MARTYR

Where would we be without ATHEIST? What about CYNIC? From whom would bands like Canada's tech deathsters MARTYR take their cues were it not for the technical wizardry and jazzed up death metal of said legends. I suppose one could hail fellow Canadians CRYPTOPSY and GORGUTS, especially one when considers that the full frontal aggression trumps technique (i.e., more death, less showmanship) in these cases. The bottom line is that on MARTYR's third album, "Feeding the Abscess", the influences are apparent and the techniques sure to excite scores of gear-headed death metal fans. But the real questions are (1) can the blokes in MARTYR keep anyone outside of snob circles interested for a full album; and (2) how much does feeling count in all of this?

Starting with the album's positives, songs like "Perpetual Healing (Infinite Pain)", "Lost in Sanity", and "Feast of Vermin" (not coincidentally, the first three tracks) boast tight and crisp recording from Pierre Remillard, Yannick St-Amand, and Breen Leboeuf; lots of crunching aggression; time signature trickery; and impressive musicality. Sure, the basically shouted vocals of bassist Francois Mongrain are one dimensional (save for the occasional vocal effect and death growl punch-in),and even a tad grating after a point, but it is doubtful that folks are looking for air-raid sirens and operatic bombast on a MARTYR album. A little violin, courtesy of guest musician Antoine Bareil, goes a long way too. A cover of VOIVOD's "Brain Scan", featuring Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault (bass) and Breen Leboeuf (voice effects) is pretty friggin' neat as well. All positive things, right?

It comes down to feeling more than anything else and "Feeding the Abscess" comes off a little too clinically precise and a little too antiseptic. That the players are abundantly talented and score a few wins for some extra cool twists matters little when the listener gets lost in the technical fray halfway through the album. "Feeding the Abscess" is not devoid of redeeming qualities and is awfully damn punishing from start to finish. Hell, it's not a bad album at all. The musicianship is of course first rate; the problem is that the music as whole is not felt in the bones. This is not an album that deserves to be slammed by any means, but raving about it as a complete musical experience is difficult. It is another one of those discs with a lot of great things happening and a "should-like" feel that just doesn't leave enough of a lasting impression to make one want to return for repeat listens. That's a shame.