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Melodic death / thrash metal has been closely linked to Sweden lately but when the Danish band Mercenary released their second full-length album "Everblack" in 2002 it was obvious to many that the neighbouring country in the south was also a force to be reckoned with. Major metal labels also took notice of what was about to happen and Century Media managed to win the band over from their previous home at Hammerheart Records. Their first Century Media release is "11 Dreams", an album filled with more than an hour of music and, naturally, eleven songs. It has been praised by many reviewers and won several national awards but to be honest "Everblack" should have received that kind of attention instead. The follow-up is by no means bad, far from it, but it offers less originality and excitement than its predecessor. The production is clearer and more powerful and the song writing is solid but after a few songs it tends to be a little bit too much of the same spice and eventually you grow tired of that taste. Alternating between growling and clean vocals is something we have been getting used to for some time now but Mercenary are different from most bands in the genre as their clean vocals are quite unique and high-pitched, sometimes reminding of power metal. That plays a big part in their success I believe. "11 Dreams" is a catchy album most of the time which makes it easy to listen to for people new to metal. "Everblack" was a more diverse and creative outlet for the band while on "11 Dreams" the band has found more of a standard formula which evidently works well. Mercenary have not failed this time either but they went over the top slightly here and there and could have thrown ten or twenty minutes in the bin without much of a difference. I must add that I am a little bit more critical than usual in this review but that is mostly because of the worldwide praising of this album and that they have produced even better music in the past. Even though they are stuck on a standard formula they have found a personal sound of their own.
| Tracklist |
| 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 |
| 9. Falling |
| 10. Times Without Changes |
| 11. Loneliness |
: 61.51
| Buy other Mercenary albums |
