SEEN AND HEARD: MERCENARY, DARK TRANQUILLITY, BALFOR, AND MAJESTIC DOWNFALL

I’ve collected here new music from three bands and older music from a fourth, all of which I came across yesterday. It’s all good, all worth hearing. So read on and listen up . . .

MERCENARY

Denmark’s Mercenary has finished work on their seventh album, Through Our Darkest Days, and it’s due for release on July 26 through NoiseArt Records. It follows an album — 2011’s Metamorphosis — that received a decidedly lukewarm reception from critics. Yesterday the band debuted the new album’s title track, which I found out about via a tip from my NCS comrade TheMadIsraeli. His first impression? “It sounds like the Mercenary of 11 Dreams is back”.

I never heard that 2004 album, though I’ve certainly seen a lot of praise heaped upon it, so I can’t comment on how the new track compares to 11 Dreams. But I do think this new song is a good one, mixing Scandinavian riff chugs, a very catchy keyboard/guitar melody, and an extended guitar solo that’s quite nice, with vocals that are a mix of harsh howls and raspy cleans. As I listened, I was reminded of late-stage Soilwork. I’m curious what other people who know Mercenary’s previous music better than I do think of this.

The album can be ordered here, and the title track can be heard below.

https://www.facebook.com/MercenaryOfficial

 

DARK TRANQUILLITY

Construct is the name of the new DT album that will be released on May 27 via Century Media Records. We’ve previously featured the first three songs that have been released from the album, and yesterday brought a fourth — “Endtime Hearts”. I won’t say much about the song — we’re planning a review of the entire album in the not-too-distant future — other than to comment that I really like it, as I do the album as a whole. It’s dark, catchy as hell, and features a very cool organ-like keyboard melody that’s quite distinctive. Here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/dtofficial/

 

BALFOR

Balfor are a Ukrainian band who released a couple of EPs and two full-length albums, the last of which was Barbaric Blood in 2010. Not long ago the band announced the departure of all members except frontman and guitarist Thorgeir, as well as plans to record a third album (Heralds of the Fall) this coming fall. Yesterday, the band started streaming pre-production versions of two songs that are to appear on the album — although the performers on these demos are not entirely the same as the band’s new line-up.

The two demo tracks are named “Wolfbreed” and “Heralds of the Fall”, and I’m really liking both of them. The music is a blend of black metal and melodic death metal. It’s dramatic, sweeping, and memorable, both warlike and grand, the kind of music that brings that overworked word “epic” to mind. The new album definitely sounds like it will be worth watching for.

https://www.facebook.com/balforofficial
http://soundcloud.com/balfor
http://balfor.info/

 

MAJESTIC DOWNFALL

Jacobo Córdova is one-half of Mexico’s fantastic Zombiefication, who we last featured (here) in the run-up to Pulverised Records’ release of their new album, At the Caves of Eternal. (At the Caves of Eternal, by the way, is now streaming and available for purchase on Bandcamp, and I strongly recommend you check it out.) But Zombiefication isn’t the sole focus of Córdova’s musical activities. As I discovered yesterday, he also has a solo project named Majestic Downfall.

Majestic Downfall has created two albums to date, with the most recent being 2011’s The Blood Dance. Italy’s My Kingdom Music originally released the album in Europe, but Mexico’s Chaos Records also released the album in the Americas. That Chaos Records release includes a limited edition jewel case with a 12-page booklet that includes artwork and lyrics for each song.

Yesterday, Chaos uploaded the entire album to Bandcamp, and I started listening to it for the first time. I haven’t finished making my way through it, but what I’ve heard so far is really fuckin’ immense — so much so that I stopped listening and ordered it from Chaos after hearing only two tracks. The music is crushing doom-death, with memorable melancholy guitar melodies coming from somewhere deep in a cave that surrounds them — and the cave is made of raw, concrete-heavy riffs. Also echoing from that cave: passionate, deep, gruesome harsh roars that are just as titanic as those riffs.

All but the last song on the album are long, but the ones I’ve heard don’t even come close to being dull. “Mesmerizing” is the word for them. Give them a try via the player below.

Yesterday, Majestic Downfall also announced on Facebook that a new album is coming out “very very soon”. I’ll be more than ready for it when that happens.

http://www.chaos-records.com/
https://www.facebook.com/majestic.downfall
http://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/album/the-blood-dance