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Mendeed - This War Will Last Forever
The British Islands keep producing bands with metalcore as their weapon of choice; first came Bullet For My Valentine from Wales, and now Scotland's contribution enters the stage. However, while the Welsh band have a more mainstream approach, Mendeed are more of a thrash-band with plenty of solos to offer. Iron Maiden and Metallica are among the obvious influences and the theme of the album is an ongoing war. Even the band's name tells something about what the lads feel about the state of the world today. After a caressing intro that gradually gets drowned in gunfire; Mendeed proves that they mean business with the track Beneath A Burning Sky, which the band shot their first ever video for. Stand As One And Fight For Glory is even greater, although one might get suspicious about the name of the song, as it seems like a title more appropriate for a band like Manowar or Hammerfall. But Mendeed are different from most other bands working in the same genre, since they are not afraid to involve lyrics about monsters and swords in their songs. The original cover-art even featured a scary-looking dragon that looked like it had flown in straight from a black metal-album. A shame that the record label instead decided to go with the non-saying cover-art you are seeing at your upper left when releasing the album in Europe. Mendeed are at their best when they start out with fast and furious thrash, and then switching gears to long and melodic guitar-harmonies á la Iron Maiden. The Black Death ends the album on an emotional note, as a Bay Area-thrashy start is followed by soothing strings, and the words "this war will last will last forever" are uttered in an alarmingly convincing way. However, David Proctor's harsh vocals are not the band's greatest asset, and the backing vocals found throughout the record are rather wussy. The album should also have been much shorter; one hour of metalcore is clearly a case of pushing the envelope of what is healthy. While this formula obviously hasn't been entirely developed yet, This War Will Last Forever manages to be a surprisingly refreshing take on the metalcore-genre. Expect more to come from Mendeed in the future. See
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