Fast-rising London metal quintet The Mercy House are currently working upon their second studio album Against The Crime Of Silence: as a taster of what we can expect, here's an exclusive preview of killer new track Conflict.
We spoke with frontman Drew Davies to talk about the song and his band’s plans for the year ahead.
The video for Conflict pulls no punches: what’s the idea behind the song and the video?
“It’s an anti-imperialist message. When we wrote the song the conflict in Syria was escalating and obviously now we’ve got Russia going into Ukraine, but no matter how far back you go in time you’ll see politicians finding an excuse for benefitting from a conflict or an invasion. It’s a pretty fired-up track and there’s a lot of reflection upon historical aggression in the video.”
Your performance at last week’s Camden Rocks festival got a great review on TeamRock.com: how was the day for you?
“It was an amazing experience. We’ve been working really hard on our new album so we haven’t been playing live much this year, so that was our first proper show in ages. We really enjoyed it, it felt fantastic. It was quite cathartic, because we’ve been through a fair few tribulations over the past six months or so, so it felt good to be back.”
The Mercy House don’t sound like any other UK rock band: presumably that’s both a blessing and a curse?
“Well, I take that as a big compliment, but yes, it does create certain problems when you reach a certain level. A lot of rock and metal regurgitates the past, and sometimes it seems that there’s not much out there that’s particularly new, so if you’re doing something a little different it can be difficult. A lot of people seem pretty content to settle for bands using the same voices and melodies and riffs and production, but we want to have our own voice and cut our own path.”
You have shows at Download and Bloodstock upcoming: what’s the plan for The Mercy House for the rest of the year?
“Cracking on with recording really, to make the best record we can. Conflict is an opening salvo for the record, and it encapsulates stuff we feel as a band, but we’re still recording the album, which we hope to have out early in the new year. Any labels or anyone who’s interested in kicking us along can get in touch, but basically we just want to get busy, with touring and recording. This feels like a new start for us, and we want to take it as far as we can.”
Download Conflict below:
The Mercy House play Download festival’s Jagermeister stage at 3:55pm on Friday, June 13.
