I had heard a lot mentioned about martyr ad, so i thought i'd check them out, and i have to say that i wasnt dissapointed! These are truely one of the leaders of metalcore, and its a shame they decided to call it a day. This is the album they are going to be rememebered by. This is the first album i heard by them so i cant really do many comparisons between old and new vocalists!
"Bring out your dead" gets the album off to a great start. The agression of the drums and vocals make this song good but the constant changes of breakdowns make this song great! The song is very fast which needs a lot of headbanging or a great moshpit!
"Serpent and the flower" is the next song! Possibly one of the better songs on the album it has an incredible speed with a catchy choppy guitar riff throughout the verse. The chorus is also very catchy. The ending breakdown is a great breakdown which is both fast and slow with a repititive guitar riff.
This is the point in the album when Martyr ad are at their best! "American Hollow" is the next song on the album. This is my favourite song on the album because it is so heavy!! The double bass drumming on theis song is insane, perhaps one of the fastest drum riffs i have heard in a long time! The best bit of the is song has to be the ending breakdown! It is definately one of the heaviest and brutal meatlcore riffs i have ever heard!
"Late night faith healer" is definately one of the other better songs on the album. It has a basic catchy riff throughout and ends with a great heavy breakdown with the vocalist chanting " I dont believe in miracles anymore." Great song!
In my opinion, the next song, "Misery dance" is probably the worst song on the album. It has a good drum riff, but it has a very boring repititve guitar riff through the verse riff, and the song doesnt really go anywhere.
"Valley of solitude" is one of my favourites off the album. It starts off with a brutal opening sentence, "Burn me alive!" followed by a heavy guitar riff then a heavy drumbeat to go with it! The closing breakdown on this song is good, and it has some VERY heavy bass bits in!
Next is "The last words of any meaning" which is a two track waste of time really!
"Beneath the plague" is one of the better songs on the album. It starts with a mega heavy slow guitar riff with teh vocals being sreamed over it. This probably isnt the best description. You'd have to hear it to understand what i mean! It ends with a interesting breakdown. It has a "Galloping" effect which is mainly created by the drums and also the guitars.
"Into stone" is the last proper track on the album. It has an incredibly fast verse riff, which leads into a quick breakdown. It then goes back into the verse riff, but minus the guitars! You can hear the amazing speed oof the bass and drums. This then leads into another great breakdown, which is deinately one of the best breakdowns on the album. It has short choppy guitars over a simple drum riff. The ending is a bit dissapointing but overall it is one of the best songs on the album!
If u have never heard anything by Martyr ad, then this is a good album to start with, like i did. If however, you have other martyr ad albums, then you will probably find yourself comparing this album to the others, especially the vocals! Enjoy!
