April 2021 Feature Release – The Horde Edition
So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.
This month’s feature release for The Horde has been nominated by Ben. It's 2006's highly regarded "Feeding The Abscess" album from Canadian technical death metal exponents Martyr.
https://metal.academy/releases/8847
So look... if you love highly technical, complex & precise yet still extreme metal then "Feeding The Abscess" should be a no-brainer as it's a beautifully composed, produced & executed record that almost defies genrification. If that doesn't sound like your bag then I'd advise you to steer well clear of it. Martyr are super talented & pull off some amazing rhythmic stunts but you really do have to be onboard with that idea or you'll likely struggle due to the reliance on showmanship over song-writing. Looking back now, Martyr do seem like a bit of a supergroup in that axe-slinging front man Daniel Mongrain was formally of Cryptopsy & Gorguts & is currently with Voivod while drummer Patrice Hamelin is the current drummer in Gorguts & none of that is surprising when you hear "Feeding The Abscess" for the first time. These dudes fucking know their way around their instruments & the precision on display is nothing short of phenomenal.
I really do think the technical death metal tag is a little limiting here because Martyr's sound never feels constrained by the death metal genre. Sure there are blast beats, some grindy death metal riffs here & there & the occasional death grunt but the majority of the album is much more progressive than that & Daniel Mongrain's vocals generally sit much closer to thrash than they do to death metal. In fact, they're really the limiting factor with this release as Daniel's monotonous tone & phrasing sees Martyr failing to reach the top tier despite the band's clear credentials. This is an outstanding record from an instrumental point of view & I can't help but think that the band would have been better served by employing a) a higher register clean vocalist that adds a layer of melody & memorability to the equation or b) a full-on death grunter who can accentuate the brutality in Martyr's sound. What they've gone for here seems to have taken an each-way bet that hasn't quite satisfied either preference.
The production is spectacular, mind you, & if you're a fan of progressive metal in general then you'll likely get a fair bit of enjoyment out of the no-holds-barred approach "Feeding The Abscess" takes with regards to composition. There are very few rules being adhered to here & the level of musicianship required to achieve the final result is nothing short of mind-blowing. I particularly enjoy the drumming & lead guitar work, both of which are accentuated by the outstanding production. Just listen to the depth in those kick drums for example.
Overall, "Feeding The Abscess" is a great choice for a feature album & with some more interesting vocals it may just have gone on to be known as a classic release. I'm just not sure The Horde was the right place for it to be honest because it's more of a progressive metal record than it is a death metal one in my opinion. The Voivod cover version that closes the album could have been a little more adventurous too because it really is just a straight reenactment & doesn't offer any point of difference which leaves it standing out a little bit from the rest of the tracklisting.
For fans of Atheist, "Dimension Hatross"-era Voivod & Death's more progressive releases.
4/5
I need to get on this. Frustrating I can't find it on any streams but YouTube should have it covered for me.
First and foremost, this album sounds incredible! If there is one thing that I miss the most in mainstream accessible rock and metal music, it's the bass independence from the rhythm guitars that give songs so much additional weight without having to blow out the mix. The bass lines on this album are kickass! Regardless of their importance or how they are implemented, these riffs hit like a tonne of bricks straight to the cranium and they would make for some insane mosh pits.
As for the music itself? I can't deny this is some top quality technical music. I'm a little hesitant to call it tech death because of it's very obvious tech thrash influences, but regardless, these tunes are crafted together surprisingly well. My brief dabbling's into tech death have been typically met with a resounding whirlwind of noise, but not a lot of substance to back it up. Martyr backs up the substance in a big way with some effortless transitions between alternating themes changing tempos, time signatures and even styles. And they are all delivered with pin point precision. "Feast of Vermin", "Nameless, Faceless, Neverborn" and "Felony" are among the album highlights. If you are one of those people that love the technical side of Between the Buried and Me, but can do without the metalcore interludes, this album will be just for you!
That being said, without those interludes, an album such as this could be incredibly daunting if not approached correctly. And by having shorter song structures altogether, you quickly realize that this album is not wasting anytime, working to their benefit and never turning into a show-off wank fest. What holds this album back for me at least is in most of the grooves that feel redundant after a while. There is some quality later on in the record, but listening to it from top to bottom can get a little one dimensional at times. Regardless, If this is a true display of technical death metal, then I will compare it to other acts in the same vein, and I would much rather listen to this than Nile or Dying Fetus any day!
8/10
P.S. Vinny don't forget BandCamp
https://martyrcanada.bandcamp.com/album/feeding-the-abscess
P.S. Vinny don't forget BandCamp
https://martyrcanada.bandcamp.com/album/feeding-the-abscess
Cheers Sax. Did a first listen through today and found it a mixed bag if honest. Not ready for a review yet but will def post my full comments before end of month.
I really enjoyed this one, been going back to it quite a few times this month and that'll probably continue. I've found that I have a very thin vein of Tech-Death that I really like, and Martyr hits that spot pretty well. Even though I respect what Gorguts did for the genre after finally going back and listening to them to figure out why they were so influential, their style of Tech-Death is a bit too dense and overwhelming for me to constantly want to go back to it. Martyr is able to condense some of the more drawn out and complex Tech-Death normalcies into an extremely addicting experience that wasn't ever overwhelming for me. Lotta good stuff in here.
Plus I'm a big fan of the more Progressive era of Death as Daniel alluded to, so this whole thing was right up my alley. The vocals are extremely Death-like through and through and while I didn't absolutely love this as much as some of my other highly rated Tech-Daeth albums, this one is definitely joining the well above average roster.
4/5