Martyr Defiled, 'In Shadows' EP

Martyr Defiled – In Shadows.

As EPs go, Martyr Defiled’s latest offering starts pretty blisteringly. ‘Black Mesa’ is essentially a sonic punch in the face full of tight riffs and vitriol. You may be surprised to learn that when compared to the rest of ‘In Shadows’ it is slightly tame.

Martyr Defiled have taken a long time writing what is a comparatively short record and after just a single listen the benefits of this are obvious. The band are honed to the sharpest of points with not a second of recorded time wasted. Not only this but there is a general air of confidence about ‘In Shadows’, like the guy on your local pub football team who knows he’s better than everyone else.

‘R/evolution’ is another in your face stomp, put with twice the power of the previous track while ‘Vultures’ is still the same blistering song it was when we gave it the seal of approval a few weeks back.

The other two new tracks here are similar in their intensity. ‘Nemesis’ is perhaps the weaker of the two but  ‘Prison Walls’ is reminiscent of earlier Martyr Defiled, with more of a wild edge only enhanced by the howls of ‘fucking fear us’ mid song. It, and the EP as a whole, demonstrates the increasingly political side to the band’s music. A breakdown of the lyrics finds less mindless anger and more targeted rage. If you ever piss these boys of you should, on this evidence, be very afraid.  The closing duo of ‘Goldstein’ (another example of the point I just made) and ‘Isolate’, with another well executed guest vocal spot and its brilliantly bleak ‘the world is on its fucking knees…’ lyric, round the EP off with a punch.

Unfortunately ‘In Shadows’ isn’t all plus points. There are times when the songs feel as if the production has put a leash on them, perhaps all that honing has taken away a little of the band’s edge. The main issue though is that there isn’t quite enough of it. While it may be unfair of me to criticise a band for not writing a long enough EP the fact is that ‘Goldstein’, ‘Isolate’ and to a certain extend ‘Vultures’ are all songs that MD fans have heard before. While this does mean they’re not worth a listen the result is that you may get the sense that there is something missing from ‘In Shadows’, there doesn’t seem to be quiet enough new material here…

When writing this review I did try my very best to avoid all the clichés associated with this genre. Describing everything as ‘brutal’ or ‘pummelling’ seems a bit lazy. But ‘In Shadows’ is, in the end, the kind of record where that kind language is needed. Despite its flaws it is still a heavy, fists clenched, in your face romp of riffs, double pedals and coarse vocals, the kind of thing that forces you to take a step back when admiring it.

Now if I use the word heavy one more time my laptop might blow up. Go and check it out for yourself.

Patchx