Brothers and sisters of dumbarton...this is the tale of a band that many of may know, tis a sad tale, a tale of GLORY and TRIUMPH yet a sad tale in the end. i am talking about the one and only Mendeed. This is a tribute to our fallen hero's (im making them sound as if theyre dead lol)
Mendeed were (i hate saying were) a metalcore band that formed in 2000 whilst they were at school.In 2002 they self-released their first EP Killing Something Beautiful and then in 2003 the band released their second EP As We Rise. Eventually they got noticed by Rising Records and in December 2003 Mendeed signed a recording contract with them. The bands first release on that label was an EP From Shadows Came Darkness in September 2004. Later that year they produced a video for there song "ignite the flames" and it was added to Mtv2's Headbangers Ball (Epic show!)and also got placed on the catalogue for scuzz tv. They released two albums on Rising Records which was "This war will last forever" and "The Dead Live By Love" and were nominated for best newcomer at the kerrang and metal hammer awards. They also have an impressive track record for touring. They have toured with Dream Theater, Anthrax, Cradle of Filth, Napalm Death, Fear Factory and played dates with Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot, Skindred, Bleeding Through and Trivium. They also headlined their own tour in between the dates of supporting other bands. Mendeed also performed on the Gibson/MySpace Stage at Download Festival in 2006.
Impressive......considering they came from DUMBARTON!!
However after their second album release they were having financial problems and the band decided to split on the 4/9/07. The band issued this statement on their myspace:
"Mendeed have regrettably broken up due to irreconcilable difference with our manager, we would like to thank all of our fans for believing in us and helping us get as far as we did. I really wish things would have turned out different for us. Thanks to everyone that had faith in us, we'll miss you all."
By the way, when i first started my college course, David Proctor the lead singer of mendeed attended the course as well (course me being a retard it took me a while to figure out who i was actually talking to). Dave was an awesome guy as well and very down to earth (bit quiet for a metal singer though lol). I couldnt believe i was sitting next to the lead singer of Mendeed, the band who toured with all my childhood heroes. I felt like wayne and garth when they met alice cooper.....IM NOT WORTHY!!!
I dont know if Mendeed will ever get back together, it seems unlikely to be honest as it would seem the band members have moved on. After the split lead guitarist Steve Nixon joined Welsh metal band, Anterior and in mid 2008 drummer Kevin Matthews joined Scottish metal act, Madman Is Absolute.
Its a real shame to be honest cause these guys were up there! and they got fucked over by a dodgy manager and a shady record company, their financial issues were due to unpaid bills on Rising Records' behalf, forcing the band into debt. I actually asked Dave the story as well and their manager pretty much took a huge share of profits from the band.......PRICK!
The music was good, the band had real presence and could have become a titan with the metal ranks, but as jack black said, the man brung them down. Despite that harsh fact of reality, They proved to everyone that you can come from a small background and really go from nothing to something if you really believe you can, Mendeed have become a legend in dumbarton and have probably had an influence on every metalband in dumbarton.
To all the members of Mendeed Thank you...for showing us the way
We salute you!
