Well, well, changes that have been underway for a long time can
sometimes come about in the blink of an eye. Last week, Mike told us
that he wanted to leave the band permanently. The rest of us did some
serious thinking and soul-searching, sat Down and had "the big talk"
and came to the agreement that the only way to continue the band was to
part ways with Mikkel and Morten as well. During the last year we have
been working on a new album and it has become clear that we no longer
share the same vision and enthusiasm about the direction and the future
of the band. Martin, Rene, Mike and I wanted to play faster, heavier
and more modern (yet old school) material, but for the band as a whole
this evidently didn't work out.
We hope that our fans will
understand and appreciate the fact that we actually tried for the
better part of a year to make the situation work, despite our
differences. In the past we managed to turn those very differences into
our strength by complementing and inspiring each other. But during the
last couple of years we all felt that we had to compromise ourselves in
different ways, which of course frustrated us all - both when we played
the old material and when we tried exploring a new and fresh sound.
Martin and I actually came frighteningly close to disbanding the band
less than a year ago, but luckily we came to the agreement that we owed
ourselves and the fans to try a final time to make things work. We
tried to overcome our frustrations by perfecting, evolving and
invigorating our style together as a band. However, the natural joy and
the ease with which we had cooperated in the past didn't return and for
a long time we have felt further apart musically than ever before.
In
many ways this is a painful choice. But it also allows us to close a
chapter in the band's career and our shared lives, that we're all
immensely proud off, in a dignified way that doesn't let ourselves or
our fans down. Nobody would be better off if we released an album that
we didn't all truly believe in and felt as fiercely passionate about as
we have done about all of our past albums.
The Sad but obvious
truth is that the past will never return. Mercenary as you know it is
now dead and buried. Rest assured, however, that René, Martin and I
will continue Mercenary in the best way we possibly can and with a
newfound sense of Integrity and purpose. So far we have had an
immensely fruitful songwriting process with lots of mutual inspiration,
understanding, synergy - and most importantly - good, plain, old
fashioned fun, which is what it all ought to be about. We feel that
we're finally all in agreement about the future direction of the band
and that this will be the strongest and most united incarnation of
Mercenary ever. In terms of creativity, motivation and the
everyday-practical-getting-shit-done-aspects, the band remains fully
intact. The new Mercenary will be back to Shatter everybody's balls in
2010.
On behalf of all of the guys, we'd like to give our most
humble and sincere thanks to all the fans, bands, press, promoters and
others who have supported us throughout the years and made this one
Hell of a damn fine ride. As a final nod from the old incarnation of
Mercenary to the fans, we've included a video from our tour with Arch
Enemy, where Mikkel joined them on stage Italy for the track "Burning
Angel", as this tour and this experience was in many ways the highlight
of what we managed to achieve together.

Jakob / Mercenary

source: Mercenary website