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Martyr - Feeding The Abscess review



Reviewer:
9.3

83 users:
8.49
Band: Martyr
Album: Feeding The Abscess
Release date: October 2006


01. Perpetual Healing (Infinite Pain)
02. Lost In Sanity
03. Feast Of Vermin
04. Interlude - Desolate Ruins
05. Havoc
06. Nameless, Faceless, Neverborn
07. Silent Science
08. Felony
09. Dead Horizon Part I: Echoes Of The Unseen
10. Dead Horizon Part II: Romancing Ghouls
11. Dead Horizon Part III: Stasis Field
12. Dead Horizon Part IV: Shellshocked
13. Brain Scan [Voivod cover]

A handful of listeners will still remember a band called Death, who revolutionized Metal in the 90s to inspired countless bands and ultimately leaving their mark with the name of the musical style itself [Death Metal anyone?]. While lots of bands were inspired by them, the Quebec-based combo known as Martyr is taking their Technical Death Metal to another level by sounding like the successors of Death with a progressive twist. With 2000's "Warp Zone", the band led by Daniel & François Mongrain already got recognition, but 2006's "Feeding the Abscess" is the album that should elevate Martyr to worldwide fame.

The vocals are midway between Thrash and Death styles, reinforcing the comparison with mythic band Death. The guitars sound is pure, almost old-school, and creates an awesome structure to their songs. The bass pops out from the overall sound while the drums are in a perfect spot. Wherever this album was recorded at, Martyr would be inspired to continue recording there.

A lot of technical and progressive elements can be heard throughout the album, giving this one-of-a-kind death metal effort an edge that most similar bands fail to obtain nowadays. Fans of progressive death bands such as Atheist or Necrophagist will fall in love with this album for sure. With over 45 minutes of delightful prog death, including a Voivod cover and a very interesting 4-track composition called 'Dead Horizon', this album gives you a lot to enjoy.

"Feeding the Abscess" is a juggernaut of energy, topped with excellent musicianship and an aura of savoir-faire rarely encountered in Death Metal. The tracks are each leaving a mark on the listener, while being all relatively short. This fast-and-furious Death Metal is a reminder of what the genre should still sound like.

Unlike most popular Death Metal outfits currently famous on the worldwide scene, Martyr sound comes out as genuine, grounded and hearty. "Feeding the Abscess" is a gift to the Death Metal scene. In our days of polished Gothenburg albums, a true Progressive Death masterpiece such as this opus stands out as a winner.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 10
Originality: 9
Production: 9





Written on 21.07.2007 by Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as:

"A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?"

I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math.


Comments

Comments: 12   Visited by: 124 users
21.07.2007 - 14:38
Vermin

I'm an owner of Warp Zone myself, haven't really listened to it though. Found it in a bargain bin at a gig some time ago, and ever since it has just been collecting dust. This review made me listen to it though, and thank god for that! These guys are amazing!
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21.07.2007 - 18:25
Visioneerie
Urban Monster
These guys are great, and good review cause they definitely sound like more traditional death metal. I saw Martyr in concert opening for Quo Vadis, and they left their mark for sure. This proves that bands hailing from Quebec can be just as good as any others, infernal hails to these guys:dcool:
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Any man can stand adversity, but to test his character give him power - A. Lincoln
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22.07.2007 - 20:41
Herzebeth

Dude...Death didn't leave a mark in the genre's name, Death Matal had it's name before the band began to call themselves "Death"... duh!

And are you actually comparing Martyr with Death? that's just very wrong man, Martyr is Technical Death Metal twisted with a very modern touch of hardocre that is common in bands like this one (Sceptic, Man Must Die, etc.) and it's just way too sucky to compare them with DEATH...come on...

Great band though..I just didn't like the review
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22.07.2007 - 20:53
Rating: 9
Dream Taster
The Enemy Within
Sure Herz, but Death did well to promote the genre through their name. Besides, just listen to this album, the sound, the lyrics, even the name of the album and tell me that there is not a strong connection between the two bands.
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22.07.2007 - 20:54
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Herzebeth on 22.07.2007 at 20:41

Dude...Death didn't leave a mark in the genre's name, Death Matal had it's name before the band began to call themselves "Death"... duh!

And are you actually comparing Martyr with Death? that's just very wrong man, Martyr is Technical Death Metal twisted with a very modern touch of hardocre that is common in bands like this one (Sceptic, Man Must Die, etc.) and it's just way too sucky to compare them with DEATH...come on...

Great band though..I just didn't like the review


I agree with you that Death Metal wasn't called after the band Death because the genre was called that after the song Death Metal by Possessed. But comparing Martyr to Death is very well possible, especially when it comes to their Warp Zone album, Warp Zone has technical era Death just written all over.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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24.07.2007 - 07:21
Herzebeth

Uhm no!

it hasn't any connection whatsoever, these type of bands have only a strong connection with each other, you know? Quo Vadis, Theory In Practice and so on...

just because they play technical Death metal doesn't mean they are connected or even similar to Death...
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08.02.2008 - 15:41
Talvi

Death were a bit more technical in the jazzy sense, this band is more like crazy technical, if you know what I'm trying to say :-P
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18.04.2009 - 15:52
Lord_Regnier

I'm not into Death Metal. I listen to a few songs occasionally, that's all.
I came upon this record 'by accident', not knowing what kind of metal it was exactly. I can say it's excellent Technical DM, imo. I like the drums very much on this album.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to people who are into Technical Death Metal. I'm not sure it would please those who are into Brutal Death, however.
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"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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12.01.2010 - 17:23
Rating: 6
Hugoj33

This guys are awesome... but I found this album really boring.

Hopeless Hopes it's one of the best tech death metal albums I've ever heard, Warp Zone it's good ... but this one it's a mess... a technical mess
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12.01.2010 - 18:56
Killitorous

Just saw them when they played with my bro's band....AMAZING they played for the most part older stuff...but it was amazing
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01.12.2010 - 09:18
Maxx666
Meshuggahian
Superb album, though not good as Warp Zone but it surely nails
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01.08.2011 - 08:25
Grody2themax

Written by Herzebeth on 24.07.2007 at 07:21

Uhm no!

it hasn't any connection whatsoever, these type of bands have only a strong connection with each other, you know? Quo Vadis, Theory In Practice and so on...

just because they play technical Death metal doesn't mean they are connected or even similar to Death...


When I first listened to Martyr, I listened to Hopeless Hopes which has more of a Death vibe to it. Warp Zone also sounds somewhat like Death. Although, seeing as Martyr is a very original band, the Death influence has never been blatantly obvious. Moving forward in their history now, with Feeding the Abscess, the band has really come into their own and has a really unique sound.

I also remember reading this interview a while back which I found where he notes the Death influence.
"Our sound is a fusion of bands like Death, Meshuggah and Cynic with a very technical and progressive side. "

What is more interesting is Martyr's influence on Death. Theres a riff in Inner Peace that is the opening riff of Death's Spirit Crusher. But, Martyr released Inner Peace well before The Sound of Perseverance...

(source)
http://themetalinstitute.blogspot.com/2009/02/martyr-interview-with-daniel-mongrain.html

I would say the two bands are connected and somewhat similar.
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