Rating: 6.3

Country: Germany

Release Date: 2006

Track list:
1. High Blood Pressure
2. Skull City
3. Abandoned Ship
4. Soul Robbery
5. Mirrors & Bullets
6. Walking Tombstones
7. Drawn In Smoke

Band Website: Merca

Merca - Chup Amela

Arjan- Bass
Animal- Drums
Niels- Guitars, Vocals

It is a tad worrying to me that doom metal has not exactly been on the ball as far as quality control goes over the past few years- we're still a relatively minute community, and while doom is certainly experiencing a flux of popularity and critical acclaim, particularly amongst trendier circles, the fact that doom is still largely regarded as a niche market means that the musical product exhumed from doom's bowels per annum is still considerably less prolific than, say, euro power metal or brutal death metal. With the exclusivity and elitism that us doom mavens are notorious for, one would expect that we'd be responsible for less bog-standard, redundant doom-by-numbers fare. This week's culprit is Holland's Merca, who peddle the sort of inoffensive, auto-pilot connect-the-Wino doom that seems to be clogging the doom pipes of late.

Not to say that this is all bad- the band's blatant references to 'Sodden Jackal' EP and 'Self-titled' era Obsessed and 'V'/'Mournful Cries' era Saint Vitus do, on occasion, yield for pleasant, if not revelatory, results- “Abandoned Ships” is a startlingly accomplished composition that absorbs and regurgitates early Obsessed in a convincing, though derivate fashion. Elsewhere, though, great ideas and a gritty, urgent SST garage production are marred by an unimaginative rhythm section (failing to flesh out the power trio format by exploiting the vast sonic space available to them), drab, uninspired vocals and some downright bizarre vocal phrasing (imagine Killjoy's stream-of-consciousness, scattershot delivery on 'Season Of The Dead' applied to a traditional doom template). Many songs ride a seizing, competent main riff, only to degenerate into bland and overly linear affairs rendered even more pallid by the dull execution. To their credit, though, the solos that punctuate some of the more insipid compositions are often exquisitely expressive and tuneful, injecting the ashen, emaciated songs with some much needed soul and vigor.

Good leads, sadly, do not a good album make, and as studied and rehearsed as Merca's Wino impersonations are, they ultimately fail to realize that playing doom is a proposition fraught with a host of pitfalls- vocals are often required to carry songs, soul and imagination are crucial in breathing vitality into downtrodden, sluggish tempos and bare, skeletal structures. It's not entirely a lost cause, I do feel compelled to give “Abandoned Ships” repeated spins and even stick it on a mixtape, but otherwise this is better avoided.

September 21st, 2006