Mercy

Mercy are best known for being the band that Messiah Marcolin fronted before he joined Candlemass. It seems they are often dismissed or mentioned in passing instead of being acknowledged as a strong band with their own vision.

Mercy's songs are built upon the hard rock elements of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple to create a sound that is heavy, straightforward, and honest in its approach. This is a hard rocking metal band that plays hard rocking metal without frills or pretension and they love what they do. The conviction and energy which comes across as you listen to this album makes you want to listen from beginning to end every time. At a running time of almost a half-hour, this is easy to do. Should I watch a primetime sitcom that can kill my brain cells faster than crack or should I listen to this slab of ancient metal that exhilarates me and leaves me feeling a little more sane?

"Heavy Metal Warriors" begins the album with riffs that give a nod to both "Children of the Grave" and "Black Knight." The chorus sounds a little silly now, but this was a time when the nascent metal scene was striving to make its mark on the world and the spirit of the era was such that it was common for bands to have at least one song on each album that could be called the metal anthem. It's this kind of endearing naivete and single-minded dedication from nearly every band of that age that helped make metal the powerful force that it is today. Besides, I'll take a metal anthem over a metal ballad any day. Though the title of the next song doesn't strike fear into the soul, "Dirty Love" just fucking crushes! I defy you not to headbang during this song! It's as if "Zero the Hero" became sentient and possessed Mercy to create this menacing stomper. Lyricwise, it deals with the human irresponsibility that leads to sexually-transmitted diseases and it offers a thought-provoking insight into how knowledge of the AIDS virus was beginning to become a part of the social consciousness at the time while, ah fuck it. I'm being silly. This song just makes me feel so giddy that it's easy for me to go on elaborate nonsensical tangents. Back to reality, "Master of Disaster" is another catchy song that takes hold of you at the start and digs even deeper into you when the chorus hits. It's another example of how the songs on this album are so well-structured for maximum headbanging capability that each one will get you moving and just put you in a good mood.

Messiah Marcolin has a fun, sly style of singing here; like a kid who was lucky enough to hang out with Ian Gillan on the weekends while everyone else was wasting time doing, well, just about anything else. Where some singers would use a falsetto to add an extra punch to certain verses, on this album Messiah instead uses powerful midrange belting that fits better with the riffs and sounds more genuine than yet another failed attempt at cloning Rob Halford, King Diamond, or Bruce Dickinson. Andree Witchking's riffs are effective and his solos are noisy and full of attitude. As for the production, each instrument can be heard. By that I mean, yes, you can hear the bass just as well as everything else. Even the album cover is enough to evoke wonder and mystery with its understated charm.

These are the songs that Black Sabbath and Deep Purple never had the chance to make. If Messiah Marcolin's birthdate as listed on Wikipedia is correct, then that would mean he was 16 when he sang on this. I'm speechless. If Mercy were just a group of kids emulating their heroes, then they did a damn fine helluva job and a million other adjectives that I could use to express disbelief. As you listen to this album, you'll realize that Mercy was its own entity with its own idea of heaviness that continues to work its magic when heard today. Definitely worth your time if you enjoy classic heavy metal.