I hate to criticize a new upcoming band but I have listened to Mercury Rising‘s latest offering Bad News countless times in the hope that it will grow on me but the same issues keep creeping up every time that I listen to it. I simply can’t give many props to this Bad News album.
Mercury Rising‘s Bad News starts off with a rather odd slow beginning during the opening track “Homesick” which seems to suggest a ballad or slow building song. However, before you know it, “Homesick” starts speeding up quickly with the singing and instruments all going in the same direction providing little contrast. My biggest pet peeve is lead vocalist Max Campbell‘s singing. I wish he had a grittier voice because I just can’t get into the tone and overall sound of his voice. During portions of certain songs, he simply sings off key. I am thinking in particular of the song “Into The Night” just before the chorus section where Campbell lets out an awful off-key yell each time.
The good news is that the songs on Bad News seem to get better as the EP progresses. The guitar work is solid for the most part throughout all the tracks with some creative but borderline excess soloing such as on the last two songs “Into The Night” and “Psycho.” There is also a solid guitar riff for the song “One Shot” on which the entire track is based on. The fact that Mercury Rising started their Bad News album with the weakest song spells disaster for them in my mind because every time I play the album, I have a hard time getting through that opening track. At the end of the day, Mercury Rising have my temperature rising but for the wrong reasons.
Reviewed by Olivier for Sleaze Roxx
01. Homesick
02. One Shot
03. Into The Night
04. Psycho
Band Members:
Max Campbell – vocals
Rob Raymond – guitar
Joseph Smith – bass
Matt Burgess – drums
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Mercury Rising – Bad News (2016) EP
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