MERCENARY: THE NEXT ONCE-AWESOME BAND TO START SUCKING?
So Mercenary shed 50% of their line-up last year, losing vocalist Mikkel Sandager, drummer Mike Park Nielsen, and keyboardist Morten Sandager because they “no longer share the same vision” for the group as their bandmates; remaining members Martin Buus, Jakob Mølbjerg, and René Pedersen apparently “wanted to play faster, heavier and more modern (yet old school) material.” And that sounds encouraging, but anytime a great band suddenly loses a substantial amount of its line-up, fans will inevitably be on pins and needles waiting to hear new material to see how everything pans out.
And if you’re a Mercenary fan, those pins and needles just drove themselves right up into your feet, causing you to fall to the ground screaming in agony while you roll around in a puddle of your own blood.
“The Follower,” our first taste of Mercenary’s new line-up, debuted on a Danish radio program over the weekend, and it blows. It blows hard, friends. It sounds like a way watered-down version of the Mercenary we all know and love. Pedersen, if I’m not mistaken, is now doing all the clean vocals in addition to the growls he used to provide, and he ain’t no Mikkel Sandager. Sandager’s voice SOARED, while Pedersen’s just kinda leaps and flaps its arms.
And what about this is faster or heavier or more modern or more old school or more betterer in any way about this song in comparison to pretty much anything from 11 Dreams or The Hours That Remain or even Architect of Lies? What I loved about those albums is that Mercenary were epicly effin’ epic; they were one of the only bands out there that could make me wanna save a damsel in distress from a dragon who has tied her to some railroad tracks AND punch someone in the face AND weep openly all that same time. But this song has none of that scope — I hear 10,000 bands that sound like this every week. Sure, the change isn’t as drastic as, say, Cryptopsy suddenly becoming a deathcore band overnight, but it strongly suggests that the departed members were either very, very important to this band’s songwriting process, or that the remaining members have just lost their mojo.
Hopefully the rest of the band’s new album will trump this… I’d be pretty sad if the awesome Mercenary I fell in love with is no dunzo.
-AR
