MERCY ISLE – “Storm”
Released via crowdfunding – with a funny campaign.
Yes, I should talk about the CD here. But I can’t do that without mentioning the awesome crowdfunding campaign! MERCY ISLE offered not just early downloads and CDs, they really thought about cool stuff they want to give to their supporters. So Kassandra Novell went into the kitchen and baked tons of cookies & created soap for dirty metal heads – including a guitar pick. You also had the chance to get a remix CD with the band member’s favourite songs or a shirt painted by MERCY ISLE themselves. And if you wanted to spent 500$ you could become executive producer and talk to the band members via Skype about the album.
That’s how a crowdfunding campaign should be arranged, right?
So let’s talk about the result now: “Storm” will be out on October 16th, but the early bird downloads were available a couple of days before. Since the band released two singles before, there are four songs on the EP now. The opener is a remix of MERCY ISLE’s first single ‘I’m gonna make it’. Maybe the motto for the whole project?
The first new song is the title track, then. ‘Storm’ is a powerful song with deep riffs and a catchy tune & poppy attitude in the strophes. It’s not only Kassandra singing, she’s supported by male vocals. The whole EP shows a lot of variation in vocals which is pretty cool! Especially for a four-song-EP. The song combines rocking bass lines and guitars with somehow magical keyboard tunes played by Joop who recently joined Aria Flame as a full-member. The light-fooded keyboard sprinkles are a good contrast to the dominant bass.
Good EP to start a project with!
‘No one will save you’ is a bittersweet ballad, developing into a heavy mid-tempo track. Growls are added to the vocal variety. MERCY ISLE show that they are able to create everything: ballads, catchy rock songs and also heavy tracks. To top the EP off, ‘Uncaged’ has to be a dramatic song with theater attitude. Later, the keyboard adds spacy sounds before the guitars speed up the track again.
“Storm” is more than fans probably expected to happen when those experienced musicians started the project. The sound is good and the EP in total is – as I said – a perfect representation of what MERCY ISLE can create. To all of you who spent money to make this CD happen: well invested!
Watch our interview with Kassandra Novell and Joop de Rooij!