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In 2006, Scottish metal band Mendeed came roaring out of the gates with their debut album This War Will Last Forever. Fusing melodic death metal with metalcore influences, many seemed to agree that while their debut album was fairly good and that the band had a lot of potential. Aside from a select few songs which I have heard off Mendeed's official website, I have not heard this album, so I cannot back up such claims using their first album. But after hearing Mendeed's sophomore effort, The Dead Live By Love, I would have to agree with the above assessment. Stupid album titles aside, to say that Mendeed has a bright future ahead of them would definitely be a fair statement to make.
With The Dead Live By Love, Mendeed continues to utilize the formula from This War Will Last Forever. Incorporating both melody and heaviness into their work, the band makes for an interesting listen. The melodies, crafted by high speed guitar lines and the clean vocal lines of Chris Lavery are perhaps the biggest part of the band's sound, and are definitely the focus here. Guitarists Steven Nixon and Steph Gildea show off their skill throughout the album in the form of seemingly complex harmonies, solos, and lightning fast riffing. Steven Nixon, the band's lead guitarist, is particularly effective, creating frantic atmospheres through his work and energizing the efforts of the rest of the band. Quite impressive, really. Most of The Dead Live By Love's twelve tracks contain powerful performances from Steven and Steph, and while it's difficult to pinpoint which song they are most impressive in, songs such as Burning Fear, with it's technical, high tempo introduction that shows flashes of DragonForce, Blood Brother's clean guitar section, and The Fight's rapid-fire riffing could all be considered highlights of the album.
After the guitars, the vocals are fairly impressive as well. A joint performance between David Proctor and bassist Chris Lavery, they do not really make or break the track that features them, but they do remain an enjoyable aspect. Throughout the album, David, who sounds like a poor man's Alexi Laiho (Laiho's newer efforts, that is) supplies Mendeed with the harsh vocals. Similarly to Alexi, Proctor has a rather mixed performance. Not especially good, but not especially bad either, but he manages to get the job done. Lavery's efforts on the other hand, will be a bit more of a love-hate thing. Some will complain that they are too whiny and meek, while others will enjoy the melodic edge they give the music. Personally, I would include my self in the latter group. While at times they do sound slightly whiny, they do manage to be catchy and emotional enough to balance out the negatives. Compared to what I heard from the couple tracks off the band's website, the clean vocals have definitely been improved upon, as can he heard in the likes of The Fight.
Unfortunately, the remaining two musicians do not have the same chops as the guitar tandem of the vocalists. The bass lines of Chris Lavery are completely inaudible and unless you have really good hearing they probably won't affect the music at all. Drummer Kevin Matthews is decent enough, but his drumming feels very standard and formulaic for the genre. He definitely isn't a sloppy drummer, and he manages to provide Mendeed with a solid rhythm to work around, and while his efforts are somewhat impressive in terms of skill and complexity, I come away wanting more. And finally, the album's production leaves a lot to be desired. At times it causes the music to sound far more passive than it actually is, especially when Nixon and Gildea are not focuses on playing the heavier sections of their music. The drumming is also far too low in the mix, and at times (though not very often, don't get me wrong) does not feel as if it is really do anything for the music. However, most of these problems are fairly minor in the long run can definitely be improved on for the future.
With their second album, The Dead Live By Love, Mendeed manage to not only avoid any sort of sophomore jinx, but also show why critics have been raving about their potential. Lead by guitarists, Steven Nixon and Steph Gildea, Mendeed put for a great mix of melodic death metal and metalcore, combining skill, energy, and strong song writing. They have a few kinks to work out, definitely, but the future is definitely bright for the Scottish metal band. Fans of modern metal and acts such as In Flames, Iron Maiden or even DragonForce should check out Mendeed's The Dead Live By Love, as it is a very solid slab of metal from the promising young band.
Recommended Tracks:
The Fight
Fuel the Fire
Blood Brothers
Burning Fear
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you reviewed this band perfectly. i just recently got this album and i enjoy it very much, but their drumming needs a huge improvement. ive heard a lot of people say they sound like trivium, but i dont see a lot similarities. ive yet to hear their debut album thoughThis Message Edited On 03.15.07
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good review
This war will last forever was a better album in my opinion but thats not to say i didn't like this one , i think your score is very fair . Having seen them live as well I'm glad to say they definitely walk the walk .
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
The guitar work is really good though. I just am waiting for people to say it is "mindless shred", even though they don't do that. Yeah that will probably happen, but I agree with you.
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Their last album was better? How terrible is this then, seriously, that album was bad.
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to mudvaynain: yeah it isnt a big deal, but if their drums get improved it will make their sound much more solid
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Good Review.
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Great review Mikesn.
I just went to their website and checked out a few songs by them. Pretty damn good if you ask me!
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Good review.
I haven't heard anything from this album, but their last album was pretty good. I used to like it more than I do now, though.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
good review although i think you were being a little harsh on the drums and bass. personally, i think this could be an early contender for metal album of '07...
btw, this isn't their second album. they did one called "from shadows came darkness" before "this war will last forever," thus making this their third album, or fourth if you include the sessions and b-sides album ("positive metal attitude") they released last year. there's also a really old EP kicking about called "killing something beautiful" recorded when they were about 15, and its much more nu-metally.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
The number of power metal references is a bit misleading since you sum it up as a mix of death and -core, but otherwise great review Eeeh, I only made two genuine power metal references. :p
good review although i think you were being a little harsh on the drums and bass. Maybe the drums a little bit. They're definitely good, but sometimes it feels like something is missing.
btw, this isn't their second album. they did one called "from shadows came darkness" before "this war will last forever," thus making this their third album, or fourth if you include the sessions and b-sides album ("positive metal attitude") they released last year. there's also a really old EP kicking about called "killing something beautiful" recorded when they were about 15, and its much more nu-metally.
I know of those releases, but Metal-archives says those were EPs so meh...
Thanks for the comments.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
i can see what you mean, there are times where you think "he could really be doing more" but i'd rather it was like that than hear him completely over doing the drums.
i'd class "from shadows came darkness" as at least a mini-album, although "positive metal attitude" is more of a compilation. still both definitely worth checking out though, they're just as good as this album and it's predecessor.
good review btw, gets my vote!
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
still both definitely worth checking out though, they're just as good as this album and it's predecessor. Alright, will do. I'll definitely give This War Will Last Forever a shot.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I have only heard a couple of tracks from this album. The clean vocals have improved vastly, as has the guitar work.
I actually quite like the drumming - it isn't overwhelming and he does his job.
As for the bass; yeah it is pretty much non-existent.
Nice review however.
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This is just out? I could've sworn this was offered to staff about six or seven months ago. Maybe I'm mistaken.
I think it was around December, actually.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
This album is great I was really impressed by it.
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mmmmmmmmmmm i liked The Reaper Waits better then this one
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Do you mean you liked the album that song was on better?
I'm still yet to hear this in it's entirety. I did enjoy This War Will Last Forever immensely.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
This is definetly a step up for them, much better.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Mendeed have now broken up. Steve Nixon, their lead guitarist, is now in a band called Anterior who are far superior than Mendeed.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I'll give them a shot, I guess.
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