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13.10.06
Siden jeg så Mercenary på Elements of Metal i Sandefjord (03), på Inferno 04 og i Kopervik året etter når Karmøygeddon 2005 gikk av stabelen, har jeg vært litt svak for danskene. De som har opplevd gjengen fra scenekanten vet hva jeg snakker om. Når Emi flørter med intervjuforespørsel og jeg digger bandet, hvorfor ikke la Mercenary være det første internasjonale bandet på Heavymetal.no?
Og la oss få det unna med det samme, det blir ikke snakk om oversettelse akkurat nå. Jeg har dessverre ikke tid eller mulighet til det - vi er bare et par mann som jobber aktivt med siden i tillegg til skribentene, og når inntektene er lik null sier det seg selv at man ikke kan bruke bøtter av tid på slikt. Men jeg tipper alle som er innom her er såpass barske at de leser engelsk bra - og la oss håper at min variant holder mål :) Here we go...gitarist Jakob er i andre enden, la oss hilse på fyren...
First, thank you for doing this interview, I’m a huge Mercenaryfan and have seen the band performing three times in Norway...are you enjoying doing interviews at this time of year? (slutten av august)
"You’re welcome, and yeah despite some rain the summer’s quite nice here - when the weather is really good (and I have nothing else to do) I bring out my laptop in the garden to get some interviews done, so it’s very relaxed."
Let's focus on the fresh meat, 'The hours that remain', what lies beneath this cryptic title?
"I guess it’s primarily a memento mori, a reminder that we’re all mortal and all have a limited number of hours remaining of our existence. We liked the title because it’s quite dark and sinister in that way, while at the same time such a reminder of our mortality is also a reminder to make the most of the time we have left, so it also has a positive and constructive aspect. A contrast I think fits the new album well."
Between 11 dreams and this new album, Kral ain’t a part of the crew anymore - was it a natural thing?
"Yeah it was quite natural. He felt he could no longer commit to touring so much and having a family at the same time, which is very understandable."
Resepct for changing lanes and stepping up for his family. Metal may be a cool train to hang on to, but touring away the valuable time when your kids grow up will haunt you forever. :)
And he was, correct me if I’m wrong, pretty involved in the arrangements and the songwriting? If so, how did this affect the new cd? Who took over his part(s)?
"He’s always contributed a lot writing riffs and so on, so this time
Martin
(leadgtr.) and I wrote the most, except the song
Obscure Indiscretion,
which was written by
Mikkel
(vocals) and
Morten
(keys). He also used to write all lyrics and the most of the vocal melodies, and both of these chores were handled by
Mikkel and Morten
on the new album.
Mikkel
did all the shouting and screaming on the new album as well, so he was definitely in for a lot of work but managed to pull it really well in our own humble opinion."
Personally I have a huge amount of respect for the band, and I immediately fell in love with the
Mercenarystyle...
it was back when you did a incredible show in Sandefjord (Norway) and the power/strength of the band blew me away. Do you think the liveformat serves the material better vs the studioversion of the band? For me both really rocks, but I do crave more of the livemonster...:)
"I don’t know if I think the songs are stronger live...they’re different, less perfected and more raw, but I guess that also make them more direct and, of course, they’re much louder live which is a good thing, right!? I think the live situation and recording albums are two complementary sizes, neither of which I would let go off. Just making albums without getting the material out would be very isolated, but just playing shows without having a CD out wouldn’t be my thing either."
How is the co-operation with Century Media working out? Still satisfied with the development and the way the band are supported?
"Yeah we’re very satisfied in every way. They’re very professional and support us very well in far the most things we want to do, so we couldn’t be happier at the moment."
How is the album promoted? Are you happy with the support you’re getting for “The hours remain”? (videos/adds)
"Again yes, we’re very content. Both
Century Media
and their new distributors
EMI
are doing really great jobs at promoting the album."
And probably a stupid question, anyone living off the band? I know Martin gives lessons, but anyone else feeding off the music?
"None of us are able to make a living of the music right now, but once in a while it does pay the rent and some pocket money which is of course a very nice thing.
Morten
is also working as a musicteacher both privately and in schools, but apart from that, none of us is working with music in other ways than in the band in our daily lives."
What a shame, yet again we need the tag 'no justice', argh!
How known do you think the band is? For me and the ‘above average’ metalnerds the band is both known and respected...but what about within the frames of the general metalscene? Is Mercenary still a hidden jewel, in spite of the two-three latest killer albums and all the touring?
"It’s a really tough question as that’s something that is very hard to estimate. I’d like to believe that all our touring and the last couple of albums have done a lot to get us out of the underground, but the competition is really fierce. But it’s going in the right direction, that’s for sure."
Sales figures, are they increasing? I believe to have seen some info on 11 Dreams shifting quite a number of copies...
"Let’s just say that they have more than doubled for each of the last albums, so let’s cross our fingers that that will happen with the new album as well! Making your sales increase demand a lot of really hard work, but we’ll of course do everything we can to promote the band and our music, and we have a very good management and label to back us up, thankfully."
When releasing this new record, is it possible this may be some kind of break for the band? Do you think the market is ready for a dose of Danish metal and possibly ready to help you guys reach the top?
"That sort of depends on what you mean by ‘breakthrough’ and ‘the top’ as such terms have quite different meanings whether you are talking underground metal or mainstream music. I’d like to believe we can work ourselves up to having a fair chance of getting a lot more attention with the new album than we’ve had before, but whether we can ever make it to the top of the metalscene is something time will tell. We’ll do everything can to achieve it of course."
The two major factors as I see Mercenary are the melodic stuff and the extreme aspect. What fascinates me the most is that this formula has been used in a very similar way on ‘Everblack’ and ‘11 Dreams’, but without getting weakened or watered out. This time around, what have you done, as you see it yourself, to evolve? I personally get a different vibe productionwise, maybe somewhat “lighter” arranging, more “air” in the tracks – but again there’s no doubt whose occupying the stereo.
"I’m very glad you like the way we’ve balanced these elements differently up until now - personally I think that balance is something that’s been essential to ‘the Mercenary sound’. The new album balances these elements in a new way compared to the older material, as the vocals are now all done by
Mikkel. (What a strong vocalist!!! Yj)
This might be what is giving the album a ‘lighter’ feel as you point out, but at the same time we’ve also gone for much more direct and strong riffing and arrangements, cutting out many unnecessary stuff compared to earlier, so in that way the album is also heavier and faster.
We’ve also included more passages with just guitar, bass and drums hacking away, which is something not found a lot on the last album, and in general made an effort to ‘tidy up’ our arrangements by cutting down on the layers."
This form of metal has grown lately, the melodic swedenstuff, thrash/melodic hybrids getting signed all the time. But when Mercenary started out, not many of this kind existed. How was it back then? What influenced your songs and the shaping of the band?
"Like I said, I think the balance between the aggressive and heavy versus the melodic and atmospheric have always been central to our sound from the very early days. Before the Swedish scene exploded with bands playing melodic deathmetal, we’d been listening to lots of melodic stuff like
Megadeth, Carcass
and many more of the classic early ‘90s thrash and deathmetal bands, which probably gave us our sound together with other influences."
Any touringplans including Norway?
"Not right now I’m afraid, but we will play with
The Haunted
on a small tour in November which will take us to Gothenburg - so if there are any really diehard fans out there, that’s probably the closest we’ll get this year."
The name of the band, are the thoughts behind the pick still valid? Or is it just hanging on from the early days? And what do you mean by ‘mercenary’? Who’s the target?
"Well the target would obviously by the audience, haha! But no, it’s not a name that has any special significance or meaning to us any longer, it’s just a cool name for a metal band and it’s been ours since
Kral
formed the band back in ’91, where he got it from some Slayer lyrics off South of Heaven and thought it was cool."
The Danish Metal Scene, just some words on its status? We honestly don’t get too many bands or releases form you danes here in Norway, but do you feel the scene has in- or decreased the last years?
"It’s definitely increasing a lot - lots of band’s are developing their own style and sound, are getting signed and are released on different labels outside of Denmark. Many musicians have lots of experience after playing for many years and have taken their bands to a higher level, which has inspired lots of fresh young bands to go for the same as they see it can be done even though you’re from a non-metal country like Denmark!
A big problem is that the media doesn’t support the scene at all, it’s very very hard to get airplay or get your video aired compared to the rest of Europe and Scandinavia. My impression is that the media is much more ‘responsible’ in a country like Norway by supporting national releases and being informative about what goes on outside the strict mainstream."
Good luck on both promoting and touring this new album, let’s hope more Norwegians open their eyes to the mercenary. :) Thanx!
"Thanks a lot! We’ll definitely be doing our best with the hours that remain!"
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