Martyrd - Maniac
Martyrd have made a name for themselves by trying to bring back the old school sound of how heavy metal used to sound with bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and even older Metallica. On their debut, 'Maniac,' they compose heavy thrash with clean, melodic vocals for a solid piece of music that pays tribute to the bands of older (with a modern, slicker sound of course). There are tracks like "Seeds Of Vengeance" which switch between blistering riffs to slower, groove oriented chords topped with power metal influenced vocals and then there are others like "Betrayal" that sound more like they came directly from the Metallica playbook (even the vocalist tries to pattern his voice with the Hetfield 'growl') and the music opts for a brief, melodic instrumental interlude rather than just blasting through such as with the solo on "Pressure"). "Mask" is a guitar heavy song that is so loud it seems like it masks the vocals a bit and draws on that old Judas Priest influence in being melodically heavy but not overly flamboyant. "Casualties" is an excellent example of classic thrash that one would expect from Exodus- starting out slow and then exploding later and barreling down the path with no remorse or pasuses. However, it is on heavier tracks like these where the melodic cleanliness of the vocals seem to contrast with the heaviness of the music.
"Six" is the only 'metal ballad' on the album, and again, lends itself more to sounding like Metallica compared to any of the other bands. It's dark, haunting, and probably one of the album highlights, but at the same time Martyrd lend a bit too much of their sound to the musical influence, from the vocals to riffs, to try and copy the sound of Metallica that they tend to lose a bit of their individuality within the music. And this is the main issue the fans will probably take away from the album altogether. It's a great reminiscence of the older days of metal, but Martyrd often seem like they're trying to play a tribute album with just new titles under a re-work of older songs. My Dying Bride attempted that earlier this year, but at least they re-worked everything with a completely new sound. Martyrd still haven't seemed to really broken the ice to make themselves stand out as far as a band with their own sound. Still, for those who liked the metal of the 80s will probably find this collection a blast from the past, but for those who already have heard or own heaps of Metallica or Judas Priest they probably are just going to pass this off as an attempted copy. Hopefully Martyrd's next album will feature a more original sound that still achieves their ability to create old school heavy metal.
"Six" is the only 'metal ballad' on the album, and again, lends itself more to sounding like Metallica compared to any of the other bands. It's dark, haunting, and probably one of the album highlights, but at the same time Martyrd lend a bit too much of their sound to the musical influence, from the vocals to riffs, to try and copy the sound of Metallica that they tend to lose a bit of their individuality within the music. And this is the main issue the fans will probably take away from the album altogether. It's a great reminiscence of the older days of metal, but Martyrd often seem like they're trying to play a tribute album with just new titles under a re-work of older songs. My Dying Bride attempted that earlier this year, but at least they re-worked everything with a completely new sound. Martyrd still haven't seemed to really broken the ice to make themselves stand out as far as a band with their own sound. Still, for those who liked the metal of the 80s will probably find this collection a blast from the past, but for those who already have heard or own heaps of Metallica or Judas Priest they probably are just going to pass this off as an attempted copy. Hopefully Martyrd's next album will feature a more original sound that still achieves their ability to create old school heavy metal.
- Blue & Black
- Harvest
- Seeds Of Vengeance
- Trapped Within
- Pressure
- Solder Of Fortune
- Six
- Betrayal
- Mask
- Maniac
- Bombs Away
- Casualties
Self released
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jul 25, 2011
Jul 25, 2011
Next review:
Frozen Dawn - The Old Prophecy Of Winterland
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