Antestor
Martyrium

Review of “Martyrium” (1994) – Antestor

This album represents the first true full-length by the Norwegian band Antestor, active since 1990 in the Norwegian underground scene and with two demos behind them: The Defeat of Satan (1991) and Despair (1993). “Martyrium” was recorded in 1994 but was distributed exclusively through some self-produced copies, and in 1997, some bootlegs were published by Morphine Records, which probably discontinued the publication after only 50 copies due to poor audience reception. The album, now effectively a cult, managed to have a noteworthy release only in 2000, following the release of their second work, “The Return of the Black Death” (1998) by the record label EndTime Productions.

Undoubtedly, one factor affecting their lack of success, especially at the beginning, was the originality of their musical proposal, namely a very extreme Black Metal with strong Christian content, completely at odds with the Norwegian Black Metal of pioneering groups such as Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor (etc. etc.) all strongly characterized by lyrics filled with satanic content. It is well-known that Antestor, instead, with their purely Christian themes and steadfast faith in God, were not only deemed ridiculous in the eyes of the Norwegian public but also faced numerous threats from diehard fans of Norwegian Black Metal and from members of other bands belonging to the “Inner Circle.”

Martyrium can be defined, if not as the first example, perhaps the second (the first being probably “Hellig Husvart” by Horde) of Unblack Metal or Christian Black Metal in history.

On the thematic front, Martyrium, as already mentioned, stands out from all other genre publications for its strong spiritual Christian content. The album consists of 10 tracks in which the band takes the listener on a veritable inner cathartic journey.

The themes addressed include spiritual discomfort (“Spiritual disease”), the basest vices of modern society (“Materialistic lie”), the darkest moments of depression (“Depressed”), the most intimate fears from our repressed unconscious, the evil that resurfaces from the caves (“Inmost fear”), and even existential themes with considerable depth, like in “Under the sun” where they question the meaning of wisdom, given that this wisdom, with the awareness it brings, sheds light on so many horrible and fearsome things related to human existence, that it often proves to be a burden rather than a blessing; finally culminating with the last track “Mercy Lord”, where at the peak of their inner turmoil, exhausted, fearful, and filled with an underlying despair they cannot shake off—under the scrutinizing gaze of their guilt—they openly ask for mercy from God and pray to remain united with Him, justifying their lingering on malevolent desires with the assertion that, after all, it was God who placed the truth in the deepest darkness. And indeed, often to find the truth and achieve wisdom, one is compelled to face the darkest abysses.

They delegate their salvation and self-forgiveness to God's mercy, probably projecting onto Him, as every faithful Christian does, their ability to forgive themselves, rather than realizing they themselves are a part of God and that He forgives them only as they develop the ability to forgive themselves (but that is another story).

Moving on to review the purely musical aspect of the full-length, Martyrium presents itself as an extremely hard, granite, and obsessive album. It is characterized by predominantly Doom compositions with a Death aftertaste supported by cavernous growls that intersect with fast and pounding Black-centric early-stage rhythms, distorted guitars, and extensive use of tremolo-picking, the latter predominantly anchored by frequent genre scream vocals. Besides the purely Doom aspect, there are still evident influences from the more renowned Thrash Metal bands of the early 90s, as in many other extreme productions of that period.

Breaking the stylistic coordinates I just enumerated are keyboard interludes (including piano in Mercy Lord), some sporadic clean vocals, and additional female vocals by a certain Tora (perhaps they were pioneers of many more melodic-themed Black Metal bands on this front).

The production for the time it was printed is very good; one can adequately appreciate the entirety of the instrumental dynamics which meld well with the various genre influences contained within the songs. It isn't a polished production; it is a rough production by today's standards, but less unrefined than many other albums of its era.

The album is a pleasurable listen, nine tracks totaling 47 minutes, which for the genre isn't so small, yet manages not to tire the listener and thrusts them into the deepest and darkest recesses of sin and inner turmoil… Until glimpsing a glimmer of light maybe capable of transmuting into cathartic abreaction.

An essential album to have at all costs, a true cult for lovers of extreme sounds.

I recommend its purchase especially if, like me, you love extreme Metal but don't share its spiritual and religious foundations. Then yes, it becomes one of the few havens where you can continue to appreciate a certain type of sound and expressive power.