Martyr Defiled – Vultures (Track Review)

After what must seem like a few years to their fans Martyr Defiled are making their return. After the teasers that were ‘Isolate’ and ‘Goldstien’ the band are gearing up to drop ‘In Shadows’, their second EP at the end of the month. ‘Vultures’ (featuring James Dexter from Demoraliser) is that latest track from the EP to see the light of day.

The increasingly bleak nature of the bands song titles give a bit of an indication of what we can expect thematically from the EP itself. Musically it is what you would expect from a band who have built up a following based upon being punishingly loud and the masters of the down-tuned breakdown. Yet it also has the feel of being a track that has been stripped back. Much of the more elaborate elements that were found on ‘Collusion’ have been removed, with the basics that remain turned up and honed to the sharpest of points. The result is a far more streamlined, forceful sound. This fit perfectly with the more direct vocal sound the band appears to be adopting. The lyrics are clearer and as such the anger within them comes across in full. In this case the addition of the guest vocals only adds to this, with the throaty growl of ‘You are the vulture, that encircles the Earth’ fitting in nicely.

Any genre of music with the word ‘death’ prefixing it may be horribly unfashionable now, after all it isn’t 2006. However if you’re going to use Vultures as a barometer for how the EP will sound then it probably doesn’t matter how fashionable long hair, black Vans and breakdowns are these days, you’ll still want to grab yourself a copy.