Kylesa

Quebec’s Martyr have long been flying under the radar with their technical thrash and death metal. Now signed with reputable indie Galy, perhaps their time has come. With Feeding the Abscess, it’s impossible to imagine the band not getting some international credit. Martyr excels over most modern day death metal bands. For starters, the energy in the tunes is infectious and uplifting, avoiding the oppressive redundancy death metal albums can often induce. The lack of death metal vocals also helps keep things interesting, as a (relatively) clean screaming style of vocals is mixed in with the lower register growls. A production sound that is crisp and bright and the band mixing in thrash elements also give them a diverse edge. Then there are the chops. And with this album, these guys have taken those chops to new levels, proving that it’s possible to create technical music that is both enjoyable and mosh-friendly. Songs like "Feast of Vermin” show that middle ground perfectly, the only downside being it’s really hard to play air drums to this stuff. Like past efforts, they’ve created memorable songs, and this time it seems they’ve gotten even more technical but not by sacrificing song. It’s hard to think of anything wrong with this disc. Not bad at all.