This band came out of left field for me. I was introduced to the band back in November of 2004. A buddy of mine went to the 2004 Prog Power festival and gave me a double disc compilation. On it was a radio edit version of the title track. I was very impressed and intrigued by the three minute plus track. It was melodic, but powerful, dramatic and heavy thanks to Mikkel's vocal delivery. The guitar solo blew my mind and I only hoped that when the promo arrived that the whole CD would be just as potent as this single.

The intro "Into The Sea Of Dark Desires" was symphonic, but I had no clue what to expect. Once "World Hate Center" kicked in, my head was blown clean off. Mikkel's voice was demonic and possessed while the drums are more than capable of crumbling any foundation that a house stands on. The guitars were spicy and packed with plenty of muscle and passion. I had no idea just how creative this music could be. Everything works well together as each track is crafted with great care. Some of the songs on here may seem long, but they are so damn good and catchy that you will listen to this over and over again and not realize how fast time flies because this CD is that damn addicting.

Now, I get to hear the complete version of "11 Dreams." Holy shit! This song crushes like a mother fucker. I don't think my speakers were prepared for anything like this. Mikke's vocals from clean and passionate to angry and mean can be felt from a million miles. You can tell that he feels the music when he sings. The production is out of site. It sounds like something from the Andy Sneap camp, but it's Jacob Hansen who has also handled (HATESPHERE and RAUNCHY). The guitar work from Jacob and Martin are nothing short of breathtaking and venomous. Put it like this: you can name any band right now that utilizes twin guitarists and these two hot shots will blow them out of the water and then some. Yep! They are that damn good and you can hear the ambition in their performance.

I can't even begin to tell you when was the last time that a CD rocked me this hard and knocked me on my ass. To talk about each track one by one would be useless because they are all awesome. I can't pick a favourite because the whole damn disc is my new favourite. All I can tell you is that if you like SOILWORK, NEVERMORE and DEVIN TOWNSEND, then you are in good company with this CD. It may be early in the year, but this masterpiece is not only album of the moth, but album of the year as well. How many bands can match the skills, feelings and originality of MERCENARY? I'll tell you: next to none! (Online May 1, 2005)