Having been around since 1991, Mercenary is one of Denmark's most persistent metal acts. Emerging from the nineties as a mid-pace melodic death-thrash four piece, centered around songwriters Kral (bass/vocals) and Jakob (guitars). Recruiting additional heavy metal-style singer Mikkel Sandager and his brother Morten on keys changed the band's sound drastically towards a new and rather unusual combination of melody and aggression. Mercenary gradually evolved their sound into a fusion of diverse inspirations ranging from progressive and ‘classic' metal to (Swedish) melodic death metal. Balancing memorable atmospheric passages and choruses, with equal amounts of drive and aggression, the band took a definite turn towards focusing on songwriting rather than riffing. The band have continuously expanded creating ominously sinister music that resonates with a unique Scandinavian coldness. Their debut album, 'First Breath', saw the light of day in 1998.

THE HOURS THAT REMAIN (2006) CENTURY MEDIA

Denmark has never been a country to produce any horde of metal bands. But the bands that do get to be heard outside of their rehearsal rooms are often quite groundbreaking. One only has to mention Mercyful Fate and King Diamond (mind you, there are others too) to understand that quality is more important than quantity in the small country at the tip of the European continent. And Mercenary is yet another band to verify that this is still the case in Denmark. The band had their breakthrough with the '11 Dreams' album. It's always hard to follow up such a highly acclaimed record, but I think these guys have done a decent job of it. Mercenary is a progressive metal band, balancing in-between melodic death and power metal. If you tried to breed Evergrey, Soilwork and Pyramaze, you might get Mercenary as a result. I'm not here to tell you that this is something unique. But I dare say that they have created their own sound. The music is emotional and filled with melody and harmonies, yet at the same time they are also pretty brutal, mostly due to the death metal vocals styles weaved in here and there. The clean vocals are much more dominant ten from what i remember from '11 Dreams' though. And with enough musically twists and turns added to prevent it sounding stale, 'The hours That Remain' turns out to be quite the pleasant effort. The production is outstanding, and the artwork by Travis Smith only adds to the already professional togetherness of the package. My version comes with a bonus DVD, filled with interviews, making of.. and live footage.

Killer tracks: Redefine Me, My World Is Ending, Lost Reality, Obscure Indiscretion, My Secret Window, The Hours That Remain