Tracklist:
01. Through The Eyes Of The Devil
02. The Follower
03. In A River Of Madness
04. Memoria
05. Velvet Lies
06. In Bloodred Shades
07. Shades Of Grey
08. On The Edge Of Sanity
09. The Black Brigade
Country: Denmark
Genre: Melodic death metal/power metal
Label: NoiseArt Records
Released: February 25:th, 2011
Website: http://www.mercenary.dk
Line-up:
René Pedersen - vocals, bass
Martin Buus - guitars, keyboards
Martin Mølbjerg - guitars
Morten Løwe Sørensen - drums
The first time I heard Danish bruisers Mercenary I was floored, more or less. And that was when listening to The Hours That Remain (2006), an album that is considerably more 'mellow' (if such a term can even be applied) than the rest of the band's material. The almost angelic voice of Mikkel Sandager (since departed) had lots to do with that, as well as the band's almost perfect understanding of what makes melodic and catchy melodies and clean vocals mix with brutally bonecrushing riffage and harsh vocals. The group then released Architect Of Lies in 2008, and had, more or less, and as far as I'm concerned, reached the top of awesome. That album is just packed to the brim with good songs, folks, you better believe it. You had stuff that was almost radio friendly getting along just well with nigh-on death metal parts. The relatively new bass player René Pedersen provided growls and harsh vocals and his part, as well as Sandager's, were huge factors in what made, and still makes, Architect Of Lies so appealing to me. Not to diminish the efforts of the rest of the band; I'm just trying to pinpoint what made this band stand out to me, and to many others.
Then Mikkel Sandager left, along with keyboardist Morten Sandager and drummer Mike Park Nielsen. Lesser bands would have folded there and then, but the rest of the band decided to carry on, in the process giving sort of an ironic nod in the way of their band name. They recorded an album called Metamorphosis, the cover of which features the Phoenix rising out of the ashes. All of this sends a pretty clear message, right? 'We're NOT dead, motherfuckers!'
I'm just gonna lay it out there: Metamorphosis is more than a fan could have hoped for at this point. The production is slick and clear, bringing the excellent guitarwork of duo Buus/Mølbjerg to the forefront, the drums underpin the songs well, carrying the verses into blistering choruses when necessary, providing solid rhythms work elsewhen. The bass is audible, but not really a show stealer. That's ok, as the band were probably thinking of Renés double duties in a live situation. And that brings us to, well, René.
The dude can do deep vocals, the dude can growl, and - by jove - the dude can sing! In fact, it's almost uncanny the way he sort of resembles Mikkel Sandager when he does clean vocals. I'm not sure the band was aware of his singing abilities when recruiting him, but either way, they certainly struck gold there. I'm not just saying this: Compare Metamorphosis to Architect Of Lies and, to some extent, The Hours That Remain. The similarities are obvious, but René holds his own, with gusto. If he can do growls AND cleans live, then frankly he's the perfect frontman.
Songwise, all of the tunes on Metamorphosis are growers. You need to come back to them, need to let their nuances and layers weave their magic around you. Sure, there are some songs with more or less instant gratification - first single choice "The Follower" comes to mind. This is a classic Mercenary track; if you loved the previous two records, you will love this. While some may pin the inability to pick out a certain track down to a lack of good material, I assure you, that is not the case. It's simply that all the songs on Metamorphosis share a quality, wheter abrasive and in your face or mellow and thoughtful (and most of them share all these qualities within the same song), and all of this puts a stamp on the brand of music that says: 'This is us, this is what we do, and we believe in what we do.' You know what, Mercenary? So do I.
01. Through The Eyes Of The Devil
02. The Follower
03. In A River Of Madness
04. Memoria
05. Velvet Lies
06. In Bloodred Shades
07. Shades Of Grey
08. On The Edge Of Sanity
09. The Black Brigade
Country: Denmark
Genre: Melodic death metal/power metal
Label: NoiseArt Records
Released: February 25:th, 2011
Website: http://www.mercenary.dk
Line-up:
René Pedersen - vocals, bass
Martin Buus - guitars, keyboards
Martin Mølbjerg - guitars
Morten Løwe Sørensen - drums
The first time I heard Danish bruisers Mercenary I was floored, more or less. And that was when listening to The Hours That Remain (2006), an album that is considerably more 'mellow' (if such a term can even be applied) than the rest of the band's material. The almost angelic voice of Mikkel Sandager (since departed) had lots to do with that, as well as the band's almost perfect understanding of what makes melodic and catchy melodies and clean vocals mix with brutally bonecrushing riffage and harsh vocals. The group then released Architect Of Lies in 2008, and had, more or less, and as far as I'm concerned, reached the top of awesome. That album is just packed to the brim with good songs, folks, you better believe it. You had stuff that was almost radio friendly getting along just well with nigh-on death metal parts. The relatively new bass player René Pedersen provided growls and harsh vocals and his part, as well as Sandager's, were huge factors in what made, and still makes, Architect Of Lies so appealing to me. Not to diminish the efforts of the rest of the band; I'm just trying to pinpoint what made this band stand out to me, and to many others.
Then Mikkel Sandager left, along with keyboardist Morten Sandager and drummer Mike Park Nielsen. Lesser bands would have folded there and then, but the rest of the band decided to carry on, in the process giving sort of an ironic nod in the way of their band name. They recorded an album called Metamorphosis, the cover of which features the Phoenix rising out of the ashes. All of this sends a pretty clear message, right? 'We're NOT dead, motherfuckers!'
I'm just gonna lay it out there: Metamorphosis is more than a fan could have hoped for at this point. The production is slick and clear, bringing the excellent guitarwork of duo Buus/Mølbjerg to the forefront, the drums underpin the songs well, carrying the verses into blistering choruses when necessary, providing solid rhythms work elsewhen. The bass is audible, but not really a show stealer. That's ok, as the band were probably thinking of Renés double duties in a live situation. And that brings us to, well, René.
The dude can do deep vocals, the dude can growl, and - by jove - the dude can sing! In fact, it's almost uncanny the way he sort of resembles Mikkel Sandager when he does clean vocals. I'm not sure the band was aware of his singing abilities when recruiting him, but either way, they certainly struck gold there. I'm not just saying this: Compare Metamorphosis to Architect Of Lies and, to some extent, The Hours That Remain. The similarities are obvious, but René holds his own, with gusto. If he can do growls AND cleans live, then frankly he's the perfect frontman.
Songwise, all of the tunes on Metamorphosis are growers. You need to come back to them, need to let their nuances and layers weave their magic around you. Sure, there are some songs with more or less instant gratification - first single choice "The Follower" comes to mind. This is a classic Mercenary track; if you loved the previous two records, you will love this. While some may pin the inability to pick out a certain track down to a lack of good material, I assure you, that is not the case. It's simply that all the songs on Metamorphosis share a quality, wheter abrasive and in your face or mellow and thoughtful (and most of them share all these qualities within the same song), and all of this puts a stamp on the brand of music that says: 'This is us, this is what we do, and we believe in what we do.' You know what, Mercenary? So do I.
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