Review Summary: A 25 minute punch of hardcore.
Martyr Immortal was recorded in the year of 2007 by hardcore band Pulling Teeth. It is a record of many things; it is a punch in the face, a sonic kick to the groin that Pulling Teeth have perfected to a T, a conglomeration of ideas that excite, and most of all it does one thing throughout almost all 25 minutes of its duration: It kicks your f
ucking a
ss.
While Pulling Teeth haven't exactly offered anything new, Martyr Immortal is an extremely solid hardcore record whose metal-tinged sound makes it all the more aggressive. In accordance with most recent hardcore releases on Deathwish, Martyr Immortal is simply a concentrated blast of kick
ass, 25 minutes long and ending way before it can overstay its welcome. Vocalist Mike Riley has that sort of "I'm in pain" sound to his voice, as if someone really is pulling out his teeth while he screams. His delivery is exceptional; he doesn't just straight-up scream the lines. His voice fluctuates and shakes but is still exceptionally strong, adding even more emotional depth to the music.
It also helps that the lyrics are generally bad
ass, even if they are typical of the genre. Riley screams deprecation of the human race in general, their way of life, their practices, their stagnancy, etc. He also likes to talk about the inevitable self-imposed apocalypse that we are racing towards. "
Forever dissolve in my hands, no breath left to breath, I can no longer taste the sun, only chemical burn, cities choking out their citizens, fumes spew from every crack, we're forced to live like rats, the need to feed the greed," he screams in "Black Skies." The song seems to be the highlight in all areas, especially musically. Most of the "metal" comparisons are made because of the addition of shredding guitar solos to the traditional hardcore structure. Guitarists Domenic Romeo and Danny Parker utilize tapping extensively, and the solos they wrote for this album all fit the songs extremely well, something most metal bands should take note of. The speed of the tapping in "Black Skies" is offset nicely by the sludgy riffs and slow drums played underneath it. I really have no issue at all with this album. The last track kind of kills all the momentum but it's still very cool. Otherwise, Martyr Immortal is a great hardcore record, no more, no less.
the devil dances to the turn of our silence
the sin of inaction is all he desires
"sit still my children, for you need not know
the intentions of those building fires"
so we sit and we wait for things to improve
we believe what he's doing is just
we're safe and we're warm
what more could we need
soon we'll all be ashes and dust
