Space rock aficionados Muse are set to release their seventh studio album, Drones, early next month (8 June). As far as astronaut styled prog-rock goes in the new millennium, there aren’t that many candidates out there that come to the forefront of our minds quite like Muse does. Their powerful and often cryptic, sci-fi laden lyrics has been a staple of the three-piece group since their inception all the way back in 1994.
Matt Bellamy has already stated via his twitter, that some of the themes explored within Drones include deep ecology, apocalypse and WWIII. And who said love songs were boring?
Bellamy’s lyrics manifest a certain rebellious flair to them with thought-provoking stanzas like “Absent Gods and silent tyranny / We’re going under hypnotised / By another puppeteer” Lyrics like these are bound to make Karl Marx proud. The chorus of this song is an absolute paramount of apprehension “Show me mercy / Can someone rescue me?” this call for assistance for frontman Bellamy resonates and compliments the overall ambience of the track.
“Mercy” grasps onto a more angst-ridden mood than previously seen from any other Muse singles. Matt Bellamy’s racing tenor voice serves as a bastion within a landscape of pounding riffs and destructively melodic synth. Bellamy begs for mercy from the electric bassline and intrepid rhythm section but bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard refuse to yield and show no quarter throughout.
The thunderous rhythm section during this track is dexterously inter-cut with bright and hopeful piano but a sense of impending dread and claustrophobia are present and accounted for during this track and you’re left feeling like you’ve been through a battle zone by time the final note rings out.