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Martyrdöd: Paranoia
27/02/13 || gk
Martyrdöd’s 2010 album, “Sekt” was a stunning display of unrelenting d-beat matched with addictive guitar harmonies and catchy songs. It was one of my favourite albums from that year and when the band signed to Southern Lord and news about a new album started to trickle in, I was quite excited.
“Paranoia” is the band’s fourth album and things are pretty fucking great in the Martyrdöd camp. The album starts with “Nog Är Nog” and a ridiculously catchy opening riff. It’s a pretty awesome song and sets up the rest of the album. “Överkom Er Rädsla” has a melodic hardcore vibe to the guitar harmonies while still retaining a slight blackened edge and is another furious rager. The middle part of “Paranoia” is where the band is at its strongest though. “Ett Hjärta Av Eld” has another incredibly catchy hook and a guitar break in the middle that’s exhilarating. “En Tragisk Zeitgeist” is more traditional in its approach but is no less powerful for it. “Det Sker Samtidigt” is another relentless attack but straight forward in its approach while title song “Paranoia” is probably the most black metal of the songs here but it’s matched with a jagged, crusty riff and it works really well. The album closes on a high with the superb “Varje Val Har Sitt Pris” which is angry and vicious but also catchy and memorable. The melodic guitar lines in the second half of the song really stand out and end the album on a perfect note.
Guitarists Mikael Kjellman and Pontus Redig are the stars here. The two go from vicious punk/ crust riffs to melodic slightly blackened guitar harmonies and just always seem to be able to write catchy riffs. The rhythm section holds up their end of the deal too with bass player Anton Grönholm in particular sounding quite impressive.
There are a few moments of filler on this album though. It feels at times like when they go in a more traditional crust direction, they lose some of their unique identity and could be any one of the countless slightly blackened crust bands that have popped up in the last few years. However, these moments are few and far between.
Overall, the band sounds cleaner than they did on “Sekt” and this approach works for the most part. Also, when Martyrdöd nail their mix of melody and d-beat aggression they sound really powerful and memorable. Overall, I prefer “Sekt” but “Paranoia” is a fine album in its own right and well worth checking out for fans of crust punk and d-beat.
- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Southern Lord
- Website: Martyrdöd Facebook
- Band
- Mikael Kjellman: vocals, guitars
- Pontus Redig: guitars
- Anton Grönholm: bass
- Jens Bäckelin: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Nog Är Nog
- 02. Överkom Er Rädsla
- 03. Klassfienden
- 04. Hör Världens Rop
- 05. Ett Hjärta Av Eld
- 06. En Tragisk Zeitgeist
- 07. Det Sker Samtidigt
- 08. Paranoia
- 09. Köttberg
- 10. Avbön
- 11. Varje Val Har Sitt Pris
