Martyrium is the debut album of the unblack metal band Antestor. It is one of the earliest Christian extreme metal albums released in Norway. Recorded in 1994, only bootleg copies were printed of Martyrium, and it became a "cult classic" among a small audience, until the album was re-issued in 2000 by Endtime Productions.

Recording history

Originally Torodd Fuglesteg, head of the infamous Arctic Serenade Records, sent Antestor to studio to record Martyrium. At the time having problems with signing the band Groms for Arctic Serenades' roster, Fuglesteg said: "I was also in touch with Antestor at that time and I sent them into studio to do their Martyrium album. This album was later released through another label. I regarded, and still regard, Antestor as much darker than Groms, which was a happy-smiles band." Martyrium was recorded at Norsk Lydskole in December 1994, remixed in February 1995, and was produced by Jon Ove Andersen and Antestor. Some problems occurred and another label called Morphine Records ended releasing only 50 bootleg copies of it. However, tape copies circulated in up to fifth generation copies and their audience grew fast.. Michael Bryzak writes in the liner notes of The Defeat of Satan / Despair compilation album (2003) that, although the first album was not officially released until 2000, "Martyrium was rightfully considered a cult classic."

In 2000, Antestor began collaborating with the Swedish label Endtime Productions, and the label re-released Martyrium during the same year. The cover art was changed to a painting by Kristian Wåhlin.

Overview

Musically, Martyrium leans toward a combination of death metal, doom metal and unblack metal. The guitar playing emphasizes on tremolo riffs, and sometimes on slow doom metal riffs, The drumming ranges from down-tempo to mid-paced arrangements. Martyr's (Kjetil Molnes) vocals are mostly guttural, blackened death grunts and sometimes higher growls. Several songs showcase progressive elements: "Depressed" begins with a grand piano solo followed by "orthodoxly sung funeral dirge." "Thoughts" begins with a 2 minute funeral mass organ solo, before the blackened death/doom output turns in. The song "Mercy Lord" showcases operatic, uncredited female vocals and cites the Psalm 51. "Searching" was featured on Cross Rhythms Music's Extreme Music Sampler volume 4 compilation album. "Mercy Lord", "Thoughts", and "Inmost Fear" were also featured on Rowe Production's compilation album Norther Lights: Norwegian Metal Compilation in 1996.

Jamie Lee Rake of HM Magazine wrote of the Endtime Productions re-release of Martyrium, suspecting that the progressive elements of the album made the band unnoticed innovators in the early Norwegian extreme metal scene:

Throughout Martyrium’s nine tracks, there are touches of more progressive deathiness: piano and other keyboards, those nearly operatic female vocals, etc. Some of these touches have become nearly commonplace among some of Antestor’s metallic competitors, such as Emperor and their side projects. Might Antestor have been a band of believers who were actually (sit down for this one) innovating in their scene?

Track listing

All songs by Antestor.

1. "Spiritual Disease" – 6:42
2. "Materalisic Lie" – 3:13
3. "Depressed" – 6:43
4. "Thoughts" – 7:09
5. "Under the Sun" – 5:00
6. "Inmost Fear" – 5:38
7. "Searching" – 3:00
8. "Martyrium" – 2:59
9. "Mercy Lord" – 6:40

References

External links

• Martyrium album at Metal-Archives (retrieved 8-27-07)