Mercenary - The Hours That Remain (2006)Release ID: 8306
Melodic death metal or Melo-death if you want to be snappy is perhaps one of my least favourite sub-genres. Whether it is (early) Soilwork, (early) In Flames, Children of Bodom or Scar Symmetry I just find it bizarre that there is a watered-down version of death metal. If you grew up in the 90’s like me on a solid diet of Morbid Angel, Obituary etc then death metal is supposed to be swarming and brutal to the point of being overwhelming. Melodic death metal by comparison has just always been overbearing. Except for Heartwork by Carcass I can safely say I have never heard a melodic death metal album that has pleased me.
Enter Mercenary into the fray. Sat top of The Metal Academy death metal album chart (currently) by some horrid miscarriage of ratings with the Danes fourth album offering, The Hours That Remain. Straight away as I heard this, I thought of fellow Danish groove metal melodicists, Raunchy (who have been around for pretty much the whole time Mercenary have been). I do not mind me some Raunchy every now and again, but I cannot say that I will be harbouring the same affections for Mercenary in the future.
The Hours That Remain is immaculately produced. Jacob Hansen uses every bit of his experience on this one and (for the melodic death metal fan at least) produces a great sounding album. The progressive/power elements of the album really shine as a result. Although not my usual bag, the over-the-top vocals work well in the mix and keep the tempo going well over the riffing. The drums are mixed terribly though and carry no authority whatsoever. Add to this the invasive use of keyboards and the expected dilution of the more promising aspect of the sound (the guitars) is soon lost.
It is not all that catchy or memorable either, despite all the effort in those power metal vocals during the choruses. As a result, there are no standout tracks, leaving me with a very formatted sounding experience that sounds like a continued regurgitation of the same idea over and over and over and over again.
What you get here is an excellent offering that has no skips. Everything about this is near perfect. The production is crystal clear and the mix has space for everybody to shine, and shine they do. These songs are heavy and catchy.
So why not 5 stars? It's the vocals for me. They are well done so don't get the wrong idea, but they are very much inspired by power metal, and that's not my cup of tea. I would have liked something just a little bit more brutal, but this is absolutely knit-picking on my part.
Definitely give this a listen, it's not the heaviest thing on earth, but it's still an absolute banger.
4th album in, and Mercenary is still going strong. Their albums are quite remarkable in the metal community. Pretty much everything is in high quality. And their sound never ceases to progress! Their unique sound has stirred up another perfect masterpiece. Mercenary continues to be the respectable ensemble they are with this gem that is The Hours That Remain. The music also shines with its production that allows easy clarity for the instruments. Everything's perfectly produced and your mind can focus on the music without any troubling thing.
Once again, the band are incredible masters of melodeath with progressive/power metal tendencies. The vocals are quite unique here. Kral left the band right before the album was to be recorded, and while producer Jacob Hansen took over on bass, clean vocalist Mikkel Sandager decided to test out his growling/screaming abilities. His harsh vocals are so perfectly kick-A that I wish he could do them full-time, though I also enjoy his beautiful singing voice and I don't want that to get strained.
Harsh vocals help define the band's sound in "Redefine Me", though just so Mikkel can still have his clean falsetto, the harsh vocal role is given to Björn "Speed" Strid of Soilwork just for that song. "Year of the Plague" is where Mikkel starts doing the harsh vocals on his own. "My World is Ending" is one of my favorite songs from this band and album, which is interesting because it's more focused on clean singing and adding a fair amount of keyboard melody. Another one of the best songs here is "This Eternal Instant", an instant classic in the heavier side of melodeath.
Next song, the 8-minute "Lost Reality" has nice keyboard atmosphere. Same with "Soul Decision", another great heavy highlight with some more harsh vocals. And again in "Simplicity Demand", though a little more simplistic.
"Obscure Indiscretion" is another song with much less harsh vocals. "My Secret Window" is another total standout, with relentless greatness striking the listener in every direction. The closing title track has some zesty synths and piano within the heavier instrumentation. The track is 7-minutes long, but it is followed by a hidden one-minute outro with the last bit of piano and singing.
The success is still going! The stellar sound has slightly improved from 11 Dreams and is able to maintain the perfect glory of Everblack. They continue to level up their greatness that would decrease in later releases while staying strong. Any metalhead should get The Hours That Remain. A fantastic confident offering of epic melodeath!
Favorites: "Redefine Me", "My World is Ending", "This Eternal Instant", "Soul Decision", "My Secret Window"
