MARTYRDOOM – As Torment Prevails

RELEASE YEAR: 2023

BAND URL: https://martyrdoom.bandcamp.com/

It’s been awhile since I reviewed something from my native Poland, let alone something good, so the 2nd (after Grevious Psychosis²⁰¹⁷) full length from the death metal doomsters Martyrdoom (the most brilliant name since Cryptopsy?), As Torment Prevails²⁰²³ released on October 23rd via Memento Mori, is a great opportunity to make up for it.

Originally briefly Deathlust (2010), Martyrdoom, consisting of Paweł “Sociak” Sota (2010-vocals, 2018-bass), Grzegorz “Greg” Młynarczyk (2010-guitars), Cezary “Wasyl” Wasilewski (2010-drums) and Marek “Marol” Więcki (2014-guitars) possesses great appreciation and understanding of old school death metal such as Death, Obituary or Asphyx on one hand, and the doom metal of the revered Peaceville ore, especially Paradise Lost’s Lost Paradise¹⁹⁹⁰ and Gothic¹⁹⁹¹ (check out how the creepy interlude “Torment” provides an intro to “Festering Existence” similarly to Paradise Lost’s “Falling Forever”), mixing the two up with a touch of semi-progressive dissonance a’la Neurosis or Crowbar for definitely a good measure. As a result, As Torment Prevails²⁰²³ is an incredibly even effort, every track always marrying just the right brutality and heaviness to adequate melody without any guitar acrobatics to the extent that it’s hard to pick a favorite. If I had a gun to my head or even just the Predator’s infrared marks on my forehead, I’d pick the back to back “Katatonic Ascension of Cirrhosis” and “Purtenance” for the copious satisfactory melody that makes both tracks instantly memorable, and maybe the equally catchy heavily Obituarish “Garden Of Flesh”, but this is a record you can play from start to finish without so much as a thought of temptation to skip anything.

Well, almost anything, because, as much as I admit that the cover of Autopsy “In The Grip Of Winter” is so much better than the original, it’s so different from Martyrdoom’s own material it should have been a B-side instead of the closer, even if “Garden Of Flesh” would then end the album a little abruptly. Covers have their place but more often than not they shouldn’t be included on regular albums, and a good example is New Model Army’s “The Hunt” on Sepultura’s Chaos A.D.¹⁹⁹³, also so much better than the original but wildly anticlimactic to the rest.

I recommend As The Torment Prevails²⁰²³ to anyone who appreciates the bands I mentioned as inspiration to Martyrdoom. I especially like how the band has its own distinct brutal (hey Machine Head grab that producer!) and cavernous sound already on their 2nd album which is what makes them stand out from the rest of the pack of infamous Polish ravening death metal wolves.