Mercenary

Mercenary
STYLE: ORIGIN: DenmarkFORMED: 1991LABEL: NoiseArt Records
  • MEMBERS:
  • René Pedersen - vocals, bass
  • Jakob Mølbjerg - guitars
  • Martin Buus Pedersen - guitars
  • Morten Løwe - drums
BIOGRAPHY
Just as they stand unflinching in a surreal frozen sea of ice on their latest promotion picture, Scandinavian MERCENARY stand their ground musically as bold and confident as ever on their seventh album »Through Our Darkest Days«. After the roller coaster of loosing half their lineup in 2009 and presenting a renewed lineup and a new musical approach on 2011’s »Metamorphosis«, MERCENARY’s new album combines the strength of their latest approach with both a fresh sound and the grand melancholy and soaring clean vocals of past albums.

Over the past decade Mercenary has been one of the most active bands in the upcoming Danish metal scene and their albums have been highly-acclaimed by both fans and media. The typical trademark mix of huge, epic melodies and aggression has brought them not only appearances on some of the biggest festival stages but also support slots for bands such as MEGADETH, ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE, KING DIAMOND and DEATH ANGEL. The unusual mixture of elements from many genres within metal is in truth the band’s biggest asset: an organic diversity bound together by tight songwriting and the ability to stand up to any sort of audience and make them lifetime MERCENARY followers.

The year 2009 proved to be a turning point in the band´s career as three members took their leave and René Pedersen stepped up to take the reins as lead singer. After years of internal difficulties this proved to be a great source of energy and motivation, and with a newfound sense of purpose and renewed spirits the strong Danish showed their critics a new vision of themselves with »Metamorphosis« and made a great comeback: “On »Metamorphosis« it was important for us to reinvent our sound and experiment rather than just trying to copying the sound of the old line-up. And we were really happy with the direction and the result. But with »Through Our Darkest Days« we felt that the right thing to do was to combine the new elements with more classic elements from Mercenary’s older material, so it’s only fair to say that the new album combines the best of both eras of the band.”

Again Mercenary decided to record with long time collaborator and Danish master producer Jacob Hansen in order to get the signature powerful and crystal clear production, and for the first time the cover artwork was done by MNEMIC guitar player Mircea Gabriel Eftemie. René comments: “The cover artwork portraits a dark atmosphere, symbolizing the darkness that surrounds us everyday. But in darkness there is always a light, which in this case is symbolized by a burning candle, and the figure that holds its eyes in its hands, showing a piece of the world as seen through our eyes. Mircea has captured the essence of the music with its dark melancholic substance. But this album is also a celebration of life with a message for people to forget about your losses, don’t spend your days being unhappy about what you could have had, and instead focus on the things you already have. We are in a very comfortable place in our lives, and as a band where we can honestly say that we have our darkest days behind us. We have overcome a lot of shit through the years as a band, and we have still managed to keep the passion and the love for the music, and most importantly we have managed to keep expanding our musical family that is “The Black Brigade”. And that is worth celebrating. We love what we do, and we love our fans who make it possible for us to do it!”

VIDEOS
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DISCOGRAPHY

Through Our Darkest Days / 2013

Mercenary - Through Our Darkest Days
  • Album Info
  • 2013
  • Europe NoiseArt Records U.S. Prosthetic Records

1. A New Dawn
2. Welcome The Sickness
3. Through Our Darkest Days
4. Dreamstate Machine
5. A Moment Of Clarity
6. Beyond This Night
7. Starving Eyes
8. Generation Hate
9. Forever The Unknown
10. Holding On To Serenity” (bonus track)

 

Through Our Darkest Days is the seventh studio album by the Danish melodic death metal band Mercenary. The album features the band’s newest drummer Peter Mathiesen who joined the band as a regular member in 2012 after performing more than 50 shows with them.

Metamorphosis / 2011

Mercenary - Metamorphosis
  • Album Info
  • 2011
  • Napalm

1. Through the Eyes of the Devil
2. The Follower
3. In a River of Madness
4. Memoria
5. Velvet Lies
6. In Bloodred Shades
7. Shades of Grey
8. On the Edge of Sanity
9. The Black Brigade

 

Metamorphosis is the sixth studio album by the Danish melodic death metal band Mercenary. This is the first album, except for their debut, First Breath, not to include the Sandager brothers, Mikkel on clean vocals and Morten on keyboards and Mike Park on drums since 11 Dreams. This is also the first album to feature Morten Løwe on drums.

Architect of Lies / 2008

Mercenary - Architect of Lies
  • Album Info
  • 2008
  • Century Media

1. New Desire
2. Bloodsong
3. Embrace the Nothing
4. This Black and Endless Never
5. Isolation (The Loneliness in December)
6. The Endless Fall
7. Death Connection
8. Black and Hollow
9 Execution Style
10. I Am Lies
11. Public Failure Number One

 

Architect of Lies is Mercenary‘s fifth studio album, released through Century Media. The record was released on March 25, 2008. The album has been influenced by thrash metal, like the previous album, Everblack.

The Hours that Remain / 2006

Mercenary - The Hours that Remain
  • Album Info
  • 2006
  • Century Media

1. Redefine Me
2. Year of the Plague
3. My World is Ending
4. This Eternal Instant
5. Lost Reality
6. Soul Decision
7. Simplicity Demand
8. Obscure Indiscretion
9. My Secret Window
10. The Hours that Remain

 

The Hours That Remain is the fourth album released by the band Mercenary, but the second through Century Media Records. This is the first album to not include founding member Henrik “Kral” Andersen. The album blends heavy, progressive, and melodic death metal, with almost all the vocals being clean ones. This was due to the absence of a dedicated growling vocalist, which Mercenary has otherwise employed. Growled vocals would return with Architect of Lies.

11 Dreams / 2004

Mercenary - 11 Dreams
  • Album Info
  • 2004
  • Century Media

1. Into the Sea of Dark Desires
2. World Hate Center
3. 11 Dreams
4. reDestructDead
5. Firesoul
6. Sharpen the Edges
7. Supremacy v2.0
8. Music Non Stop (Kent-cover)
9. Falling
10. Times Without Changes
11. Loneliness

 

11 Dreams is the third album released by Danish metal band Mercenary through Century Media Records. The original version was released in 2004, that being in Europe, the American version was released one year later, in 2005. The U.S. release contained two bonus tracks, one being a 3-D version of the song “11 Dreams”, and another being a radio edit of “11 Dreams”. This is the first album featuring Mike Park on drums and Martin Buus on lead guitars. This is also the final album to feature founding member Henrik “Kral” Andersen on bass/growls.

Everblack / 2002

Mercenary - Everblack
  • Album Info
  • 2002
  • Hammerheart Records

1. Intro
2. Everblack
3. Seize the Night
4. Screaming from the Heavens
5. Dead.com
6. Darkspeed
7. Bloodrush
8. A Darker Shade of Black
9. Bulletblues
10. Rescue Me
11. Alliance
12. Nothing’s What It Seems (Outro)

 

Everblack is the second album released by the band Mercenary, and the second through Hammerheart Records. This is the first album to include future lead singer Mikkel Sandager and his brother Morten Sandager on keyboards. This is also the only album to feature Signar Petersen on lead guitars and the last to feature Rasmus Jacobsen on drums. With this album, Mercenary continued along with their death metal roots, but also started to explore their sound with thrash metal elements, as well as clean vocals done by Mikkel Sandager.

First Breath / 1998

Mercenary - First Breath
  • Album Info
  • 1998
  • Hammerheart Records / Serious Entertainment

1. Symbiotic
2. World Wide Weep
3. Horizon
4. Master Game
5. Perceptive
6. Graveart
7. Next to Nothing
8. Demon8
9. Watching Me
10. Alternative Ways
11. Sister Jane
12. Supremacy (Bonus track)

 

First Breath is the first album released by the band Mercenary. With this album, Mercenary showed their death metal roots. First Breath was recorded at the Aabenraa Studio, Denmark.

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