Thursday, 1 August 2013

Martire / Throneum - United In Hell



 
MARTIRE / THRONEUM - United In Hell (Apocalyptor LP 2004)
This split 12” has been in my collection for years, probably ever since it was released back in 2004 – as I used to buy all the Throneum vinyls directly from Tom the Great Executor as soon as they only have been unleashed and he always had some copies in his Time Before Time distro. But to be honest I haven’t listened to “United in Hell” too much through all these years. But not because I didn’t like the music, but just because for few years I lived in UK and the LP stayed at my parents’ house in Poland, and then when I moved back to Poland and bought my own apartment it kind of stayed buried somewhere under the pile of other LPs. So I think I only listened to it two or three times back in 2004 and that’s it. Today I felt like I wanna finally really listen to it carefully and so the time has come for “United in Hell” to be exhumed and it is also a good opportunity to review it, especially as I doubt there were many reviews of this album written and published before. So, let’s start with…
Martire… I don’t have any other recordings of this Australian death squadron, I only know them from this split 12”LP. What these Oz maniacs offer here are songs from their split EP with Angel Corpse plus their “Demo 1999”. In total we have six (six six) tracks from Martire… and well, when hearing their music I must say that musically this band fits Throneum just perfectly and the idea to join both bands on one release was like hitting the jackpot. Martire is as obscure, morbid and evil sounding death metal band as you can imagine, with raw, harsh production and just relentless and violent sonic assault going through all their six songs. Their sound is so thick and chaotic that it will certainly reject many people, but the real die hard maniacs of the savage and evil death metal massacre in the vein of Angel Corpse, Bestial Warlust and even Sarcofago will love it. Some riffs even may remind you about the ancient and most evil incarnation of Morbid Angel, from their demo days, especially in such songs as “Puritans”, so beware, as the devastation is guaranteed. I can assure you that the intensity and sheer violence of Martire music will smash you within the seconds. My complain may come to slightly too chaotic and unreadable arrangements in few places, but it is only a minor criticism, as overall I really like what Martire did here. “The Heretic”, last song on their side of “United in Hell”, is the only slow tune from them and also one, which I like most.
And Throneum… I know this band for so many years already (ever since they were called Throne and had a debut cassette released!). They are kind of “love it / hate it” band, as their violent and chaotic sound will reject most people, especially as they never bothered to get a crystal clean production or catchy choruses hehe. Many will say that Throneum is just badly recorded, pointless noise and yeah, they are noisy and chaotic, cacophonic and furious, and Tom screams like a possessed lunatic. But the music of Throneum has its charm and great evil feeling, which I like a lot. Before this split LP they did two excellent releases: “Bestial Antihuman Evil” and “Mutiny of Death” and with them they just proved to be unique band, not only here in Poland, but also in the worldwide underground, as no one else plays like them. Seven songs from this split are not necessarily as good as the two mentioned releases, but are decent anyway. The production is very raw here and for sure it lacks a good mixing and mastering, as the guitars are quite tiny and the snare drum sounds like from a rehearsal recording (more so, Marek loses the tempo in the fast parts, what may annoy some of the more picky listeners). But I don’t care, as first and foremost Throneum brings the sheer violence and aggression in their music, which I value more than a plastic and sterile production. The material, even if not as strong as some other Throneum releases, still manages to crush my skull and with Terrorizer cover (“Infestation”) for the end, it is just cool.
Standout tracks: “The Heretic” (from Martire) and “(Nukkklear) Worship from Chaos” (from Throneum)
Final rate: 70/100

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