On their second album, the wonderfully titled "Paranoia", Martyrdöd continued on their path of destruction with some seriously huge new additions. On "Paranoia", Martyrdöd brought in much more triumphant sounding instrumentals and solos. At the same time though, they continued to be absolutely pummeling and more animalistic than ever. On thieir next album, "Eldopp", Martyrdöd continued to expand their sound, sometimes slowing it down for a few more sludgy tracks as well. So yea, in their career so far Martyrdöd have been absolutely killing it with these brutal, crust punk albums that I've been eating up time after time. And what do you know! Martyrdöd have a new album, "List", let's talk about it!
This absolutely crushing album starts of with “Överlevaren”. Right off the bat we’re treated to a sort of new atmosphere from Martyrdödd. I’m used to them literally jumping immediately into a soul-searing blast of crust-punk. Here though, Martyrdödd are embracing their Black Metal side a little bit more. It’s nothing too new, they’ve had Black Metal roots for years, but on a lot of tracks throughout “List” they seriously let it shine. On “Överlevaren”, those opening notes have a tremendous Black Metal feel, and are easily just as epic as you would expect from a Black Metal track. However, as soon as that verse hits, it’s nothing but classic a Martyrdödd sound. The riffs are relentless, the drums are thunderous, and these may be the most monstrous, blackened vocals I’ve heard from them, period. Those little segments where the guitars just go completely off the rails add so much to this, Martyrdödd seriously don’t waste any time. It’s upbeat, it’s absolutely hellish, “Överlevaren” is just an all around great intro. Not to mention all the solo’s that pop in throughout don’t slow anything down and come off seriously solid. Up next is the album’s title track, “List”. This one starts off with another solid riff, which quickly opens up to the usual sheer chaos that Martyrdödd bring. Actually, it’s much more than just the usual amount of chaos, “List” quickly becomes one of the most “off the rails” sounding tracks I’ve ever heard them tackle, and I love every damn minute of it. The vocals since Martyrdödd’s last outing haven’t gone down a single degree of harshness, and these are by far some of the most triumphant instrumentals I’ve ever heard from Martyrdödd. The wailing guitars that occasionally pop in seriously get me going, and that low-fi breakdown about halfway through comes off freakin’ perfectly. So far, I’m super impressed. The extended solo on “List” doesn’t even come off overblown, it’s completely welcomed throughout its duration, and is some of the most epic stuff I’ve heard in metal all year. “Wipeout” is up next, and it starts off a little slower, but it remains just as grand sounding. Then, just as soon as you think we’re going to be dealing with a slower track from Martyrdödd, those crushing drums come ripping through everything. The opening riff here to be honest doesn’t do nearly as much for me. To be honest, I love when Martyrdödd are just as crushing as you would expect, but the riff here is just too precise for my liking. I’m used to these impenetrable walls of sounds. The riff on “Wipeout” just is a little too technical as far as I’m concerned, not to mention it’s all over the place. However, I do have to give credit where it’s due, Martyrdödd have clearly been working hard on their solo’s. Tracks like “Wipeout” are practically one solo after another, while it makes one or two tracks here a little boring, it’s still a spectacle. While “Wipeout” is far from my favorite track here, these ARE some of my favorite vocals here, just the way “WIPEOUT” is growled…..ugh so cool. Next up is “Oemotståndlig”. The intro right off the bat is one I can seriously sink my teeth into. While “Oemotståndlig” is still dominated almost completely by solos and triumphant guitar chords, everything still comes off wild and chaotic. The guitars on the chorus of this one are absolutely soul crushing, it’s ridiculous how much Martyrdödd seriously haven’t slowed down at all. “Oemotståndlig” is a little less melodic than other tracks here, and yes there are freakin’ melodies no matter how heavy and ruthless this album is. Martyrdödd remain to be one of the more unforgiving acts in metal, and instrumentally these guys are seriously at their all time high.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oq0NWA2gCg
"Över På Ett Stick" has one of the slowest starts here, but don't let that make you question anything, "Över På Ett Stick" is still pretty damn relentless. Overall this one comes off as a seriously off the wall black metal track. Everything on "Över På Ett Stick" comes off as so spontaneous, and not by the books at all. The solo's on this on are hanging around in the background, which honestly comes off as fantastic. It seriously gives all the other instrumentals plenty of room to crush everything in their path. Also, while Martyrdöd here continue to rumble on with out relinquishing an ounce of their power, they continue to be at their most epic sounding ever. Not to mention what's probably most important about a track like "Över På Ett Stick", is how Martyrdöd are clearly proving just how easily they can handle a 6 minute track and make it sound great. So far, this is seriously just another really solid metal album from Martyrdöd. Up next is "Harmagedon", which gives us a nice huge chunk of doom metal influence from that opening riff. But even that does't stick around too long, and is almost immediately overpowered by everything else going on here. As "Harmagedon" speeds up, it becomes probably the most straightforward sounding metal track here, with fiery riffs that sound like they could have been picked up by any ol' thrash metal artist, don't worry Martyrdöd do it justice. Some of the slower passages here where the solo's kinda float through the background are done ridiculously well. My only real issue with "Harmagedon" are the vocals. They're easily just as animalistic and brutal, but here they just don't stick with me that much. "Handlöst Fallen Ängel" may be the most epic track on this entire album though. The intro here is absolutely ridiculous. The soaring guitars here you would think may come off as a little cheesy, but Martyrdöd accompany them with some of the heaviest riffs on the entire project. "Handlöst Fallen Ängel" IS the sound they should be going for. It's so spontaneous and completely off the wall in feel, not to mention those vocals are absolutely gripping. It's completely ruthless, and even more unforgiving, but it's all wonderful, and in a lot of ways the perfect Martyrdöd track. I have to say, there are going to be some that aren't going to dig the band's cleaner production, as well as the excessive soloing. But I think it just comes off fantastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi16l0xC9Xs
"Drömtid" starts off our final stretch with a super cool interlude. Martyrdöd here go full atmospheric black metal, and man is the atmosphere here done well. It's so dark and dense, with tons of mysterious guitar licks sprinkled here and there. To be honest, I would have LOVED to here a few more interludes like this, cause they seriously nail it. "Intervention" is up next, and the more this album goes on the more and more black metal influence is showing up, and I love it. These guitars are just so bold, and once "Intervention" gets cooking it's just as aggressive. However, I have to seriously stress that this is TOTALLY different from Martyrdöd's old stuff, there's more here than just pure aggression, there are plenty artsy atmospheric moments as well. The vocals continue to be absolutely ball-busting, these are some of the most relentless, inhuman shrieks here. Also, as big and as bold as the material here is, none of the bands power is given up. Transmission" ends this bad boy off, and here is where the massive sludge metal aspects come in. This intro is seriously sluggish as hell, it doesn't even sound like Martyrdöd, at least at first. Things do speed up and Martyrdöd end up finishing this album sounding like themselves. But to me, this was just a bizarre way to end off this album. There are still epic moments aplenty, but the back and forth between their usual brand of Crust Punk and Sludge metal comes off a bit sloppy, I would have preferred them to stick with one. However, this is still certainly not a bad finale.
Rating: 8.2/10
Give A Listen To: “List”, “Överlevaren”, “Över På Ett Stick", "Handlöst Fallen Ängel"
Overall Thoughts: At the end of the day, this may be the biggest and most adventurous Martyrdöd album yet. They've added in plenty of solos and embraced a much bigger sound, while not giving up a single ounce of their trademark power, what more can we ask for from Martyrdöd?
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