UMUR "The Hours That Remain" is the 4th full-length studio album by Danish metal act Mercenary. The album was released through Century Media Records in August 2006. It´s the successor to "11 Dreams" from 2004 and there´s been one lineup change since the preceding album as Kral (growling vocals and bass) has left Mercenary. Kral´s departure has a significant impact on the sound of "The Hours That Remain", as the use of extreme vocal styles is heavily reduced on the album (there are a few parts doubled with shouted aggressive vocals, but that´s it). As the band didn´t manage to find a suitable replacement before the recording of the album, producer Jacob Hansen recorded all bass parts.

The music on the album is melodic and quite epic metal. A kind of power metal/melodeath hybrid (without death metal vocals). Lead vocalist Mikkel Sandager is given a lot of space to showcase his vocal arsenal and he generally has a dominant role on this album. He has a strong voice and is a skilled vocalist, so the fact that he has taken over most of the vocals (there are a couple of songs with guests vocalists who provide harsher type vocals. Björn Strid from Soilwork is one of them) isn´t necessarily a minus. Personally I miss the variation that Kral´s growls gave the music but I´m sure that´s an aquired taste.

The music is generally very melodic and keyboard/synth heavy and the listener is treated to strong melodies and a wall of epic and layered harder edged power metal. The album is consistent in style and in the quality of the material, but the tracks have a tendency to sound a bit too similar. It has much to do with the constant loud wall of sound and layering of vocals and instruments. It´s a relief the few times the band strip the whole thing down to guitars, bass, drums, and a single vocal track (which they do very seldom), because then when the epic keyboards/synths, vocal layered/choir/harmonies come in they feel more intense and effectful. When everything it cranked to 11 at all times, it loses effect because of lack of dynamics, and that´s what happens when you listen to "The Hours That Remain". Although it´s completely different music, it´s actually the same effect you get from some brutal death metal albums, where after a few tracks you don´t really feel the impact of the brutality anymore, because of the constant pummeling brutal energy and lack of dynamics.

When that is said "The Hours That Remain" is still a high quality power/melodeath album and tracks like "Redefine Me" and "My World Is Ending" are for example powerful and memorable tracks, and that actually goes for all the material on the album. Pick any song from the album and you´ll be met by high level musical performances, professional songwriting, and a well sounding clear and polished production, which suits the material well.

"The Hours That Remain" is arguably a more streamlined and professional sounding release than "11 Dreams" (2004) (or any of the other preceding releases), but personally I prefer the more gritty, varied, and sometimes anarchistic sounding predecessor. That album featured a dark magic and a more dynamic writing approach, that are not present on "The Hours That Remain", and which this album could have prospered from. So when it comes to rating "The Hours That Remain" I´m strongly biased, because it is a high quality release on all possible parameters, but the lack of dynamics makes it an exhausting listen to me, but a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "11 Dreams" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Danish metal act Mercenary. The album was released through Century Media Records in August 2004. It´s the successor to "Everblack" from 2002 and features two lineup changes since the predecessor as lead guitarist Signar Petersen has been replaced by Martin Buus and drummer Rasmus Jakobsen has been replaced by Mike Park. "11 Dreams" was generally well received and gave Mercenary an international breakthrough...

...and it´s obvious why that is when listening to the album. Compared to the band´s preceding releases there´s just so much more quality on display on "11 Dreams". This is the sound of a confident act who know that they´ve created something speciel.

The material on "11 Dreams" are stylistically a combination of power metal, progressive metal, and melodic death metal, with a few symphonic metal moments thrown in for good measure. Mercenary are both skilled composers and performers, and they seamlessly make all the stylistic elements work within their sound. The melodic death metal element of the band´s sound is mostly found in the guitar work and sometimes the rhythms as this is predominantly quite heavy and dark power metal. There aren´t that many growling vocals on the album, and clean vocalist Mikkel Sandager are given most room to shine, with growling vocalist/bassist Henrik "Kral" Andersen takes the backseat (although he does perform lead vocals on longer sections like he does on "Supremacy v2.0"). It´s arguably a good choice as Sandager has a strong voice and a varied delivery. He can sing both strong clean vocals, but also distort his voice a bit more and deliver screaming high pitched aggressive vocals like he does on tracks like "World Hate Center" (doubling with Andersen´s growling vocals) and especially on "Firesoul" (I´m blown away by the power and rawness of his vocals on the first section of that track).

"11 Dreams" is the kind of album which feels like a journey, where all tracks are important and the order of the tracks is important too (even the cover of "Music Non Stop" by Swedish pop/rock act Kent makes sense on the tracklist, and is actually quite a brilliant cover). The layered, dark, and heavy atmopshere is an omnipresent element, but there is good rhythmic variation and even what I would characterize as rhythmic hooks. I found myself tapping my fingers to some of the double bass drum patterns, simply because they add such power and memorability to the music. So new drummer Park definitely deserves a mention. The keyboard work by Morten Sandager (brother of lead vocalist Mikkel) should also be mentioned as it´s clever, tasteful, and sophisticated, bringing the right epic and melancholic atmosphere to the music. "11 Dreams" is also loaded with powerful heavy guitar riffs and melodic lead guitar work, but the layered nature of the music actually means that "11 Dreams" isn´t a riff-centric release. Every instrument and vocal part serve as a means to an end, to make a track work as a whole.

The album features a powerful, detailed, and heavy sounding production job, which suits the material perfectly. Every detail is audible in the mix, and it´s not necessarily an easy job creating a sound like that when the music features so many layers of instruments and vocals. I´ll tip my hat for producer Jacob Hansen. So upon conclusion "11 Dreams" is a high quality hybrid melodic death metal/dark power metal release and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Everblack" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Danish metal act Mercenary. The album was released through Hammerheart Records in March 2002. It´s the successor to "First Breath" from 1998 and features quite a few lineup changes since the predecessor as lead guitarist Nikolaj Brinkman has been replaced by Signar Petersen. Maybe a bit more significant keyboard player Morten Sandager and clean lead vocalist Mikkel Sandager (who are brothers) have been added to the lineup making Mercenary a sextet on "Everblack".

Adding a clean vocalist and a keyboard player to the lineup were conscious choices and the new members of the lineup have great impact on the band´s sound. The instrumental part of the music is still a heavy but melodic type of death metal with a melancholic and sometimes epic atmosphere. Henrik "Kral" Andersen still performs the growling vocals (and also plays the bass), while new lead vocalist Mikkel Sandager performs the clean vocals on the album. He is a powerful vocalist with a strong voice and a relatively varied arsenal of clean/slightly raw vocal styles. The keyboards provide epic moments to the music, but also more atmospheric nuances. So the heavy melodic death metal elements are combined with dark and heavy power metal elements.

"Everblack" is a relatively long album featuring 12 tracks and a total playing time of 60:06 minutes and while all tracks are relatively memorable and of a decent quality, there is a feeling that the tracks aren´t that different from each other and the textures and atmosphere of the music are very similar on all tracks. It all becomes a bit massive and the music could have prospered from a couple of less layered moments or in other words room to breathe. With that in mind I therefore feel that the album overstays its welcome.

Quantity isn´t a major issue when evaluating "Everblack" though, and it´s overall still a quality release by Mercenary and a step forward in the development of their sound. They would perfect the sound they introduced here on the next album, so this is a transition release from their slightly more raw sounding debut to the refined and mature sound of "11 Dreams (2004)". A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "First Breath" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish metal act Mercenary. The album was released through Serious Entertainment in January 1998. Mercenary formed in 1991 and released the "Domicile" demo in 1993 and the "Gummizild" demo in 1994 before being signed to Black Day Records for the release of the "Supremacy" EP in 1996. "First Breath" features 11 tracks, but after the closing track "Sister Jane" ends there are 42 seconds of silence and then a hidden track plays. It´s the title track from the 1996 "Supremacy" EP in the same version as the EP version.

Stylistically the material on "First Breath" is a relatively varied type of death metal. It´s melodic but not melodeath, it features both brutal parts, melodic parts, and epic atmospheric parts (a few tracks also feature atmospheric keyboards), mellow acoustic parts, and also quite a few heavy groove laden parts. A couple of tracks even feature female clean vocals ("Horizon" and "Sister Jane"). On "Sister Jane" the female clean vocals (performed by Irene Poulsen) are the primary vocal style, but the vocals on the album are otherwise predominantly either growling or throaty aggressive shouting/growling. The latter vocal style has a semi-melodic sensibility to it, which works well for the band.

I´m not sure I would call the music style on "First Breath" original, but Mercenary still have a relatively distinct sound and writing style. The elements they use have just been used before and are recognisable. The material is overall well written and effectful and those who enjoy chorus parts featuring a feeling of epic release should enjoy that part of the music greatly. It´s well balanced music but a little more variation in pace would have made the album a more interesting listen. At little more than an hour of playing time the album is maybe also a little too long, when almost the entire album is kept at mid-pace.

"First Breath" features a well sounding production, which suits the material well, so upon conclusion it´s good quality death metal album featuring a lot of promise. It shoots in quite a few directions, but I don´t see that as a problem in this case, as Mercenary master the various stylistic elements and there is consistency in style and sound all the way through the album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Metamorphosis" is the 6th full-length studio album by Danish metal act Mercenary. The album was released in through NoiseArt Records in February 2011. Great changes in the lineup have occurred since the release of "Architect of Lies (2008)" as lead vocalist Mikkel Sandager, keyboard player Morten Sandager and drummer Mike Park Nielsen have left the band. New drummer is Morten Løwe Sørensen. Bassist/vocalist René Pedersen who delivered the harsh vocals on "Architect of Lies" have been promoted to lead vocalist on "Metamorphosis" and now sings both harsh and clean vocals in addition to handling the bass. Guitarist Martin Buus Pedersen now also handles the keyboards making Mercenary a four-piece on "Metamorphosis" instead of a six-piece as they were on "Architect of Lies".

You´d think losing especially the Sandager brothers would have a great effect on how "Metamorphosis" sounds, but that´s actually not the case. "Metamorphosis" is through and through a Mercenary album. Mikkel Sandager was a skilled vocalist but René Pedersen also delivers his clean vocals in style and with conviction. The music on the album is the usual mix of melodic death metal and power metal with sequenced electronic elements. The latter element is only used sparsely on this album though. The harsh vocals have a slight "core" sound to them and they are more screaming than growling. The tracks are vers/ chorus structured with harsh vocal in the verses and clean vocals in the choruses. The choruses are pop oriented, anthemic and memorable. Not completely unlike the pop oriented nature of fellow Danes in Raunchy. The tracks are a bit too formulaic though and while they are all quality material to my ears, Mercenary are best when they break out of their comfort zone. A harsher styled track like "On the Edge of Sanity" proves that point. I wish they would do that more often.

The sound production is professional, polished and suits the music style perfectly. Add to that excellent musicianship and you have a quality metal release right there. The last two albums by the band "The Hours That Remain (2006)" and "Architect of Lies" had a somewhat similar sound, and while the keyboards/ synths have been toned down slightly on "Metamorphosis", Mercenary pretty much continue down the same path they had such great success with on the last couple of releases. I´m sure the fans will be delighted. As a more casual listener I´m probably a bit more critical though and while I think the album is an instantly enjoyable listen I´m questioning the longevity of the release. Fans of pop oriented melodic death metal/ power metal will probably disagree with me but I´m simply not sure I´ll take the album out in 10 years and think it´s a fantastic timeless release. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is still warranted though.