In recent years, Danish metallers Mercenary have gone through the all too common challenge of pulling through a vast and significant change in the ranks, changing half of their line-up and following with a slight shift in their sound, with 2011’s Metamorphosis sounding significantly upbeat than previously. Away from the Century Media label they resided with for a long time, their latest album sees them now with Prosthetic Records, and surely hoping for an album to rebuild their momentum.
Latest album Through Our Darkest Days (Noise Art Records) would imply through its title a return to more bleaker territory but instead it proves to be more Sonic Syndicate than My Dying Bride; sweeping guitar parts, roaring sing-along choruses and thrashier riffs both sit with ease with the vast majority of melodic death metal acts and cater more to those looking for the ‘fist pumping’, anthemic side rather than the sullen and despairing. Sonic Syndicate make a good comparison with the production side as well which shows a lot of sheen and clarity, but also comes across as too polished and even a little sanitised in places.
Herein lies the problem with TODD, is that it feels a little too clean and seems to lack grit. It also lacks any characteristics that separate it from the increasingly saturated melodic death category; there are no new ideas, no surprises, no veering off the beaten track; just more of what you have already heard dozens of times before. Not a bad album as such, just a hugely unoriginal one.
5/10
Chris Tippell