Band: MERC
From: Charlotte, North Carolina
Their formation story:
(Jacob Sparks, bass/vocals): "We formed in Charlotte, North Carolina when our previous band (Lifed) ended with the unexpected death of our guitarist and best friend Anthony Pennington. We decided then that we wanted to make music in Anthony’s honor, but in a new band.
"We are currently just Jacob Sparks (bass/vocals) and Chris Raines (drums), with some new members on the way. We like to consider Anthony forever a part of this band considering how much he influenced both of us."
Their sound in their own words:
"We started with the idea of being a 2-piece power violence, grindy hardcore band without holding too tightly to any genre conventions. We wanted to branch out if/when it felt right in a song to do so. We pull inspiration from post-punk to death metal. No one is safe from being ripped off by MERC [laughs]."
Latest release info:
"This release was recorded, mixed, and mastered by us. Not for any profound reason or anything. We just wanted to quickly let people know what we are about and to start playing shows ASAP and for this one we had to work with what we had. If you’re looking for something polished and that actually sounds good, maybe just wait for our next release."
Future plans:
"Our plans for the future are shows, shows, and more shows. Our philosophy is that everything we do as a band is in the interest of getting people out to shows and giving them a good time. We’ve got some awesome musicians looking to join us we are really excited about too, but we aren’t gonna name any names just yet."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"North and South Carolina have a lot great bands right now. Raw Hex, Reviler, And I Become Death, Ends of Sanity, and Victim Complex are some of my favorites from our neck of the woods."
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MERC on social media: Instagram
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2024 Hardcore Releases Playlist
Tagged: merc
