Band : Holy Martyr
Album title : Hellenic Warrior Spirit
Label : Dragonheart
Distributor : Audioglobe - SPV
Release date : 12/09/2008
Release : (Digipak) CD

Last year I tasted the distinct pleasure of being able to review debut album Still At War by this Italian band based in Caglieri (in the South of the island Sardenia). Apparently not every music journalist agreed with my positive assessment of the band's music, which says more about those specific journalists and the stupidity of their editors-in-chief (you might at least expect 'em to hand out stuff to those reviewers who might actually líke what's on offer?...or am I really being too demanding when it comes to the promotion of new and upcoming bands?).

Only 1 ½ years later, and the Caglieri fellowship are back with a new album, this time focussing lyrical attention to ancient Greece (a theme they started on their Hail To Hellas EP)...more specifically on the wars between Sparta and Athens. The music is very much a continuation of what one could hear on the debut, namely a well-executed Epic Metal with strong bonds to American eighties Power Metal (their name was taken from an Omen song) and early NWoBHM, Iron Maiden style, but also to more Doom-oriented Metal (as already described in my review of that debut album, posted 03/05/2007) in the second part of the album, which is somewhat more melancholic. The album however opens with the truely epic intro "March"...epic in the sense that orchestrated keyboards are used to support the chanting guitars, as well as an impressive choir, with a somewhat bombastic effect. Album opening song "Spartan Phalanx" opens with a call to march, done in Greek of course, but after that the song continues in English. English which only occasionally shows signs of the singer's native accent (and not enough to bother the true Epic Metal fan!). Most songs are indeed of epic length, in one particular case ("The Lion Of Sparta") even going to 8 ½ minutes, but this time around the guys also included somewhat shorter tracks [starting with "instrumental" album intro "March", which is only 97 seconds in length, there's two more intrumentals with "H'Tan H'Epi Tas" (a very nice acoustic guitars thingy lasting 2:13) and "Molon Labe" (a bit more energized, the track doés contain some whoeing in its opening, but no actual lyrics, nd has a length of 2:43; it can be seen as an intro to the ensuing "Defenders In The Name Of Hellas, as the two are seemlessly bound together)] and even two shorter songs ["Kamari, Andreia, Polemos" with its epic vocal parts – actually the vocals are a strong point for the album overall, as are those "chanting" guitars – and album closer "To Kalesma Sta Opla", which is surprisingly sung in the Greek language. Whether it's the ancientormodernvariant, I simply can't tell, but it certainly brings proof of the amount of study the guys have done for this concept album]. To Holy Martyr's further glory, it needs to be said that they've tried to autentificate their music with a touch of Greece through the occasional use of string instruments typical to the motherland of modern democracy. I'm not sure whether the instruments used are mandolin of bouzouki (or both), but there you have it! Comparing the new album with the debut, I have to say that perhaps the lead singer now sounds a little cleaner, with less of that Mark Shelton quality in his voice. He doés get some very nice vocal backings, which mày be thanks to vocal guest Vittorio Ballerio of Andramelch (no indication is given as to which songs he's featured on). Overall, the album is definitively an improvement to the debut, and the band's concentrating on a concept is certainly part of that!

For your pre-album buying aural pleasure, the band has posted a full-length mp3 file of the song "Lakedaimon" (of somewhat more adrenaline-infused pace, you couldn't wish for a better example of the band's afinity for Iron Maiden music) at their myspace.com/hmartyr (along three songs off the debut album). Meanwhile the band is apparently ready to move from their native Sardenia island to the continental Milano, and they also seem to have exchanged bassist Rob Frau (still noted as the bassist in the bio we got along with our promo copy) for one Nicola Pirroni (that the guy now listed at the MySpace page).

89/100

Tony.