Mercenary – “11 Dreams”
From the album: 11 Dreams

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Why this song most certainly doesn’t suck:
I’m going to start off my new Music That Doesn’t Suck series with a special one (to me at least). My first encounter with Mercenary was roughly 3 years ago, thanks in part to a Shoutcast station that was kind enough to treat my ears to the band’s unique brand of Dannish asskickery. Since then, I’ve been a huge fan of their entire catalog, which spans the last decade and includes a grand total of 5 albums. They’re pretty consistent with releasing a  new album of  power metal influenced melodeath awesomeness every two years or so, their last of which, “Architect of Lies”, was released this year (and yes, it’s amazing).

The song that got me hooked on Mercenary from the start was “11 Dreams”; a sprawling 7-minute guitar-shredding, keyboard-infused power death epic. I love this song. Seriously. From Mikkel Sandager’s soaring vocal performance and lyrics to the guitar solo immediately followed by a haunting keyboard melody (which so happens to be my cell’s ringtone), this song simply speaks to the very center of my heavy metal core. With both sound and structure bordering on prog metal territory, this song is truly one of my favorites.

While their earlier albums seemed to harbor more death metal or even thrash influences, their latest releases are more in the vein of the song above… nearly power metal based, with significantly cleaner sweeping vocals. So, if you like this tune, I would highly recommend checking out the album “11 Dreams”, along with the rest of Mercenary”s catalog. You won’t be disappointed.

Official Website: www.mercenary.dk
“11 Dreams” Lyrics: www.darklyrics.com