MP3 Foreign Protocol - ROCK: Progressive Rock

Often compared to bands such as Tool, A Perfect Circle, Incubus and even Rush, Mercury Descends molds these styles into an original masterpiece all their own. This is their 3rd CD release.

10 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Progressive Rock, METAL/PUNK: Progressive Metal



Details:
âThe Chicken Shackâ. That's where Mercury Descends started to lay roots. The Chicken Shack in Fussa City a section of Tokyo in Japan. To be specific, it started one particular open mic night on a Thursday in July 2004.

But first, letâs rewind to the beginning.

In February, 2004 Blake Rockwood had been living in Tokyo, working and writing music. For seven months, alone. Enter young guitar maniac Ryan Morra. Over packs of Japanese smokes and vending machine coffee, they started putting songs together and searching for other musicians to start a band.

Out and about, tipping back some beers and relaxing, Blake overheard a rather tall fellow by the name of Alan Mabee mention to a lovely young lady that he played guitar and sang. Blake interrupted the two and asked if he could have a listen as well. A quick demonstration sealed the deal. Blake went back to the lair and shared his findings with Ryan. Shortly thereafter they set out to tell Alan that he was going to sing in their band whether he wanted to or not. It was a musical kidnapping, if you will. After listening to some preliminary guitar recordings, Alan was in, and the outline of a band was starting to form.

And there were threeâ¦â¦..

Back to the Chicken Shack in Fussa City.

The resident Japanese musicians had descended from the upstairs den in a cloud of reefer smoke and Hendrix, glowing with whiskey shots and skin-tight embroidered pants. It's all about the pants at the Chicken Shack. Nozomu and Miyata-san called Nick Romano up to jam some bluegrass rockabilly improv, while Blake, Alan, and Ryan sat enjoying the tunes and envying the pants. Where did they buy them?

After Nick, the guys took their turn on stage with the permanent party stoners. Beers were bought, and friendships made over mild inebriation, heavy laughs, classic rock, and embroidered pants. And Nick was on board.

And there were fourâ¦â¦.

A couple weeks later Ryan spied a bass player at the Chicken Shack amidst a sea of embroidery. Back at the lair, the plan was laid to make weekly trips to the Chicken Shack every Thursday until their soon-to-be-bassist Chris Caden returned. They were anxious as schoolgirls. Well, presumably so. It was a musical stalking, if you will. Once again, introductions were made, and more friendships were born of the same recipe of beers, laughs, rock, and pants. Chris was in.

And there were fiveâ¦â¦..

Thusly, Mercury Descends officially formed in the middle of September 2004 while stationed at Yokota Air Base serving in the U.S. Air Force. Work on our materiel started immediately.

By December 2004 the band had completed a 5-track recording, mixed and produced by our own Chris Caden, and began supporting it with shows in the local area. In Tokyo's busy nightlife city of Roppongi, some pubs, bars, and even the Flamingo Bar strip club began to circulate Mercury Descends into the rotation. The shows were heavily attended and the buzz was growing stronger.

In March 2005, Ryan decided to go back to college in Mississippi. It was tough to part with such a good friend and integral member of the band. He had shed light on some of our best ideas, and the band would not have taken such strong shape without him. But his life was calling. And to answer our own calling, we decided to seek another guitar player.

Enter Cory Little. Already known to the band from his work with Sol Invictus, an experimental math-metal music project with Nick, Cory joined Mercury Descends with the smoothest of transitions. Things moved quickly. And like before, over packs and packs of Japanese cigarettes and vending machine coffee, Blake, Cory, Chris, Nick, and Alan began laying the foundation for the new progression in Mercury Descends' music.

We have all shared an equal part in song writing and structuring, and feel lucky to create music with such freedom. Simply put, we're big fans of open-mindedness and flexibility, and our music will continue in this vein. Our goal is to create music marked by an expansive set of influences and modes; all blended into stylistically and structurally varied arrangements. Formula rock and anthems for crying into your beer can be found elsewhere.

Foreign Protocol was completed on July 25th 2007. Itâs the third and newest installment of our collection of tunes and we hope you enjoy it. Previous releases include "Alignment" (2005) and "Japanic" (2004).