Mercy Brown-Mercy Brown

The only things that can be made out of the album cover, a human spine, a hand print, and the color of blood. It looks gritty, dirty and stained eternally by the free roaming horrors that we see in everyday life.

Track 1. From the Sky- A heavy rumbling mass roams over the track with a description of what could be impending destruction. The only question in your mind is, what the hell is this? A dark melodic presence with an inaudible vocal noise is slowly coming forth. An aggressive clatter upon the snare is like a steroid induced jack hammer. You hear an impressive lead guitar wind out a riff. The vocals at this moment utter something but you can not make sense of what's being said. A very odd intro track. though cool.

Track 2. Birds- The music seemingly picks up where track one left off. A fast attack of dark BRUTAL METAL. Very tight and well timed. Loving the dark and light melodic contrast of the vocals. The groove also transitions from all out hell to a great well timed catchy beat, with a slow tasty groove. And again it picks up and it's like a battering ram of pissed off demons, total kick ass shit here. You can't really tell whats being said but the conveyed feeling is a massively awesome one. I am really enjoying the back and forth here. Sera Hatchett's vocals are truly magnificent. The distortion if a rich darkness that reigns well within your mind where these riffs dangle within a maddening fog of glory. Cool creepy melodies here, slow but powerful stuff.

Track 3. Red and Yellow- A burst of heavy and aggressive syncopated riffs, along with powerful beats is quickly summoned together like an army from hell. It wastes no time in establishing it's presence. The music seems a bit set back in the track, but I believe that is a tendency with this sub genre of METAL. Still tasty fucked up material. I am digging the hell out of these lead vocals. The maddening roars, and the melodic woman who is oh so powerful. Great guitar hooks here, all dark and wonderfully foreboding. The song has some places where the riffs turn into crazy directions, and then your suddenly in a place in the song where subtle static builds, and it dies into nothing.

Track 4. Where the Fire is- A wicked bass line announces this song like a massive statement, bold quick and decisive. The strong yet echoing drums, thunder about masterfully with tight precision. The dark flavored guitar riffs, cut, slice and grind your soul to pieces. And then the action starts back up with a heavy yet delicious syncopated crunch. It's like a jack hammer that escalates into pure madness. The song grooves on with an aggressive and melodic force of synchronized thunder that fills the track. The beat and riffs alternate more than enough to keep your interest thorough. Digging the chugging insanity here. The melodic clean vocals have a bit of an eerie quality here, which bodes well with the message of the song. Hell yes, a wonderfully tasty bass solo! It is small but adds great accent to the song. And an EPIC chugging ferocity gives way to the beautiful vocals fading into an abyss of complete blackness.

Track 5. In the Dark- A dark delicious heavy crunch controls the picture here immediately. A brutal and eclectic sound, especially with the female vocalist adding such a stark contrast to the music, it all sounds truly evil. Such an impressively well timed and aggressive bass drum kick. I like how after the song grooves along rightly so, it has a change over to something more quiet and slower, delivering more powerful riff hooks, and just melody in general. INSANE guitar solo here. Total headbanging music. Hell fucking yes! The kind of stuff that makes you want to thrust your devil horns mighty and proud.

Track 6. In the Dark- A muffled room filling with dark ambiance consumes everything. A clean guitar riff stammers about delivering an intro, which guides in a slow yet crisp drum beat. The drums alternate a nice touch of tones to initiate the explosion of METAL. A sweet and yet catchy syncopation is delivered here. Ton's of distortion and aggression, oh my the riffs! Her vocals are creepy, yet beautiful and masterful. Another piece of music that just makes you want to just turn it all the way up past ten. At this point in the album you can see a definite formula in place, and it's a good one. Liking the slow down in the music, delivering a warm endearing melodic presence, but then it approaches dark and relentless again, overflowing the brim with METAL. Damn, Sera Hatchett can hit them really high, excellent vocalist. The aggressive sway of the music continues along as well, everything intertwines together beautifully like a mad masterpiece of perfect joy, pain, and unrelenting pleasure for the ears.

Track 7. News Complaint- And you then say HELL YES to the instantly melodic tasty METAL. Her vocals never cease to amaze me, she can do it all. Melodic, brutal, clear. That is one evil and pissed off sounding woman, hell fucking yes, loving this. Sweet aggressive syncopation. The methodical drums just currently exist at the level of a god right now for me, amazing perfection as this bands back bone, intensely impressed. My only complaint, the song was a bit short, good as hell, loved it.

Track 8. One- An echoing clean riff gives a solitary feel in this songs opening. The bass strum lets you know your not alone, but perhaps that dark wicked eyes keep a watchful presence over you. The quick yet crisp explosion of steady METAL, conveys that something is up to no good at all. The beautiful yet dark and smooth vocals chime in perfectly. Loved the slow setup of riffs, and how it just summons up the METAL and explodes with aggression. Digging the hell out of the roars, it's damn good stuff! She's versatile as hell! A dark quiet moment, delivers a feeling of intermission and to step back realizing what you've just done. Almost like if you've committed a sick crime and if it's the moment your mind has to weigh in and you think your humanity will dive upon you with guilt, but this moment in the music, is like that moment where there is no humanity, just a dark empty delicious shell of delicious hell, that nothing matters except the here and the now. It becomes fuzzy for a while as you sense that the song is starting to just fade away. A clean guitar riff strums it's way almost oddly in a way towards the end. Leaving the listener feeling as if the music has gone from full on charge to full on stumble towards nothing.

Track 9. Never Mind- It almost seems as if the previous track was the immediate intro for this piece. Things feel as if they are about to pick back up as a second light handed clean guitar that's tainted with the same confusion gets louder and louder, but it carries a catchy tune on it's clean shoulders. It pound's out a heavy almost mono tone clean groove, but it welcomes a creepy and sweeping melody, that fills your bones quite thoroughly. And then you see it coming before it's there, the explosion of METAL. It's crisp, and well timed with it's impressive back bone of drums. Dark riffs that would make the devil jealous. Her vocals are yet again, masterful and without a doubt well placed with passion and timing through the track. Interesting lyrical subject matter as well. It sucks how you just feel the song is getting going and poof, the end is upon you. Great material!

Track 10. Codependent- A crazy spinning melodic riff brings to mind the theme for a serial killer or just plain insanity. Your ears are assaulted with a BRUTAL MAYHEM, that it is completely on the mark of perfection. The vocals sound a bit more off and clean here, but precise. Deliciously creative riff syncopation, it winds together very well with her vocals, and this masterful drum beat. Hell fucking YES. And she reaches a second level in the mix, damn she's good! And the song cleans, then quiets up a bit, building a sense of false alarm. The heavy riffs and bass guitar bleed through quite well to drive you even more mad. The overall sense of complete madness in this song is just outstanding! An onslaught of dark saturated metal, consumes your soul, but it's oh so beautiful. A slow pounding to death syncopation, along with great passionate drawn out vocals signal the end.

Track 11. To the Sea- An echoing clean strum makes you feel as if your in some sort of horror film, or perhaps lost at sea in a thick coat of fog that never seems to lift. The melody intertwines about as if in some thought provoking conversation with itself. The riff's change into another direction that seems to reach out over the horizon of your mind. Your heart feels well enough to begin to want to drift off into this ocean of sudden chaotic riff controlled madness. The intro was long but worth it. A slow heavy groove, is contained with a crisp and very tight drum beat. POWERFUL. It borders nonsense but then it makes you think, especially when the music dies. And this heavy burning bass effect takes over the track. You begin to wonder if in fact you have drifted out to sea to die, and your screwed because your ipod just died too!

Track 12. Stigma- Another dark, yet clean and interesting intro, stained with the conveyance of it's title. It feel's clear and thorough with an essence of a quiet fire that burns. The beautiful and yet soft vocals that stretch through your pounding ear drums that bring forth a slow, yet awesome exploding expression of dynamic drum beats. This is some EPIC sounding shit. It trudges along this clean yet crisp echoing presence with a rumble in the backing track, that seems like a warning. What's more impressive is how the drums can be so aggressive with precision, but play can also this slow with the same accurate precise timing, like a brain surgeon, but all with a interestingly wonderful creativity behind the kick. And the vocalist, I can not begin to say enough about her talent.

Overall I have really enjoyed this bands sound, they show that they can do it all and MORE. Although some of the clean parts did feel a bit watered down. There is some Commercial Potential here, let's see what they create next! Great material here, though a bit distant in the mix at times, but still sounding great! Loving that echoing crisp drum, the dark delicious bass line is very subtle, like a dark passenger. The album ends upon a fading bass line that strums, and the bass effect of darkness rumbles on into an abyss of a wonderful and beautiful death. It finally completely fades perfectly. I would have liked more melody and solos, but what's here is already pretty damn good! Rating 8/10

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