Architect of Lies

by

Mercenary

Edit

Mercenary is a band that can be likened to Into Eternity, Scar Symmetry, or even Opeth as a band pushing the envelope on "hybrid" genre-crossing metal. Their break-through album 11 Dreams was an epic, ground-breaking slab of metal. Everyone was curious to see what direction Mercenary would go after after 11 Dreams, and The Hours that Remain was; while not as ground-breaking, a front-to-back solid album. Here we have the third release after 11 Dreams, and there are certainly similarities to their last two releases.

The album kicks off with the amazing "New Desire" with some ambient keyboards soon followed by some ferocious guitar riffs. Upon hearing these, I immediately smiled. I immediately thought I was in for a treat of an album on the level of their last two. Well, unfortunately, it was a bit pre-mature as the somewhat mall-core vocals soon afterwards made me second-guess myself. Luckily, the amazing chorus managed to redeem the song. "Bloodsong" sounds a bit like filler to me (maybe I'm the only one). The vocals sound awfully Halford-esque, but nothing about the song much sticks out. "Embrace the Nothing" has some vocals that sound awfully mall-core...I can't get that thought out of my head while listening to it. But, alas, the song is still a guilty pleasure, which is to say it is actually one of the highlights on the album.

After some good (but not great) songs, "Black and Hollow" opens up with some booming guitars and keyboards only to follow up with some very welcome vocals that are reminiscent of 11 Dreams. "Execution song" is a very heavy affair, but still only manages to be solid. That is until 3:24 when the song suddenly shifts into a very brutal and catchy direction. The best song on the album is very easily the closer that opens with some ridiculous guitars and the best chorus to be found on the album. The song changes drastically about 2:30 in and slows down the pace and morphs into a rather ballad-esque and beautiful song.

To sum the album up, I would have to say that this is most certainly still Mercenary. Just not as good as they can be. Highlights are definitely the opener and closer with some good ones sprinkled in between. Fans of Into Eternity, Opeth, Scar Symmetry, Dark Tranquility, In Flames, Children of Bodom, or any other genre-bending melodeath band can find something to appreciate on this album.