aaamusic | On 23, Apr 2012

Dear lord, the first time I clicked “play”, I thought I’d stuck Soundgarden on by accident. But then as I stuck with The Mercy House’s ‘A Broken State Of Bliss’, I found it winding itself in strange and even exciting ways around my ears. This is heavy riffing at its unashamed finest here, with more than enough passion and interesting ideas to start any listen headbanging and leave them with a massive grin.
After a brief instrumental title track, we are launched into the huge distorted chugging and monstrous bass frequencies of ‘Greed’. There isn’t a single thing here that isn’t raised to a suitable level of “boom” by the production, and rightly so. As soon as you start to suspect you know how the song will go, it smacks you with a sudden piece of guitar wizardry, or its fantastic no-holds-barred chorus. This is followed by the anguished, breathtakingly intense ‘My Disease’, a total maelstrom of cavernous guitars, spiky drums and rasping, wailing vocals in the best classic rock/heavy metal tradition. The song is not only a sonic behemoth, however, but a fantastic example of songwriting, with not a single over- or under-done opportunity for showing how much passion and work the band have put in.
‘Blind’ slows things down a bit, with some great 90s-style heavy psychedelia, equal parts massive riffs and flanging, all culminating in an ending of almost unbelievable intensity. This leads into the excellent ‘Lead The Way’, with a groove to it that most so-called “groove metal” bands could only dream of: effortlessly sexy, with white-hot guitar work and some of the tightest, most breathtaking bass/drum interplay I’ve had the pleasure of hearing on a metal album.
‘The End’ is grunge slow song via Mastodon: the band retain the heated passion and expansive sound, even managing to throw in a big old guitar solo and pounding bassline, but at the same time slowing it down and introducing a cleaner guitar melody that turns my impressions of them from enjoyment to awe at some truly skilled musicians. This segues effortlessly into ‘Weight’, another impassioned, slightly less proggy but still never less than fascinating track that blends slow-burn Sabbathy metal and an ear for a great hook and an even better riff. Penultimate song ‘Inversions’ brings out the same blend to killer effect.
And just when you want the pounding headbanging tracks to come back, ‘Unclean’ bursts onto the scene with an explosion of bass frequencies (and tasty basslines), seething drums and vicious guitars, all topped off with a malevolent, whispered verse vocal. ‘Hayt’ too is in possession of a rock swagger and feral metal danger that spread their heady influence over brooding riffs.
Closing off, the seven-minute ‘The Price Of Dying’, a mesmeric, surprisingly poetic, full-on epic that again calls up whispers of Mastodon and even a version of Tool that doesn’t irritate the hell out of me, in a sound that manages to be fiercely The Mercy House’s own while taking a brief nod at their influences and leaping into their closing statement on what has been one hell of an album.

The Mercy House are unavoidably grunge metal, yes, but there’s so much more to them than that. There’s a love of the rock titans Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but ‘A Broken State Of Bliss’ is never less than fully alive, blending the best of the past with the vitality of the now, and the result is more than able to show that there is room for new gods of rock. Essential sounds for 2012 and beyond.

★★★★★

Katie H-Halinski