In December 2003, Mendeed signed their first contract with UK label Rising Records. From that moment on, the band got a lot of attention and gained lots of fans. They started touring with greater bands such as Slipknot, Trivium and Napalm Death. The band released some stuff on Rising Records before signing to Nuclear Blast. Whatever happened to them after that remains a little vague to me, but I just recently came to discover this band doesn’t exist anymore. Rising Records however, found it necessary to re-release two MCDs of Mendeed. The CDs were recorded in 2004 and 2006.

The first four tracks of this release were recorded live at Maida Vale in February 2006. And it shows. The music lacks a good quality at some points. Especially the drum sound I find rather annoying at times. It’s like this is the only instrument that didn’t really fit into the entire mix. Its sound is just so thin. I miss the real groove I hoped for. This is not only the case in the live tracks by the way. Also the melodic vocals in the live tracks pretty much suck. They’re almost false at times. One thing is for sure, Mendeed should just stick to the screaming parts and heavy outbursts.

The remaining tracks were recorded in the studio with Rising Records man Mark Daghorn. These songs are not much better than the live tracks. Again the drum sound is somewhat thin and the clean vocals for some reason just don’t grab me at all. The band does show it can play. It’s obvious this album was made earlier on in the band’s career. You can hear the potential being right underneath the surface. They’re on the verge of getting there.

The music is a bit above average melodic death / thrash metal. Nothing special, yet! Still, I think the band did a decent job on this release. It certainly won’t hurt you to give it a shot! What I do find rather disturbing is that fact that their 2004-release (see other review) pleases me more than this one. Except for the quality that is.