FEEDING THE ABSCESS

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Wow!

I am the kind of music listener that is the ultimate consumer. The "music as a pharmaceutical" listener. I therefore want more and more when it comes to technicality. And that doesn't just mean technicality of the individual musicians. It means the composition has to have a firm direction, regardless of what weird places it takes you.

First off, Martyr is not for everybody. I myself am required to filter the vocals. But it is a minor inconvenience for such extraordinary musicianship and composition. I justify the 5 stars by saying this is a 6 star album with a minus for the vocals. And this is brutal, intense metal. This, despite being in the same genre, is not Dream Theater. They might be compared with the likes of Meshuggah, but with far more Watchtower/Spiral Architect style intricacies. Even the simpler songs like "Feast of Vermin" are relentlessly intense.

The highlight of the album (or should I say, the highest light) is the quadrilogy "Dead Horizon". In actuality, "Dead Horizon" flows seamlessly from the previous song "Felony". Though lyrically disimilar, it seems musically intertwined making it a 5 piece movement.

Last, but not least, the album closes with a cover of my favorite Voivod song, "Brain Scan" from "Dimension Hatross". It is pulled of with precision, tempered by the spacemetal openness typical of late 80's, early 90's Voivod. A fitting tribute.

If you like being tossed about the room by an album, like me, this is the album for you.

Feeding the Abscess is the third studio album from Canadian tech metal band Martyr. Their previous studio album called Warp Zone was an album that really impressed me. It´s not that Warp Zone is an especially innovative album but it´s such a powerful and aggressive yet sophisticated tech metal album that I can´t help loving it. it´s been six years since Warp Zone was released which is A long time between releases for any band. So what´s happened with the music in those years ?

Well first of all it´s unmistakebly Martyr. From the first notes that are played I´m right back into brutal tech metal heaven. The music is still pretty aggressive technical death thrash but there are some new elements on Feeding the Abscess when compared to Warp Zone. One of the most remarkable differences is the inclusion of a fusion element during the soloing which also has an almost Holdsworthian quality to them. A nice move IMO and Feeding the Abscess is undoubtedly Martyr´s most progressive effort to date.

The songs are all of equal high tech death thrash quality so I don´t feel the need to point out any particular song other than the Voivod cover of Brain Scan from Dimension Hatröss. The cover is great and powerful. Voivod is a hard band to cover but this version of Brain Scan is excellent.

The musicianship on Feeding the Abscess is excellent. It´s thrashy, fast and aggressive. A real treat for someone like me. The vocals are very aggressive too, but you can easily make out the words which is a rare quality in extreme metal.

The production is excellent. Edgy sharp and brutal just the way I like it.

Feeding the Abscess is a great album and even though I like the more simple style from Warp Zone just a notch better this album is a good addition to any tech metal collection and well deserving the 4 stars that I´ll rate it. Highly recommendable to fans of tech death thrash metal.

'Feeding The Abscess' - Martyr (8/10)

Canadian progressive death metal act Martyr is one of those bands that leave their influences out on a clothesline, all the while hinting at an original sound of their own. Already finding a great album with their second record 'Warp Zone', the band continues their aggressive style of technical metal with 'Feeding The Abscess', an incredibly heavy prog metal album that's nearly certain to spark the interest of quite a few extreme metal fans. Being hailed as a masterpiece by the band's fans, Martyr certainly has some incredible things going on for themselves here, getting the technical aspect of metal mastered to a science.

Something Martyr is incredibly good at is their ability to make classically-inspired technical passages sound heavy as hell. The guitars here are certainly the most noticeable strength here, constantly impressing me, even during the less vicious parts. To make things even better, there is an audible bass sound here that carries some tech weight of its own, and drums where are kept complex and constantly changing. Instrumentally, the band is one to be feared and keeps their sound constantly heavy yet always interesting. In fact, if the album had been made a solely instrumental record, I would have no problem calling it one of the finest instrumental metal albums I have ever heard. What I am getting at is that it should come as no surprise that the weakest element in Martyr are the vocals. Alternating between generic low growls and a form of shouting that sounds like Death vocalist Chuck Schuldiner yelling at his kids, Martyr could have easily done without any vocal delivery and been the better without it. Although it is the all-too Death-inspired shouting vocals that turn me off the most, even the conventional growls lack much substance or dynamic to them. While the Mongrain brothers blow me away with their instrumental prowess, it may have been a good idea to leave the vocals to someone better suited to it.

Although the album is weakened by vocals and a somewhat lacking sense of flow, there's no denying that I am awe-struck by Martyr's incredible grasp of technical metal, and their keen Voivod cover at the end does not hurt things at all! 'Feeding The Abscess' is a musician's dream metal album, and if one can look past the less glorious aspects of the band, there's sure to be alot of enjoyment found here.