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Unoriginal hero worship with a fine glossy coating.-
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| Martyrd: Maniac |
Thrash Metal
self-released, Stormspell Records (2011)
2008 / April 27th, 2011
- Blue and Black - 5:21
- Harvest - 4:53
- Seeds of Vengeance - 5:21
- Trapped Within - 7:31
- Pressure - 4:32
- Soldier of Fortune - 5:22
- Six - 6:39
- Betrayal - 5:49
- Mask - 6:50
- Maniac - 4:53
- Bombs Away - 5:45
- Casualties - 5:48
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| Links |
| Review Information |
Release length: 1:08:24
Review posted on June 20th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 6/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Maniac (2011)
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| Demo(s): |
Trapped Within (2006) • Blue & Black (2007)
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| Review |
After their 2007 demo recording Blue & Black received plenty of media attention through the internet, both in positive and negative means, Martyrd went back into the studio roughly one year later to record a proper full-length album. Maniac brings together the eight previously recorded demo tracks with four brand new songs, all recorded to a more professional quality that best suits the group. However, the obvious Metallica worship still exists on this release. and feels even stronger then before. However, it's one thing to completely rip off a legendary band, but it's another to do it well. So, does Martyrd pay the respect that they should with Maniac?
While their previous recordings had some serious issues from the production quality holding the music back, Maniac is not met with these issues. The album has a strong, more professional quality that gives the music the proper bite, having enough of a crushing edge to the guitars, and the vocals are performed well with the proper levels. There's even a bit more of an edge to those vocals, though still feel a little more clean then they should be for this recording. Maniac starts off well with their signature track "Blue & Black", and it does it's job well to set up much of the album. The song starts off with a slow guitar build up of haunting chords that get louder as a Middle Eastern-sounding guitar solo kicks in, which hammers right in with a second introduction. Of course, all of this sounds good on the first time through, but after that just becomes a little annoying, having a drawn out vibe that, again, does not feel original, and by the time the song actually picks up the pace and kicks in with what feels like a third introduction to the song, chances are good you will want to just step away from the album all together. But, when the song kicks in, it becomes a pretty strong track with furious music and an energetic performance from the band, as well as the vocalist that captures the better, more intense side of Metallica that many had grown to know and love. This actually leads to a pretty impressive start despite it's drawn out introduction, but also braces the listener for what's to come.
For as energetic and intense "Blue & Black" is, the rest of the album does show a good amount of variety from the group, though no song on here ever really shows a hint of an original sound or approach to the music. Much of the material here has that energetic fast-paced fury to it, like "Blue & Black", but there's also some tracks that focus more on intensity, like "Seeds of vengeance" and "Pressure", and it works well for the group, especially with "Pressure" in creating a heavy song that is a little intimidating but still catchy and headbang worthy. "Seeds of Vengeance", as well as a few other tracks like this though, will still come across as nothing too impressive and make the listener yearn to break out Ride the Lightning or even Load. Slower songs like "Six" make a nice impression with the listener, as the music even feels a little more passionate, or in the case of the slower introduction on "Trapped Within" it feels a little epic or over-the-top.
After a while though, the album seems to just go on forever without much really catching the listener's attention. The material isn't bad, but just doesn't really offer anything too interesting, especially for fans who have heard a good majority of this release before. "Harvest" is the first song on here that is really new to a studio recording, and it leaves a pretty strong impact on the listener following "Blue & Black", and while it's not as furious, it still packs a good amount of intensity to it. "Mask" is another slower track that has a pretty dark vibe to it that, while still obvious Metallica worship, at times has trace elements of an original approach to the style. It may not be the greatest track, but it and "Six" really break up some of the monotony to the release of somewhat similar and not-too-original songs. There exist high falsettos on the album, which also appear on "Mask", but they don't feel organic and come off more altered in a studio then anything, leading to an awkward random high falsetto wail that really serves absolutely no purpose and could have easily been left off the tracks entirely. The album closes with "Bombs Away" and "Casualties", the other two newer songs by Martyrd, end the album a little like how it started. "Bombs Away" is an intense Thrash track similar to "Blue & Black". The music is enough to get the listener's blood pumping from the start of the track and it remains strong until the very end. "Casualties", however, is not that great a song. The track is another slow moving experience, and it just feels a little less interesting, much like "Soldier of Fortune" and "Seeds of Vengeance", just at a pace similar to "Six". Sadly, this doesn't end the album as well as it could have been, but ending on a slower track in general does work as a farewell track on the release.
Maniac may be nothing but well-pollished Metallica worship, and for people looking for something different, this carbon copy clone is nothing more then another wannabe act trying to make a buck off their heroes sound. But, at the same time, many of these songs are actually really good. "Blue & Black", "Pressure", "Maniac" and a few others on here pay homage well to the band that Martyrd is ripping off, and even makes some headbang worthy material that can sometimes get the listener's blood pumping regardless of the views towards idolworship acts, or even Metallica in general. Yes, there's a decent number of songs on here that aren't anything special, but overall the album isn't really that bad a release, especially if you're a fan of the source of their inspiration. In 2011, Stormspell Records picked up the rights to release the album as a limited edition pressing, and there seems to be no real difference between it and the initial 2008 album, so if you happen to fall into the niche category of loving everything Metallica-related, then either copy will do to quell that rage inside of you, but even then not everything on Maniac will entice you. Overall, it's a decent album, but in the end, due to the lack of trying to sound unique on any level, this is an album to sit on the pile of other clones out there, though much higher at the top.
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Physical review copy of this release provided by:
Stormspell Records.
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