Martyrs Shrine - Martyrs Shrine
60%
Martyrs Shrine is the newly formed band of two former members of the Australian Mortification. This debut self-titled record was originally released last year, but the guys at Soundmass decided it deserved a reissue. Here we go for fifty minutes of Christian death/thrash metal!
Yes Christian indeed. Their lyrics handle topics of that matter, yet it never really disturbs an atheist like myself. The band mainly plays mid-tempo death metal with some occasional slower and faster parts. Overall the music really lacks in dynamics due to this, because the entire record flows forth in almost the same tempo. Martyrs Shrine aims at the heavy Bolt Thrower sound, yet fails to create something on this level.
One can’t say that this debut record is horrible, yet the lack of dynamics and originality make these fifty minutes of metal a very long and boring listen. The songs are quite lengthy as well, which makes it even harder to enjoy this record. The (clean) guest vocals on the track ‘Butchered Planet’ by a guy called Baz Bardoe from a band called Sunsaria, don’t really help either, cause they plainly suck. I wish these guys luck with their next effort, if they just put a little more time into the riffs and song-structures they might make it above average somehow. For now, this record ain’t worth your money, you’d better buy one of the classics in this genre.
