Betraying The Martyrs: The Hurt The Divine The Light

Combining a musical style such as Deathcore with a lyrical ethos that aims to deliver "the word on scriptures" may not at first glance appear to be the most obvious of paths to take, however it is exactly the one opted for by French metallers Betraying The Martyrs on this their debut EP. Now I have to admit at this stage that I wasn't furnished with a lyric sheet for the CD, so in all honesty I can comment little on the Christian message that may, or may not, be contained, as vocally the style is on the whole of the growling variety. There is a mixture of some gang vocals and the odd clean singing, however any intended positivity through the lyrics is mostly lost in translation.

Musically Betraying The Martyrs, mix intricate guitar parts with massive riffs at a rampaging rate and throw in the odd passage where the velocity is dropped slightly to allow the clean vocals (in the style of Burton C Bell) to breath and change moods. With five tracks on show and a running time of twenty minutes The Hurt The Divine The Light hurtles by in the blink of an eye and unfortunately doesn't really leave a huge impression as it does. The execution of the tracks is not in question and the songs themselves are effective slabs of metal angst, however in truth there is little to distinguish this EP from many releases that have and will continue to flow out in the coming months.

It's not a case of picking fault with the songs as in isolation everyone of the five makes for a solid listen, however the phrase that continually popped into my mind as I revisited this release was remarkably unremarkable. I can't say that I disliked what I heard, however after many attempts none of it has left a lasting mark.

There is plenty of promise on show here and much to like, however I do believe that a considerable desire to stretch their horizons would be a huge benefit for the band's debut full length release when it arrives.

Track Listing
01. Out of Egypt
02. The Covenant
03. The Righteous with the Wicked
04. The Hurt The Divine The Light
05. Being Your Servant

Added: February 20th 2010
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band's MySpace Page
Hits: 2519
Language: english

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