complement each other, moreover, each of them is expressed by guitars. I follow the Finnish spirit that takes over the song intro – nevermind I haven’t listened to hard rock tunes for a while – I really like the instrumental idea of Child Of Light. This guitar riff is enriched with chorus (that has nothing to do with that song part ;)) that works great to make your sound a bit more vintage and spacious. I can compare the intro riff to Viikate tunes that I adore, undoubtedly dropping out heavier genre and expressiveness Viikate is seriously into.

In my viewpoint, the intro was far too short to entirely feel the music. When some great riff starts kicking, it’s a bit strange to abrupt it so rapidly. However, it might be a step to introduce the vocalist as soon as possible.

The fact that the intro had been far too short, I hadn’t almost dived into its vibe. Yeah, I still prefer longer ones that are able to fully welcome the band and their sound. On condition that the main riff was prolonged, it would have definitely shown us the full palette of Child Of Light capabilities. I assume that the songwriter’s idea was to put the vocals in the spotlight but instrumental part, that’s why the intro might outcome like that.

The vocals of Child Of Light are pretty catchy and easy-listening. Supposing the music we’re listening to was heavy metal, the lead singer should definitely fire up and gain much listener’s attention. I hear the power, the depth and the desire to sing and make music, although, the silent and smooth Child Of Light can’t fully demonstrate the abilities of the lead singer. She has steady and string voice that could be perfectly highlighted by heavy guitars. The vocals here are too expressive and powerful for hard rock, as for me they should have been rougher and maybe messy in this song. I’d highly recommend the lead singer try her powers in heavy metal, where she would definitely kick ass with her amazing vocals skill.

The vocals went a little bit rougher in chorus part that is supported by bright lead guitar part. I realize that I do like both the vocal and instrumental lines, but only when they go separate ways. Possibly, even different songs? It feels like the instrumental part wasn’t made for vocals and vocals for instrumental part respectively.

What I like in Child Of Light is presence of guitar solo. It’s weird but nowadays I face the tendency to pass this undoubtedly significant part. Guitar solos are classic part of a song and they play big role in entire composition.

The end of the song is the part I enjoyed the most, mainly because of tranquil and calm atmosphere it represents. Silent vocals supported by clean guitar create I daresay magical effect and for me it’s the savior of previously mentioned incompatibility.

In the end of my review I need to highlight several important points.

Point 1. Production The overall impression on Child Of Light is undoubtedly good home recording. Despite the low quantity of noticeable (or hearable) effects, and the lack of advanced mixing & mastering, the record can dive you into traditional Finnish tunes and melodies that will stuck in your heard for the sufficient period of time. It may bring you the idea of taking your guitar, put some light distortion on and play along some 70s tunes, and namely Black Sabbath because of warm tube sound the guitar reflexes. All instruments are nicely balanced in final mix what lets me make a conclusion of detailed and meticulous work Jesse Kiviluoma has made. As for the home recording – Child Of Light sounds worthy of listening and adding to some of your playlists.

Point 2. Composition and Songwriting In the aspect of composition, the song hasn’t brought some oh-my-god feelings and emotions. It’s a standard song featuring the standard song pattern. The question is that the vocals and instrumental part express different states of mood; while the instrumental line is kept peaceful and dreamy, the lead vocals are eccentric, bright and catchy. As I was saying, I’d highly recommended the lead singer got engaged into heavy metal. Here in Child Of Light I notice loads of untapped potential in vocals that would be probably kicking in heavier genre. Child Of Light has more of folk and classic Finnish rock atmosphere that must have been emphasized by more lively and maybe careless vocals.

However, the approach to songwriting makes me feel absolutely delighted – Internet thing can help your dreams come true! It’s marvelous that nowadays technological development lets us record a song being in different places and sometimes countries.

Memento Mai has also released a music video that is available here. Enjoy!