“Ashing My Thoughts” is the latest release by The Martyr, an excellent band based in New Jersey. It’s their fourth EP and the first piece of work this year, arriving after the “Dirty Mirrors,” another outstanding material released in 2022 that you should also check out. Lyrically, The Martyr explores themes such as love, relationships, friendships, various emotions, moods, situations, and circumstances, so “Ashing My Thoughts” is a highly relatable material that will resonate with the broader auditorium. Soundwise, the band combines different but complementary genres to illustrate such rich and luxurious sonic imagery. Perhaps post-hardcore comes to mind first, but you’ll notice how some of the finest properties borrowed from melodic hardcore, metalcore, and emo-core found their way into this sonic equation. The Martyr uses all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to uplift these songs to new level while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Therefore, these experimentations with different but complementary styles resulted in catchy, memorable, engaging material that will appeal to even the pickiest post-hardcore fans and beyond.
This epic extended play commences with “I Died Every Day,” an excellent, catchy, powerful post-hardcore track. As soon as you press play, you’ll notice that these folks are not joking around with their music. They fully stacked this composition with some of the finest vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuvers you’ll stumble upon contemporary post-hardcore scene. The interplay between rhythm and lead guitar shapes such a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll notice how cleverly assembled, flawlessly performed, heavy riffs resonate on one side while the wonderful themes, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers shine on the other. These guitar works are performed with such precision and finesse, making this introductory piece such a pleasant listening experience. Still, the fascinating vocal performance steals the show here. You’ll hear how expertly sung harmonies command attention and guide the listening apparatus from scratch to finish while emphasizing all the segments and instrumentations. The impressive vocal range seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes, decorating everything the remainder of the band tried to achieve with this track. Also, it’s nearly mindblowing how vocals and guitars work together harmoniously throughout the entire song. Also, this song wouldn’t sound this good without intricate, vividly hearable, warm-sounding low-ends. Besides binding all the orchestrations with drums, these basslines provide heaviness, clarity, and depth, enhancing everything on an entirely new level.
“Backrooms” strikes even harder with all those tight, technically demanding, mathcore guitar shreds, odd harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers. You’ll also notice how the experienced drummer offers a comprehensive collection of rhythmic patterns consisting of blastbeats, well-accentuated beats, and breakdowns while the detailed basslines rumble beneath the guitars. Still, they included more than enough melody along the way. You’ll notice how marvelous vocal harmonies spice things up with such precision and finesse. The singer continuously levitates between screams, shouts, and clean singing, providing emotional depth and complexity to an already intricate track. It’s one of the standout tracks from this EP that will appeal to anyone looking for heavy, powerful, aggressive mathcore-inspired post-hardcore music. The Martyr strikes even harder with the title track. It’s a perfect example of what happens when the sludge, hardcore, and metalcore elements collide with a melodic aspect of post-hardcore and emo-core music. Those downtuned, chuggy, sludgy riffs shape a raw, abrasive, gritty ambiance, capable of tearing everything in the broader radius. The bass guitar is perfectly syncopated with the guitars and drums, offering more heftiness, clearness, and deepness to an already heavy track. Like in previous tracks, the drumming is completely insane. It’s nearly mindblowing how many beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics this experienced drummer incorporated into a single song. These rhythmic structures keep everything in line while dictating groove and tempo, propelling all the instrumentations to new heights. The vocals come like a cherry on top, emphasizing every note and beat with feral screams and ethereal harmonies. “Repeating Scratches” closes this epic sonic journey, and it’s one of those compositions that vividly showcases all the songwriting and composing abilities of the entire band. They poured heart and soul into this number, and that’s vividly hearable in each segment and instrumentation. Like the remainder of the EP, this song also arrives with a perfect structure, garnered with intricate segments, brilliant ideas, and marvelous orchestrations. The entire band shines in the limelight, delivering one of the finest post-hardcore tracks you’ll hear this year.
“Ashing My Thoughts” is one of those recordings you surely don’t want to miss. With four incredible compositions, The Martyr demonstrates all their experience, knowledge, talent, and skill, proving that music genres such as post-hardcore, metalcore, and emo-core can still sound fresh, unique, innovative, and versatile. From fascinating vocal performance and mindblowing guitar works to groovy basslines and technically demanding drumming performance, The Martyr positioned themselves as one of the finest post-hardcore bands on the modern post-hardcore scene. You should immediately place “Ashing My Thoughts” EP on your music radar because their tremendous power, groove, and melody will instantly blow you away . The EP is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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