Dude. "Hopeless hopes", man. It's like... There's hope, but then there's like... No hope. Dude. That's some fucking heavy shit, right there.
In all seriousness though, this album will rip you a new one. In the face.
"Main" project of one Daniel Mongrain (a Canadian Hessian who you might know from such obscure bands as VOIVOD, um, GORGUTS, pre-suck Cryptopsy, Quo Vadis, and Capharnaum), Martyr occupies that dark and cryptic realm between early 90's Technothrash and early 00's Tech-death, displaying just the right amounts of show-offy guitar/bass wizardry to baffle the casual metallion while still remaining listenable. I think I just heard Helm popping a boner.
Anyway, now that Sergeant D has made late-era Gorguts-bashing fashionable, I'm sure we'll soon be hearing (or reading, rather) an onslaught of anti-noodling shit-talk on the blogosphere. The haters will condemn the shred, complaining that it is music that only appeals to metal musicians. And you know what? I'd like to be the first to invite said haters to investigate my crotch region, while Martyr makes rude and ungentle love to their collective ear-pussies. IllCon will always stand in defense of music nerdism, in all shapes and forms.
According to their Last.FM page, "Martyr’s intricate and aggressive Technical Metal style is built on complex structures which allies a multitude of emotions from many different musical approaches. The music is not limited to the conventions of traditional metal music, the band striving to push those limits to create a more open-minded concept."
That's great, fellas. Now like Uncle Frank said, "SHUT UP AND PLAY YOUR GUITAR".
Download HERE
Purchase HERE (re-issue, extra tracks)
Metallum/Last.FMPS, this is totally MY JAM:
I know Martyr... You're right they're somewhere in between technothrash and techno-death. Somehow it doesn't work, but I'm not condemning it. I just haven't had enough time with it to digest it, it's like early German Atrocity, there's probably *something* in there that's great but I wasn't immediately taken. No coherency, too many parts... some boring parts surrounding catchy parts... these are surface concerns, I know. I shouldn't even talk before I spend more time with their stuff, really.
ReplyDeleteOn Obscura panning, ridiculous. One thing to understand the record and not like it, quite another to kneejerk against it because some nerds like it. That record is not wankery *at all*. It's more simple to play than 'Erosion' if you know how to play it. There are no difficult meters in Obscura (there are compound parts and some added stuff but it's pretty simple once you're used to it). There is no COUNTING shit like Dilliger Escape Plan, 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3, 1,2,3,4,5, 1,2,3, shit like that. That's what hipster nerds are impressed by because it's right there on the surface, an idiot could count this but since most won't, it's like some sort of intellectual prize for music snobs to hold up their fingers or something. There's nothing like that in Obscura. Nor are there any wild spazzy parts. It's like Sargeant D didn't even listen to the record much. Sure it does go 'scronk, screetch, bwop' and he's free to think that's a disappointment after the linear Suffocation worship of the first two Gorguts records. And I *do* agree a lot of people that praise latter-era Gorguts are doing it because on the surface the music sounds out there.
But Obscura is a monumental achievement. There's real music, real feelings and concepts in there and it's not 'weird' when one gets close to it. It's the only thing it could be. It envelops and augments mood and feeling. Like a lot of great Heavy Metal, the first time you listen to it it sounds off-putting or ridiculous.
It's a staple of easy internet contrarianism that whatever the intelligentsia likes, we must now dislike. This sort of counter-countering leads to someone falling into their own ass completely until they disappear: Stuff You Will Hate.
Who gives a shit what the music nerds like? Listen to Obscura yourself and give it time and effort and see if it says anything to you. Fuck the tastemakers from either side.
I saw Gorguts with Daniel Mongrain years ago. He was on fire, my eyeballs popped out and exploded. He is a heavy metal GOD. I bought both Martyr albums that night.
ReplyDeleteOver the years both albums have been permanently borrowed so thanks for putting this jam up. Anyone who speaks poorly on this record (or Gorguts) is trying to hard to signify a personality that's redundant to anyone outside high school. These same folks will hate D-beat so much in four months.
Helm: Flawless Victory.
ReplyDeletePS I've been listening to the Negativa EP all fucking day and loving the shit out of it.
Sergeant D: mobile vagina of exponential proportions.
ReplyDeleteSarge is one of the most creative, funny people on the internet. And everything on SYWH is genuinely on there because he likes it; that people hate it is a bonus. FWIW, he's a long time Forced Entry and Coroner fan.
ReplyDeleteI fucking love Gorguts.
Martyr are indeed great! I had the great luck to catch Dan with Voivod in Virginia in March...he played every note as close to perfect as one could without being Mr. D'Amour themselves.
Word on the Negativa record, Shelby.
Metal Inquisition Sellout Apologist Scum!!!!
ReplyDeleteAsa, I think Sarge is funny and creative as well and I hope he goes far with his writing talent. But that doesn't change that he often has opinions on things he hasn't put any effort in understanding. He puts them out there to provoke a response. That's going to get an audience of people who also have opinions on things they haven't put in any effort in understanding. Reactionaries and ignorants love being around people like themselves because of their opinion bias. It might be funny for those involved (or even Schadenfreude-driven onlookers who get their kicks off of being 'smarter' than the crowd) but there's a negative side to it as well.
ReplyDeleteFor some comics, having an audience is all that matters. Others end up hating themselves for the audience of ignorants they've charmed. The difference is, under the comedy, is there actual merit, cosmology, a structured worldview one would benefit from getting closer to (like Bill Hicks, say), or is it just empty jokes that promote and reinforce cliches.