MERCENARY: Track by Track Breakdown

A track-by-track breakdown of the upcoming album "Metamorphosis" of MERCENARY has been done by singer […]

By Elina

• February 7, 2011

A track-by-track breakdown of the upcoming album "Metamorphosis" of MERCENARY has been done by singer René Pedersen and guitarist Jakob Mølbjerg for the german Metal Hammer magazine.
Check it below.

"Metamorphosis", track list is:

01. Through The Eyes Of The Devil
02. The Follower
03. In A River Of Madness
04. Memoria
05. Velvet Lies
06. In Bloodred Shades
07. Shades Of Grey
08. On The Edge Of Sanity
09. Black Brigade

01. Through The Eyes Of The Devil

René: A powerful melodic song, with a mixture of aggression and beauty, perfect opener for the album in my head.

Jakob: This is actually one of the first songs written for the new album, way back before the changes in line-up. Mostly Martin's material, but a few riffs from René, too. A good opener as it introduces a lot of the different expressions to come.

02. The Follower

René: A very unique song compared to the older Mercenary, it introduces a lot of new stuff to the sound

Jakob: Maybe the last song we wrote a few weeks before the studio. But it has a quite unique vibe and a very untypical verse and chorus for us. I think the basics for this song came together in little more than 30 minutes in the rehearsal room. An interesting fact is that Martin did all the keyboards for this song.

03. In A River Of Madness

René: This is the very essence of us combining the old with the new! This song IS Mercenary. One Angry son of a bitch!

Jakob: This song uses the characteristic combination of heavy, aggressive sections with a big soaring dual-vocals-chorus and 6/8 time signature that really takes me back to the vibe from Firesoul. Like René says, this song carries some of the essence of our sound. But with a much more aggressive middle section and more modern sound. One of my favorites. Great disharmonic orchestral middle section from the our guest keyboard player, Kim Olesen.

04. Memoria

René: My personal favorite on the album, some very personal lyrics... This song just works!

Jakob: Yeah, I understand why it's René's fave song, as he really takes the center stage, haha! No, seriously, this is one of the places where he truly shines as a singer. The verse is just a stab in the heart every time I hear it.

05. Velvet Lies

René: A very dreamy song with a nice breakdown, Paints some pictures for the listener.

Jakob: Another song with big contrasts, and another one of my favorites. I just love the contrast between the big, melancholic, 11 Dreams-esque chorus and Martin's very expressive, sorrowful lead on the one hand, versus the fiercely heavy middle section, as well as the outro, where everything just kind of disintegrates and falls apart in a big inferno of roaring noise on the other hand. Kim Olesen made exactly the kind of weird effects and keyboards I had in mind for that outro. An interesting fact is that this song is almost entirely made up of sections which had been jammed early on and discarded for other songs. It almost didn't make it to the album, but suddenly everything just came together, just a few weeks before the studio.

06. In Bloodred Shades

René: Catchy song with killer chorus, love to play this one live!

Jakob: This one just has a great immediacy, it's just a head-on, no-bullshit song. Despite this, Martin, Morten Løwe (Drums) and I actually fiddled around for an eternity getting the verse just right, even though it's not really that complicated.

07. Shades Of Grey

René: I would call this one the "ballad" of the album, soaring vocals and rocking guitars

Jakob: Yeah, this is kind of a power ballad. But it has some great vocal arrangements which makes it sound modern and slightly pop-ish - in a good way, haha! The song allows people to breathe for a few minutes before the heat is back on.

08. On The Edge Of Sanity

René: Fastest song on the album!! This one will melt the flesh straight from your face!

Jakob: Another song from before the changes in line-up. It didn't work all that well early on, but when Morten joined the band, he really lifted it up on a totally different level, his playing is outstanding on this track. The first chorus had some very fast drumming for a while (and the verse even had blastbeats), but the vocals didn't really work with that. When we changed the drum patterns and added the vocal harmonies, the songs just grew immensely. I love it. The chorus makes me think of Disturbed for some reason, even though there's not really any similarity.

09. The Black Brigade

René: The Anthem of a new era! This one is the perfect rocking end to this album.

Jakob: This is definitely a nod to the legacy of Megadeth. Every single section of this song just has a huge MEGADETH-stamp on it, but we thought it was fun just to go with it, as Martin, René and I are all huge fans of them. But with René vocals it ended up sounding very differently of course, just check out his high pitch-squealing in the chorus, haha! A funny thing is that the first riff of the middle section is actually one I wrote back in '97 or so (and it's really inspired by the Youthanasia/Countdown-vibe), but it didn't really fit in with Mercenary's sound back then. (And as far as I remember, Kral thought it sucked ass.) So, this song is definite example of how old school elements merge together with a more modern sound on our album, I think.