| CD REVIEW Mendeed (Part one) |
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Band : Mendeed (Part one) Part One? Yep, because we were also sent a 2006 compilation full-length (part two of the Mendeed story in that review) by the band! This could also be seen as "Rising Records Story, Part Two"! Eh? Well yeah, following Defenestration's mini-album, this was the second serious release on the newly formed label! Meanwhile Mendeed have already called it quits, which is why I decided to give you a thorough story of the band, and divide it in two parts. From Glasgow, Mendeed were formed in mid 2000 by singer David Proctor, guitarists Steph Gildea and Steven Nixon, bassist/ backing singer Chris Lavery, and drummer Kevin Matthews with the aim of taking the best elements from all the Metal genres and fuse them together into a blistering, energetic and emotional explosion. After a few months of rehearsing and writing material the quintet started gigging in their local area, building up a steady fanbase, and ripping up the Glasgow circuit by the turn of 2001! 2001 saw Mendeed starting an even more frantic live schedule, attracting new fans with each show and soon playing to audiences between 200-400. The year after the band was supporting the likes of Vacant Stare, Fony and Devolved to name but a few, as well as signing to the JMG Agency, and by August the band had headlined a show at Glasgow Garage playing to over 600 people. In that time the band's music also went through a change stylistically with the guys adopting a much faster and heavier edge which obviously went over well with the fanbase. Before entering the Philia Studios with producer Dave Chang in November 2002, Mendeed did a nice support tour with Thoria on part of their UK tour, and also supported Brutal Deluxe. In December the band again headlined the Glasgow Garage, using the occasion to film scenes for their debut video of "Parasite" (taken from the Killing Something Beautiful EP) The outcome of the recordings was the band's 4-track debut EP Killing Something Beautiful, issued through Casket Music/ Copro Records in January 2003. Around this time Mendeed played a distinct Nu-Metal styled Rock (a fact untold in later biographies o the band). A further 4-track EP titled As We Rise (this time released independently by the band) emerged later the same year, displaying a further development of the band's sound towards a melodic Death Metal/ Metalcore vein. A lot of 2003 was spent playing throughout the UK in support of the likes of Anthrax, Charger, 8 Foot Sativa, My Ruin and Pitchshifter. The band's profile went up a couple of notches after playing a Rock Show session on UK's national Radio One station. The band signed to Rising Records in December 2003, with as first result the 3-track EP Ignite The Flames (refered to in the band's biography as a single, but I tend to call discs containing 3 tracks – two off the late As We Rise EP plus the title track – and a video somewhat more than a mere single, okay? The video for the title track, by the way, was added to the playlists of MTV2 shows Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes, as well as being added to the catalogue of Scuzz TV in December that same year). The From Shadows Came Darkness mini-album arrived in September 2004, and showed a band still in musical progression. The album opens and ends (the latter after a 5-minute silence following album closing track "Glory Be Thy Name")with an airy bit of piano play. Also, the guys had hired the services of Sarah Jezebal Deva (of Cradle Of Filth and Angtoria fame) to provide several (4 in total) of the album's 7 songs (first track is an instrumental, remember, but the ending piano bit doés have whispered vocals by Protor and additional vocals by Deva) with the addition of her husky voice (occasionally aided in her vocal backings by Lavery). Also on the album is the single's title track "Ignite The Flames", and weirdly enough it has a bridge (keyboards with weird "choral"-type singing on top) at the end to connect it to the ensuing song. I do suppose thàt bit was not put on the single version, but then I have no way of knowing, not owning the collectible item. Musically, one might say that the band maintained a nice mixture of up-tempo Thrash Metal with Metalcore, occasionally making weird twists within a song, and adding just a smidgen of Gothic to the whole when the backing vocals fell in. Frequently squealing (almost like a pig) frontman Proctor used a more aggressive type of voice, which was actually a nice counterbalance against that of the backing singers. Including the 5-minute silence, the mini-album lasted a good 36 minutes. The band was apparently in possession of a full arsenal of new songs, because inMay of the same year they released a new EP titled Act Of Sorrow, containing also a video for the title track (taken off the mini-album) and two new songs. In promotion of the album, the band had toured around the UK with Cradle Of Filth in April, and followed that up with gigs supporting Amen. September saw the band again doing the rounds of the UK clubs, this time as support of Dragonforce (actually that was the second time that year, as Mendeed had been support to the Londoner Speed freaks earlier that year). Prior to the band's debut full-length This War Will Last Forever, the band issued another 3-track EP titled Beneath A Burning Sky (containing not only also the title track's video, but two new songs later re-used on a Japanese version of the debut full-length). 84/100 Tony. |