OH NOES! MERCENARY LOSE 50% OF THEIR LINE-UP
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 1:30pm by Axl RosenbergA reader known only as “Mike” tipped us off that one of our most favoritest bands, Denmark’s Mercenary, has parted ways with three of its six members: vocalist Mikkel Sandager, drummer Mike Park Nielsen, and keyboardist Morten Sandager.
Rhythm guitarist Jakob Mølbjerg explains in a statement:
“Last week, Mike told us that he wanted to leave the band permanently. The rest of us did some serious thinking and soul-searching, sat down and had ‘the big talk’ and came to the agreement that the only way to continue the band was to part ways with Mikkel and Morten as well. During the last year we have been working on a new album and it has become clear that we no longer share the same vision and enthusiasm about the direction and the future of the band. Martin, Rene, Mike and I wanted to play faster, heavier and more modern (yet old school) material, but for the band as a whole this evidently didn’t work out.”
Now, I gotta be honest: I don’t know that much about the inner-dynamics of the band, and for all I know, the loss won’t have any effect on Mercenary’s songwriting (beyond the apparent move towards “faster and more modern (yet old school) material,” which is about as generic, unhelpful description of music as I can imagine). And none of these particular musicians were founding members of the band…
…but they’ve all played on the band’s best albums – namely 2004’s 11 Dreams, 2006’s The Hours that Remain, and, hell, I’m feeling generous, so let’s say last year’s Architect of Lies, too. Mikkel Sandager’s awesome vocals are absolutely integral to the emotionality of those recordings, and I’m a huge fan of Morten Sandager’s synths, too. So, yeah. Bummer.
I guess we’ll find out next year if the new Mercenary is still worth caring about. In the meantime, I’m gonna go listen to The Hours that Remain and cry.
-AR
I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if Ziltoid cried out, and was suddenly silenced.
LOL.
This news saddens me so much….but I shall not be silenced!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Mercenary are one of those bands that everybody seems to overlook. They’re amazing. I love them.
Well that’s shitty. Hopefully Mikkel and Morten make another awesome band.
That’s somewhat upsetting.
I wanna cry… hopefully they won’t change too much after this mess… unlikely but possible…
Never listened before.
Now that I have, they should of listened to the other guys and played faster and heavier.
I never really liked them… I personally think that Volbeat is better.
Well, that fucking sucks. And what the hell is “more modern (yet old school)” meant to mean, anyway?
THIS
IS
AWFUL!
Mercenary thrives on awesome vocals. I’m rather saddened.
I’m guessing Mikkel had quite the influence on their sound. Just listen to the difference between First Breath and Everblack. It’s a completely different band. As for Mike, I’ve always thought he has a unique style. I’m not sure how much he influenced the bands sound, because they also got a new guitarist when 11 Dreams came out. Still, I’ll miss him. He really stood out. And Morten… well, he plays keys. I guess there are better keyboard players out there. Also, Mikkel and Morten are brothers. Maybe that has something to do with him leaving. Who knows.
Oh well, in the end, Kral’s departure wasn’t that bad either. But it’s a shame there are no pre-11 Dreams members left.
I’d love it for Kral to rejoin the band and recapture the more intense “11 Dreams” sound (although their 2 most recent albums are still excellent).
Fuck. Mikkel Sandager was the heart of the band. One of the best vocalists in metal today…Mercenary are probably done.