Time for a history lesson, y'all. Before everyone's fave corpse-painted godly Swedish deathmetalurgists Antestor tore it up a couple years back with their Scandinavian-folk-melodies-incorporating Return of the Black Death, they recorded a set of more traditionally deathly fare.
Only, back in '95 when they recorded it, they didn't call it mere death metal. No, to mourn the Satanism so rife in Scandinavia's extreme metal subculture, Antestor dubbed the product of their muse "Sorrow Metal." It's an apt moniker for music that so finely balances the line between the maudlin and the mighty.
Vocalist Martyr still has the guttural growl that's nigh a pre-requisite of Antestor's genre, yet he gets in the mood of a more orthodoxly sung funeral dirge on "Depressed," and even goes a touch loungy (or somethin') on "Inmost Fear." More surprising still is the (sadly uncredited) female vocals on the band's interpretation of Psalms 51, "Mercy Lord."
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?
Could be. However that verdict is called, the guys' lyrics have a pensive, fairly literary quality befitting their album's release on the label run by Samuel Durling, ex of industrial heavy weights Mental Destruction, whose musings were pretty erudite, too.
Antestor have the look and the pummeling sonic abrasiveness to meet or best their God-denying rivals. If Martyrium is six years old already, their next fusillade could be of astounding proportions. Don't say you weren't warned.
Other coverage for this album
Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by HadeSlayeRThis is the album that was supposedly released by Morphine Records, before they went into 'kick the band off the label' frenzy. Consisting of 9 songs, including 3 previously released songs on Northern Lights - "Inmost Fear", "Thoughts" and "Mercy Lord" alongside 6 other new songs, including my current favorite, a beautifully composed "Depressed" a slow and haunting song full of piano parts. On…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by FetusBe prepared to pee your wittle pants! It's a shame to say this is the only full length, 9 track LP from ANTESTOR. Yes, the majority of this LP is Christian black metal, but there is plenty of Doom/Death mixed throughout. Unlike many black bands that use only high pitched vocals there are plenty of low deathy vocals here, with some songs focusing almost solely on death vox. Unfortunately this was…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by ScumWhat is it about northern Europe? Is it something in the water? From Norway comes a band that goes by the name Antestor, and I have gotten my hands on a pre-release of their first full length album. For those of you who are familiar with the Norwegian metal sound you already know about the way bands from this region delicately blend harmonic guitars in with crushing death fury. The guitars on…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by NecRoSarX...and this is why I got into metal in the first place. Martyrium is such a big steamy slab of METAL, dripping with death metal juices, smothered in a frigid black metal gravy. There is a reason why Antestor was named one of the most brutal black metal bands in Pit magazine, keeping in mind that Pit deals with some of the most brutal unholy secular death and black metal bands out there. That says…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by sesspoolAHHHH! This is what black metal was wanting to be when it existed in someone's mind... so long ago. This is by far the best black metal album I've ever heard in my life. From the piercing calm of some material... to the thundering emotion of other areas... Very good clean vocals... fantastic music and song structure... I can listen to this album 4 times in a row and not be tired of it. Lyrically,…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by WoodensoulOne of the greatest doom/black metal albums has finally arrived!! It has been a few years in the waiting, but Martyrium finally was released at this year's Cornerstone festival. As soon as the merchandise table for Antestor was set up I rushed in and bought this cd, because I knew after their performance everybody would want one. Now this album is very different from Return of the Black Death,…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by undeadMetal fans beware! Along with Extol's Undeceived, Antestor has released the best album of the year. This is an amazing blend of doom and sadness. For those of you as taken with Return of the Black Death as I am, this album may come as a little shock. Antestor sounds like two different bands as their transisted between doom and black metal between albums. But this is such an amazing switch. Both…Dead Zine 2003Reviewed by SORGThis is a remarkable cd for many reasons. Although this is just now seeing the light of day on Endtime Productions (it was released illegally on cassette a couple years back) this second release from Antestor is actually their first release as it was recorded BEFORE their Cacophonous records debut Return of the Black Death, not only was it recorded before tRotBD it was recorded all the way back…The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Chris KingI was pretty excited to get Antestor's album Martyrium in the mail. Having heard that they play a form of black metal, and enjoying my recent exposure to that genre and its influences on metal bands, I really wanted to hear what Antestor had to offer. The only release of this album is a pre-release cassette from Morphine Records. The full release on CD never came about, and quantities are very…Similar sounding releases
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