Martyrdöd - Paranoia

You know how people are always saying "their first album was amazing, but everything after that sucks"?  Well, I often find myself saying the opposite.  It can take a band a decade's worth of albums before they've reached the level of maturity that my exquisite pallete demands.  Such is definitely the case with Swedish D-Beaters Martyrdöd.  Their vaguely Metallic Crustcore never quite drew me in.  Their riffs were just a little too ordinary and they never brought enough of the Black Metal influence that (their cheerleader) Felix Havoc would go on and on about.  Usually Crustcore bands keep toiling away with the same formula (Wolfbrigade, Wartorn) their entire career, which is fine if you love that style.  Thankfully, Martyrdöd have bucked that tradition and have shown great progression since I last heard them in '05.  The Black Metal presence has increased as well as the overall songwriting.  Aside from a couple of straightforward bashers, these songs actually develop and have depth.  The tones have better "texture" and there's some real melodies being played (not just two-chord overdubs).  Yes, this is still Crustcore and inherently modest in techincality, but is a million times more interesting than the contemporaries relying only on distortion and militant politics.

   

good taste is easy to recognize...