Band: Blood Of Martyrs
Title: Even The Dead Long For Spring
Label: none
Distribution: /
Release date: 01/01/2011
Review: EP

Blood Of Martyrs were formed in 2005 in Chicago, Illinois, yet in mean time they relocated to Portland, Oregon. 2007 was an important year. The first live performance took place this very same year, and the members released a demo and a first (compiled) full length, entitled Ex Nihilo. At this moment (winter 2010-2011), the band’s line-up had changed completely, or better: front man Markus Launsburry recruited new members to be able to perform live – amongst whom Ryan Bartek (A.K.A. Mobus, Jack Cassady, Sasquatch Agnostic).

This mini-release is sort of a pre-release for an upcoming split with Wheels Within Wheels, which will be released later this year through Lundr Records. This version will be distributed in a limited edition, by the way, and Markus got helped out again by Trifog-colleague and Lair Of The Minotaur’s Chris Wozniak. Even The Dead Long For Spring consists of four tracks, which do last for thirty five minutes – meaning: long average duration. And this might bother some, because of the production. This one is primitive, nihilistic, raw, unpolished and crusty. Normally I do like this kind of underground-oriented sound, but in this case it has to do with under-production. Yet again, this isn’t an official release in its commercial definition, so I do ignore this fact completely. What counts is the musical quality. And in Blood Of Martyrs’ case, it is a high quality, this performance. As a matter of fact, I would label Blood Of Martyrs as droning Underground Black Metal with elements from Funeral Doom, Doom-Death and Black/ Thrash, rather universal approached, yet with a glorious early-nineties spirit. More than once, my thoughts dwell to Scandinavian and North-American grimness, but this material reminds me to an unusual mixture of early Bethlehem, Goatsblood, Tombs and Nachtmystium, spiced with elements from Absu and Melechesh, Impaled Nazarene, Neurosis,  Impending Doom and Grief. The final piece, by the way, called "Immortality", is a nihilistic industrialised and sampled soundscape, by the way, anti-melodious, anti-compositional…

I do look forward to enjoy the upcoming full length later this year (2011)!!!

--/100

Ivan Tibos.