Mercenary (band)


Mercenary are an extreme metal band from Denmark that was formed in 1991. The band incorporates a lot of power and progressive elements in their songwriting.

History

Mercenary formed in Aalborg, Denmark in 1991 as the brainchild of Henrik "Kral" Andersen. The band name was taken from a lyric in the Slayer song, "Ghosts of War". After the release of two demos, Domicile and Gummizild, they were able to sign with 'Black Day Records, and released a four-song EP, Supremacy. In 1997, they were signed to the Danish label Serious Entertainment, and in 1998 they released their full-length debut, First Breath.
In 2002, the band decided to expand their sound with the addition of pianist Morten Sandager, who greatly contributed with his keyboard as well as his brother Mikkel, who helped expand their songs with vocals into their songs. This new line-up added new dimensions to their sound, blending more melody into their more aggressive heaviness.
That year, Mercenary played at the ProgPower music festival in the United States and released their second album Everblack. It was after this that the band fired drummer Rasmus Jacobsen, thinking he invested too little time into Mercenary and too much into other projects. During this time, guitarist Signar Petersen also left the band, due to personal reasons. Two old friends of Kral's would soon fill in the two spots, and with this new lineup, Mercenary were signed to Century Media Records.
In 2004, Mercenary released their third full-length album, 11 Dreams. This proved to be their most commercially successful album, earning much international attention from fans and critics alike. That year, Mercenary toured as a supporting act for Evergrey, and then later with Brainstorm who were on their first headlining tour in Europe. They also played on the 16th Wacken Open Air in 2005, and supported Nevermore on a European tour later that year.
At the end of March 2006, that the band announced that Kral left the band. Mikkel Sandager said in an interview that Kral's departure was due to "being away from his family and...trying to make it with the band for 15 years. I think that he simply got tired of trying and trying."
The band went about writing and recording their fourth full-length as a five-piece, with Mikkel Sandager performing all vocals, and the album's producer Jacob Hansen handling bass duties. On April 7, 2006 the band finished the recording at Jacob Hansens Studios. Shortly after this, the band managed to employ bassist/vocalist René Pedersen to fill in the void left by Kral.
At the May 19 and 20, 2006, Saegfestival, Mercenary had their first live performance with Pedersen. It was at this show that they played "Soul Decision", a song from their upcoming fourth album. On August 1, 2006, Mercenary released a compilation of their early demos, Retrospective, and on August 22, their new album, The Hours that Remain, was released.
In September 2006, Mercenary joined numerous other bands such as Evergrey, Epica, and Jørn Lande in the ProgPower USA festival. It was there that they covered Pantera's "Cowboys from Hell" at the request of the show's promoter.
On October 21, 2007 they announced a follow up album to The Hours that Remain was being recorded and produced. On December 12, 2007 the band announced on their Myspace page that the new album is complete. Eight days later, the band announced the title of the new album to be Architect of Lies. It was released on March 25, 2008.
November 11, 2009, it was announced that Mikkel, Morten, and Mike had left the band. According to Jakob in a press statement: "we no longer share the same vision and enthusiasm about the direction and the future of the band".
On November 23, 2009, the band announced via Facebook, that a new complete line-up had been established.
On December 23, 2010, the band released a song from their upcoming album, Metamorphosis.
They released the complete album Metamorphosis in 2011.
On July 26, 2013, the band released their Through Our Darkest Days.

Band members

Current
Former
Timeline

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PlotArea =left:120 bottom:90 top:10 right:10
Alignbars =justify
DateFormat =mm/dd/yyyy
Period =from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/2017
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1991
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1991
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
Colors=
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:lead value:green legend:Lead_guitar
id:rhythm value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar
id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album
id:other value:gray legend:Demo/EP
id:bars value:gray
LineData=
layer:back
at:06/01/1993 color:other
at:03/01/1994 color:other
at:06/01/1996 color:other
at:01/12/1998 color:studio
at:02/01/2002 color:other
at:03/11/2002 color:studio
at:08/23/2004 color:studio
at:08/21/2006 color:studio
at:03/17/2008 color:studio
at:02/25/2011 color:studio
at:06/26/2013 color:studio
BackgroundColors= bars:bars
BarData=
bar:Mikkel text:"Mikkel Sandager"
bar:Kral text:"Henrik Andersen"
bar:Nikolaj text:"Nikolaj Brinkman"
bar:Signar text:"Signar Petersen"
bar:Martin text:"Martin Buus"
bar:Hans text:"Hans Jørgen Andersen"
bar:Jakob text:"Jakob Mølbjerg"
bar:Andreas text:"Andreas W. Hansen"
bar:Hansen text:"Jakob Hansen"
bar:Rene text:"René Pedersen"
bar:Morten text:"Morten Sandager"
bar:Kim text:"Kim Olesen"
bar:Jakob2 text:"Jakob Johnsen"
bar:Rasmus text:"Rasmus Jacobsen"
bar:Mike text:"Mike Park Nielsen"
bar:Morten2 text:"Morten Løwe"
bar:Peter text:"Peter Mathiesen"
PlotData =
width:11
bar:Mikkel from:01/01/2002 till:11/11/2009 color:vocals
bar:Kral from:01/01/1991 till:03/01/1994 color:lead
bar:Kral from:03/01/1994 till:04/20/2006 color:bass
bar:Nikolaj from:03/01/1994 till:01/01/2000 color:lead
bar:Signar from:01/01/2000 till:09/01/2002 color:lead
bar:Martin from:09/01/2002 till:end color:lead
bar:Hans from:01/01/1991 till:03/01/1994 color:rhythm
bar:Jakob from:03/01/1994 till:end color:rhythm
bar:Andreas from:01/01/1991 till:03/01/1994 color:bass
bar:Hansen from:04/20/2006 till:11/20/2006 color:bass
bar:Rene from:11/20/2006 till:end color:bass
bar:Morten from:01/01/2002 till:11/11/2009 color:keys
bar:Jakob2 from:01/01/1991 till:03/01/1994 color:drums
bar:Rasmus from:03/01/1994 till:08/01/2002 color:drums
bar:Mike from:08/01/2002 till:11/11/2009 color:drums
bar:Morten2 from:11/11/2009 till:06/01/2011 color:drums
bar:Peter from:06/01/2011 till:end color:drums
width:3
bar:Rene from:11/20/2006 till:end color:vocals
bar:Mikkel from:04/20/2006 till:11/20/2006 color:vocals
bar:Kral from:01/01/1991 till:04/20/2006 color:vocals
bar:Martin from:11/11/2009 till:end color:keys

Discography

Studio albums