Album Graveyard: Martyr AD - On Earth As It Is In Hell

I thought this album would be a good choice for this weeks Album Graveyard, as it continues the thrash theme.

It was suggested that the tours that Martyr AD had done with The Haunted had rubbed off on their sound. Indeed, “On Earth As It Is In Hell” takes the general metalcore pallette and adds a quick metallic base of thrash, with just a touch of melody. Considering the amount of melodic metalcore at the time which still continues in some part today, the melodies within "On Earth As It Is In Hell" are few, and far between, and not overly poppy or sappy.

The more raw production, coupled with a sense of urgency and an amount of experimentation make “On Earth As It Is In Hell” sound like it was released earlier than 2004. This earlier sound serves to make “On Earth As It Is In Hell” feel more influential to those playing the sub-genre of thrash inspired metalcore. An earlier sound would typically make an album sound dated, especially in such newer genres, but in this case it works very well for Martyr AD.

In the end, Martyr AD make “On Earth As It Is In Hell” work based more the intensity of the speed, and brutality of the breakdowns instead of the song writing, and in this case, they succeed in getting away with it.

7/10