Customer Reviews

Hours That Remain (Bonus Dvd)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mercenary have been around for quite some time frollicking around the melodeath scene(In Flames, Dark Tranquillity et el?), and with 11 dreams they had shown promise with a polished sound even though it had been weakenned somewhat by overboarding keyboards and a bunch of the same keyed choruses. Overall 11 dreams laid the groundwork for mercenary driving them into the limelight for a change. Now at hand with a new bass player/singer, lead singer Kral and the gang plow into new territory with The Horus tha Remain and follow in more of a progressive sound with complimenting thrash elements. Wonderful standouts are "lost Reality", "Soul Decision" which make excellent simplistic compositions but dont falter on the line of being ot catchy. Both guitarists sunchronize well with one another with blazing melodies creating an epic mountain climbing journey that makes your blood pump. Still on this opus are some of the same keyed choruses but instead of being to noticable...the keybaords dont make poppy chops, they only create an ambient texture. The album opener "Redifine me" reminds listeners of Mercenarys noticable sound..but any other notions soon fade away. Look deep into numbers such as "Eternal Instant" and find galloping muted riffs, and "Obscure Indiscretion" for a breakdown and solo area where another world opens up..these musicians are out for blood. The albums closer being the title track is in my opinion the best track whic sums up every element of the new album and doesnt give either musician more then their fair share. as an Elitist, and an artist myself I enjoy groups which blend genres into one..but for those who arent as openminded, you may talk trash about a group who could put you in your place...enjoy this album its worth every penny

Now this is what metal is all about! Aggression, innovation, defying expectations - Mercenary has it all covered. My first exposure to this band was at the ProgPower USA fest in 2003, where the band's genre-bending mix of progressive and death metal hit me like a steel-toed boot to the chest. Throw Brainstorm, Tad Morose, Nevermore, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, and In Flames into a blender, and what comes out will sound a lot like Mercenary. Canada's Into Eternity is the only other band that comes close, but I find them a bit too sterile for my tastes. Cut to 2006 and not only is there a new Mercenary album available, but the band returned to ProgPower for another fantastic performance (two words: Pantera cover).

The Hours That Remain is another triumphant Mercenary album. Just as 11 Dreams was an improvement over an already excellent Everblack, The Hours That Remain is another step forward. Mercenary succeeds in building on their previous albums' foundations and at the same time improving their overall sound. There is still the death metal aggression that extreme metal fans crave, but it is equally matched with a progressive metal band's technical proficiency. The band continues to improve their songwriting skills (which were pretty solid to begin with), which has a lot to do with why The Hours That Remain may just be Mercenary's finest album to date.

Mercenary is the open-minded metal fan's dream come true. I truly believe that in the near future this band will be one of the dominant forces in metal.

NOTE: Early versions of The Hours That Remain came with a bonus DVD featuring interviews, behind the scenes material, and live footage. It's a great bonus to an already excellent album.

I just got into these guys, I am a big Metal fan ( since Sabbath 1972 ) This cd never stops, great melodies, Nice guitar work, and I love the vocals simply awesome this group does have alot of Nevermore/Maiden/Thrash sounds... a definite must have in your Metal collection!

I first started listening to Mercenary when they debuted "11 Dreams" some time ago, and from then I was hooked. I now own "Everblack", "11 Dreams", and "The Hours That Remain". I define them as "Epic" Metal, I don't care what everyone else says, they are Epic.

This album is Mercenary's best, not by far, but it is the best. Every song has ridiculous power and does not let up. There's always that one CD where you like every song but there's that one that you press skip over everytime. Not with this album; From brutality in "The Year of the Plague" to a melodic epic "Lost Reality" this CD consumes you. The music is atmospheric, melodic, symphonic, and the harsh/clean vocal harmonization is amazing. It's incredibly hard for me to compare to any other bands, but if I had to I'd say "Raintime" or "Scar Symmetry", other favorites of mine.

This CD is not brutal by any means, but in fact melodic and atmospheric, the music is so full. Do not hesitate to buy this CD, and BTW the music clips don't do it justice.

Favorite Songs (No Order):

1. Lost Reality

2. Redefine Me

3. The Hours That Remain

4. Obscure Indiscretion

5. Soul Decision

6. Simplicity Demand

7. Year of the Plague

I loved 11 Dreams. Well...I loved enough songs to buy it and enjoy it....and go back to it from time to time. Mercenry have a really fresh take on melodic death. They are, like others describe, a blend of Soilwork, COB, and Into Eternity...only they really have a unique take. They don't sound too copy cat like other bands.

Anyway...this new release is top notch production and great musicianship, but after a while, I am left feeling flat. Every song pretty much resembles every other one. If you listen to 1 or 2 songs, then you're like WHOA!...but if you like to listen to CD's all the way through or repeat listens, this CD loses something.

The clean vocals are very good. They are my favorite part along with the piano. My complaint is that the tempo of their songs are all the same...mid tempo. It might be nicer to see them slow things up, or get nastier...give the listener something unexpected.

All in all, I love the CD...it just feels like these guys have TONS of potential, but are just staying with what they know best. I would give this a 3.5 if I could...but I'm not quite at the 4 star range.

This is a good album. Scratch that, it's a really REALLY good album. But it's not great, amazing, or groundbreaking. The biggest change on this album from Mercenary's past releases is the absence of bassist/singer Henrik "Kral" Andersen (quit before album came out). In my own opinion, this is the best thing that has happened to this band. The songs on this album really feature lead singer Mikkel Sandager's great vocal range and delivery, providing numerous memorable hooks and some really tight harmonies, really pushing the singing aspect of this band to a new height.

And then of course there's the bad. Well, not so much the bad as much as the "under-realized". While the vocals on the album are great, the music can get rather "bleh". No real steps foward have been taken in the musical aspect from 11 Dreams, and I feel this album features at least 2, if not 3, throw away tracks. But again, it's not nessecarily a bad thing. The album drags in the middle, like many albums tend to, but the good eventually outshine the bad on this offering.

So, in conclusion, it's a 3.5, but on the high side, so I'll go with a 4. Recceomended listening: "Redefine Me", "My World Is Ending", "Soul Decision", "My Secret Window", "Hours That Remain"

I usually never write a review unless an album makes a strong impression on me. This album definitely did. This is unlike anything I've heard, and that's why I love it. Death metal/power metal that rocks your soul. At first, I was skeptical about the screaming (I'm usually not a fan). After a while, I grew to like it a lot. It adds a lot of power to the music. The songs are catchy, and rock HARD. I personally like this album better than 11 Dreams. It seemed more consistent to me. All in all, I love this album, and can listen to the whole thing over and over again.

Wow, amazing new album. Such a huge step up from their previous work, its so unfortunate that Mikkel left the band...hopefully they find a new singer and dish out more of this kind of music. Most definitely Mercenary's best work, if you enjoy melodeath then this is a must have.

I'm a huge Mercenary fan and I feel that this CD is in some ways better than 11 Dreams. The songs are great and I love the mix of death/power metal (like 3-inches of Blood, Nevermore, Into Eternity). The only thing I would say brings the album own a little are these points: Since Kral left, Mikkel took on all the vocal work and did a great job, but on some of the tracks he stays in the same key way too much and Kral's lower voice would have helped mix things up a bit. Sometimes the tracks also fall into a bit of monotony in terms of tempos. Overall, this CD really rips. I've heard some stuff off of their latest release and I would say that THTR is their best so far.

-Joe NYC

I'm fairly a new fan of this band so I can't quite comment on what's the best album by the band yet, but I will say that this album is definitely quite different from their last album '11 Dreams.' The band still relies on harmony over a hardcore sound on this album, but unfortunately Mercenary sounds a lot like other European melodic metal bands especially Soilwork. (Coincidentally "Speed" from Soilwork did guest vocals on the album.) With that said, that's pretty much why I'm giving this only 4 stars instead of 5 like I did for '11 Dreams' which is an album that truly stands out on it's own. As for the DVD, typical extras for bands to put on DVDs these days---how the album was made & some concert footage from Dynamo festival 2005 (which is pretty good quality, not a shabby bootleg!) For fans of melodic metal, don't hesitate to check this one out.