Interview with Jakob
www.mercenary.dk

One of the most successful bands on Danish metal scene, Aalborg's Mercenary has just released their newest effort, The Hours That Remain, that will most likely gain the band further acknowledgement. I recently spoke to guitarist Jakob Mølbjerg about the recordings, the musical progression, and how it affected Mercenary that bassist & vocalist Kral quit the band last year. Jakob proved to be quite talkative and I enjoyed every second of this interview, so I hope you’ll do.


MR: Hail Jakob, how are you doing? Please introduce yourself for our international readers who may not be familiar with you and Mercenary.
Jakob: Hey there, I’m doing mighty fine. We’ve just done some great shows last weekend, so all is well in the Mercenary camp. For people not familiar with the band, I can tell that we’ve been around since the early nineties and have released four full length albums on three different labels during the last 8 years. Two years ago we signed to Century Media and since then, things have really picked up as we’ve been touring our asses off, done lots of festivals and zillions of interviews. Musically, we started out as some kind of death-thrash hybrid, but at some point along the way, we somehow ended up having two singers and a keyboard player, which definitely affected our sound. Nowadays we play some kind of mixture between melo-death metal with heavy metal vocals, with elements of all that’s good about metal. (Or so we’d like to believe ourselves.)

MR: It’s just recently that Kral, one of the leading members of the band, has left you. Did his decision to leave the band come as a surprise?
Jakob: Well when he finally left he hadn’t been rehearsing with us for three months or so, and hadn’t participated in writing the material for the new album at all, so we could kind of tell where things were heading. But just after the Nevermore tour last year, none of us would have guessed that that was how things would turn out. He seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as the rest of us during the tours last year, but I guess they made him realize that he couldn’t commit both to the band and to his family and his five year old son at the same time.

MR: You have since recruited Rene Pedersen as replacement for Kral. Could you say something about what made you pick him?
Jakob: Yeah, our keyboard player Morten produced the demo of Rene’s other band Transparent and we thought he did some really good singing for them. When we found out he could also handle the bass and that he was interested in helping us out with our vacant slot, it seemed like a good opportunity. When we jammed with him the first time he had practiced on some of the material from 11 Dreams and it just kicked some serious ass, so we were convinced right away that he had what it took to join the band.

MR: So I guess you are ready to rock, no matter line-up changes? Is there anything that can stop Mercenary? You seem to be a very strong unit.
Jakob: For now, I don’t really think anything could stop us as we’re all willing to do what it takes to take the band to the next level. We have good relations with each other in the band, and we make all the decisions together, creatively as well as in all other areas. It takes a hell of a lot longer to do things this way, but it also ensures that everybody get their say and feel respected. When you’re in a serious band you have to spend so much time together, which makes it essential that you are all on a level with each other.

MR: Can you tell us something in general about your newest release The Hours That Remain and maybe introduce it track by track?
Jakob: Overall I think it’s our strongest, most cohesive and most mature album yet. I also think it’s more powerful and direct, even though the vocals aren’t quite as aggressive as earlier, but the rhythmic section sort of makes up for that.

Some comments on the tracks:

Redefine Me: A really good opener I think. It has many typical Mercenary elements like a catchy chorus and some really heavy sections, along with lots of vocal harmonies. The verse is really not very typical of Mercenary, as it’s very fragile, something we’ve not really done before. The chorus features guest singing by Björn from Soilwork.

Year of the Plague: A faster song with more raw and direct riffin’ than usual. We thought it would be fun to have some more upbeat drums on this one as well, and it really kicks ass live.

My World is Ending: A slower and heavier song. Probably the song that is most similar to the 11 Dreams material and it actually have some sections that were in an unfinished song from around the time we recorded 11 Dreams, so it’s no wonder.

This Eternal Instant: This song is mostly written by Martin and I think it shows how well he fits into the band, throwing in some really fierce riffs. Mikkel’s also doing some atypical singing on this one, deeper and more straight than usual.

Lost Reality: Probably the ‘Firesoul’ song of this album, in so far as it’s very long and epic, while having lots of the typical Mercenary features – a really fierce yet melodic verse, a big epic chorus and a mid section that’s both really dark yet have some vocal melodies and a lead that’s to die for. Lots of people have this as their fave song of the album.

Soul Decision: Again, not a very typical Mercenary track. Very raw and simple, and doesn’t have a lot of keyboards or layers. But it’s very heavy and goes down really well live.

Simplicity Demand: A really powerful song which is also really cool to play live because of it’s energy. Has a really great chorus. The song probably shows a lot of influence from certain Swedish bands…

Obscure Indiscretion: A very keyboard driven track, which is not very surprising as it is written by Morten and Mikkel. It has a slightly different sound which is quite refreshing on the album.

My Secret Window: Also a very heavy track which I think will go down great live. It’s both very rhythmically driven as well as really melodic.

The Hours that Remain: Quite epic and a great way to end the album I think.

MR: Do you have any favourite tracks from that release and how do you compare The Hours that Remain to your previous opus 11 Dreams?
Jakob: Many people think this album is softer because there’s not as much aggressive vocals as on 11 Dreams, but I don’t really agree. The vocals might be more melodic in average, but then you got heavier and faster guitars and drums parts which makes up for the balance. I think this album is stronger and more direct in a way, as the arrangements have less layers and less stuff going on at once. I think we’ve become better songwriters by knowing when to give each other space instead of battling for attention all at once. My Personal faves would probably be “Redefine Me”, “Lost Reality”, “Simplicity Demand” and “My Secret Window”.

MR: A lot of your songs on this new album clock around the eight minutes. Is it just coincidence or is it something you deliberately aim for?
Jakob: Actually most of the songs are around six minutes long, only two of the clock in at around eight minutes and one of those also include a pause and then an outro for the album. But the length is never really an issue or a point of interest of us. We put the songs in a way where they feel right, and when we find out how long they actually are, they’re usually one or two minutes longer than we expected. It just feels natural to make them this way. One reason for this is probably that we want each song to have its own vibe that lets it stand apart from the others and lets you be drawn into it. Short songs could never really have that effect I believe.

MR: You have always more or less worked together with Jacob Hansen. Could you say what it is that makes him the man for the job?
Jakob: He’s simply great to work with both as a producer and as a human being. Moreover, I think he makes our sound come out just right by giving it a really full and heavy full body with lots of impact, while keeping everything crystal clear at the same time.

MR: You’ve also included video film of two hours showing the life of Mercenary. What was reason for that? Don’t you prefer to release a separate DVD?
Jakob: We simply did not feel we had adequate material for a stand alone DVD. If we ever wanted to do such a thing, it would have to done proper and not just contain whatever bits and pieces we could put together. I think the material on the bonus DVD gives people value for their money, but it wouldn’t have made sense to release it on its own. I mean, there’s one live show which looks really good, but it’s kind of short, and the other live show is just one camera far away from stage. They both sound really good but we would want to give people more on a standalone DVD.

MR: What about the reactions from the fans and the media so far? Have you received any feedbacks?
Jakob: Yeah, we’ve had lots of great reviews and talked with many fans as we’ve done some shows since the release. We played both Progpower US and Progpower Europe where we got great response on both, and when we played The Rock in Copenhagen last weekend, the place sold out and people were in a frenzy, singing along as we’ve never heard it before. Overall the reactions have been amazing but of course some would have wanted us to keep the same sound as on 11 Dreams. Not a lot to do about that, though, and the album also seems to draw in just as many new people, so everything is well.

MR: What were your musical inspirations while growing up? Someone you looked up to? In your music I hear many influences (and you know we like to compare bands to each other?!) like for instance some mainly American acts as Nevermore, Soilwork and Symphony X. Am I completely wrong or…?
Jakob: Nevermore and Soilwork are probably some of the few bands that everybody in the band likes, and we definitely get some inspiration from both here and there. But we have quite different musical backgrounds, some of us have listened mostly to prog metal and traditional heavy metal whereas other were more into deathmetal in the earlier years. I think it shows in our different approaches and gives us a slightly different sound than most other bands. Personally, some of my main inspirations growing up were Hetfield, Mustaine and Shuldiner.

MR: Are you soon going on tour in order to promote your new album? I guess and hope you’ll play in your home town of Aalborg or even in Hjoerring. I witnessed your show a year ago at Sysseltinget, it was awesome.
Jakob: Thanks a lot. We’ll play in Aalborg on the 21st of October on Skråen. Haven’t played there for a while, so it’s going to be fun. We’re also playing Voxhall just the day before, and then we’ll go on tour with The Haunted in early November. Next year we’ll do lots more Danish gigs and probably a support tour more. Perhaps we’ll even do a European headliner tour but that not certain yet.

MR: What do you think of the current Danish scene? It seems more diverse that ever before!
Jakob: Well I can only agree. Seems like there’s loads of band coming forward with their own unique style and sound, and that’s all for the better. The scene had a long run where everybody sounded the same, but I guess we’re pretty much past that. People can tell that it’s possible to get a deal and go on tour, so I guess that’s a big motivation that helps getting people not only into their rehearsal rooms but eventually also out of it. Seems like we’re finally on the way to catching up with rest of the European and Scandinavian scene.

MR: Say anything to close this interview down. It was pleasure talking to you and once again covering Mercenary, one of the all-time best Danish metal bands.
Jakob: Thanks a lot, the pleasure was all mine. If people haven’t heard the new stuff, check out the e-card with four new songs from our website – and of course: If you like it, please buy the album.