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The brainchild of Joey Jordison – you may be familiar with his other work – Scar The Martyr arrive fully formed and hellbent on allaying fears that this is just another extracurricular distraction for the stick-wielding metal polymath.
They achieve their goals almost immediately: opening track Blood Host is a wonderfully idiosyncratic collision between streamlined sludge and off-kilter melodic menace. The clincher is that in vocalist Henry Derek, Scar The Martyr have a secret weapon that could easily propel this band to bona fide commercial glory.
At times reminiscent of Mike Patton in his Angel Dust pomp (most notably on the instantly hypnotic Soul Disintegration), at others entirely unique and dazzling in his versatility, the frontman’s performance adds a glow of troubled humanity to an already intoxicating, cross-pollinated brew.
This is a supreme team effort, however: from Jed Simon and Kris Norris’s consistently gripping lead breaks to NIN alumnus Chris Vrenna’s inspired electronic embellishments, Scar The Martyr represents the harmonious coalescing of some of our world’s most talented folk around songs that ooze substance, spark and future promise.
