Band: Martyrdöd
Album: Paranoia
Release Date: May 22, 2012
Label: Southern Lord
FFO: His Hero Is Gone, Extreme Noise Terror, Disfear, Skitsystem
Get ready to have your wig blown back with Martyrdöd’s latest recorded effort, Paranoia, which hit streets May 22nd via Southern Lord Recordings. Eleven tracks that will surely go down with 2012’s elite crusty metal attacks, with authentic Swedish d-beat stylings that present brilliantly discordant melodic riffing on top of some seriously meaty beats.
Opening track “Nog är nog” (“Enough is Enough”) lets you know instantly this is the Martyrdöd you’ve come to love and respect over the past decade. Never afraid to incorporate melody, solos, and wide array of musical attacks into their potent recipe for disaster, you’ll notice a cleaner and larger sound to this record right off the bat. The enhanced engineering and mastering only adds additional spice to a brew Martyrdöd have perfected over time.
What makes this record so great, is that the members of Martyrdöd are not reinventing the d-beat/crust game, they are simply doing it better than the vast majority of their peers. The vocals remain throat-shredding and guttural throughout. Newcomers to the d-beat game should take note, Paranoia is an album that does this niche genre proud. Nothing feels contrived and no elements sound forced or out of place.
If I had to isolate one aspect of the album that really puts it over the top, it would be the dynamics. While it’s not uncommon to see modern d-beat bands incorporate a wide array of musical influences from the metal end of the spectrum, including solos, pinch-harmonics, discordant melodies, polyrhythmic syncopation, etc., few bands do it with the ease and feeling of authenticity that marks Paranoia.
This is an instant Swedish d-beat classic and is must have for any fans of the genre. If this is your first soiree with the crust and d-beat world, there are few better places to start.
I definitely look forward to catching the band next month on Southern Lord Summer 2012 Label Package Tour with Enabler, Burning Love, and Black Breath as they make their way across the US. And of course we will be there to cover the show in photos for your viewing pleasure.
Martyrdöd – “Kottberg” (Premiered April 25 at Pitchfork)- SUPPORT and BUY Paranoia at Southern Lord Records Webstore or at Amazon
[youtube width=”560″ height=”315″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhzEK0Sz8y4[/youtube]
Review by Joshua T. Cohen
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