Origin: Mulhouse, France  
Genres: Death Metal
Page online: June 11, 2003
Last update/review: September 23, 2020

Mercyless

By several accounts, Mercyless was a decent if typical death metal band in the early nineties, as heard on their early albums Abject Offerings and Coloured Funeral, the former even thought of as a lost classic by some. The album reviewed here, though, is their third effort, 1996's Cold, and what we have here is clearly a band in transition. Band leader Max Otero still sings in the death style, but that and the occasional guitar riff are really the only components of death metal here. Instead, the band opts for mid-paced, harsh riffing, augmented by some spacey/electronic keyboard effects. The result is a fairly original and interesting album, though it may not appeal to fans of the more traditional death metal fare that these guys used to play. Kudos to the band for playing what they want, since Cold clearly isn't directed at any clear market, yet it could appeal to metal fans of several genres if given the chance. Apparently they strayed still further from their early roots on their last album, Sure To Be Pure, and perhaps because of a less than stellar response, the band was not heard from again for years.

Fast forward to 2011, the band is back in action and returning to the brutal style of Abject Offerings.

Current Members

Max Otero

vocals/guitars

Gautier Merklen

guitars

Yann Tligui

bass

Laurent Michalak

drums

Former Members/Guests

Stephane Viard

guitars

Rade Radojcic

bass

Pierre Lopez

bass

Boris Mandavis

bass

Matthieu Merklen

bass

Tom Smith

keyboards

Gerald Guenzi

drums

David Kempf

drums

Tintin

drums


Discography



Abject Offerings  
1992 Vinyl Solution
  1. Nyarlathotep (Intro)
  2. Abject offerings
  3. A message for all those who died
  4. Substance of purity
  5. Flesh divine
  6. Whithout christ
  7. Unformed tumours
  8. Burned at the stake
  9. Selected resurrection
  • Max Otero
  • Stephane Viard
  • Rade Radojcic
  • Gerald Guenzi


Coloured Funeral  
1993 Century Media
  1. Spiral of flowers
  2. Mirrors of melancholy
  3. Travel through a strange emotion
  4. Forgotten fragments
  5. Contemplations
  6. Agrazabeth
  7. Serenades...(into your limbs)
  8. Naked forms
  9. Beyond god
  • Max Otero
  • Stephane Viard
  • Rade Radojcic
  • Gerald Guenzi


Cold  
1996 System Shock
  1. Abortive attempt
  2. If the live in ecstasy
  3. Fluids
  4. Dorian
  5. Neutral
  6. A nice day to survive
  7. Ap4np
  8. Personality on relief
  9. Servant
  10. Still life
  • Max Otero
  • Stephane Viard
  • Pierre Lopez
  • Tom Smith
  • David Kempf


Sure To Be Pure  
2000 System Shock
  1. Sure to be pure
  2. La boca amarga
  3. Access to silence
  4. Don`t want to see
  5. Simulation inerta
  6. Obedience
  7. A pleasant moment whit a vermin
  8. Jail of flesh
  • Max Otero
  • Stephane Viard
  • Pierre Lopez
  • Tom Smith
  • Tintin


In Memory Of Agrazabeth  COMPILATION
2011


Visions From The Past 1989 - Official Bootleg  LIVE
2012
  1. At The Coming Of Dawn (intro)
  2. I Vomit This World
  3. Unholy Black Splendor
  4. God Is Dreaming
  5. Goat Of Mendes
  6. Infamy
  7. Probably Impure
  8. Absent Belief
  9. Bless Me Father
  • Max Otero
  • Stephane Viard
  • Boris Mandavis
  • Gerald Guenzi


Unholy Black Splendor  
2013
  1. Perfect Mind
  2. Psychiatric Internment (No Theory) / Visions from the Past
  3. Paralysis / Another Desolation
  4. Unholy Chapters
  5. Black Magic
  6. Sudden Death
  7. Ta Gueule
  • Max Otero
  • Stephane Viard
  • Matthieu Merklen
  • Laurent Michalak


Live Offerings  LIVE
2015
  1. Substance of Purity
  2. Infamy
  3. A Message for All Those Who Died
  4. God Is Dreaming
  5. Without Christ
  6. Abject Offerings
  7. Probably Impure
  8. Spiral of Flowers
  9. Burned at the Stake
  10. I Vomit This World
  • Max Otero
  • Stephane Viard
  • Matthieu Merklen
  • Laurent Michalak


Pathetic Divinity  
2016
  1. Blood of Lambs
  2. Pathetic Divinity
  3. A Representation of Darkness
  4. My Name Is Legion
  5. Exhort the Heretic
  6. Left to Rot
  7. Eucharistic Adoration
  8. Christianist
  9. How Deep Is Your Hate?
  10. Liturgiae
  11. Bless Me Father ["Blast from the Past" split 2015]
  12. Probably Impure ["Blast from the Past" split 2015]
  13. Eucharistic Adoration ["Blast from the Past" split 2015]
  • Max Otero
  • Gautier Merklen
  • Matthieu Merklen
  • Laurent Michalak


Eucharistic Adoration  EP
2016
  1. Bless Me Father [2015 version]
  2. Probably Impure [2015 version]
  3. Eucharistic Adoration [2015 version]


Live In Memory Of Agrazabeth  LIVE
2017
  1. Without Christ
  2. Contemplations
  3. Serenades... (into Your Limbs)
  4. Naked Forms
  5. Abject Offerings
  6. Mirrors of Melancholy
  7. Selected Resurrection
  8. Travel Through a Strange Emotion
  9. Without Christ
  10. Contemplations
  11. Naked Forms
  12. Abject Offerings
  13. A Message for All Those Who Died
  14. Substance of Purity


Unholy Chapters (The Merciless Years)  COMPILATION
2017
  1. Another Desolation ["Vomiting Nausea" demo 1990]
  2. No Theory ["Vomiting Nausea" demo 1990]
  3. Pits of Silence ["Vomiting Nausea" demo 1990]
  4. Vomiting Nausea ["Vomiting Nausea" demo 1990]
  5. Visions from the Past ["Visions from the Past" demo 1989]
  6. Perfect Mind ["Visions from the Past" demo 1989]
  7. Unholy Chapters ["Visions from the Past" demo 1989]
  8. Paralysis ["Visions from the Past" demo 1989]
  9. Sudden Death ["Immortal Harmonies" demo 1988]
  10. Hades ["Immortal Harmonies" demo 1988]
  11. Intent to Kill ["Immortal Harmonies" demo 1988]
  12. The Last Days of Christianity ["Immortal Harmonies" demo 1988]
  13. Sudden Death ["Rehearsal" 1988]


The Mother Of All Plagues  
2020
  1. Infection
  2. Rival of the Nazarene
  3. Banished from Heaven
  4. Bring Me His Head
  5. Contagion
  6. Laqueum Diaboli
  7. Descending to Conquer
  8. Inherit the Kingdom of Horus
  9. The Mother of All Plagues
  10. All Souls Are Mine
  11. Litany of Supplication
  • Max Otero
  • Gautier Merklen
  • Laurent Michalak



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