FEEDING THE ABSCESS

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.

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