"Martyr"
- A person who makes a great sacrifice for an ideal,
for the sake of principle.
- A Cruel sadness. A constant physical or moral sufferer.
MARTYR's concept was officially created in 1994 by
François and Daniel Mongrain. In September 1995,
MARTYR released a promotional tape, OSTROGOTH.
In May 1997, MARTYR began the production of their debut
album, HOPELESS HOPES.
In September 1997, a highly motivated and very talented
drummer, Patrice Hamelin joined the band after François
Richard's departure.
In January 2002, Pier-Luc Lampron left Martyr. Not
so long after, Martin Carbonneau joined the band. In
the past, Martin happened to play with Patrice's debut
band.
MARTYR's first independant album project, HOPELESS
HOPES, include nine original songs. It was released
on November 1997. The album's concept is to serve as
a mirror of the human state of mind.
Since 1998, a lot of great things happened for MARTYR,
as the Milwaukee Metalfest XII and some opening acts
for CRYPTOPSY, OVERKILL, BRUTAL TRUTH, NAPALM DEATH,
OBLIVEON, BARF, KATAKLYSM, TODAY IS THE DAY, MACABRE,
INTERNAL BLEEDING, PUNCHDRUNK (Gene Hoglan's band)...
In November 1999, Martyr recorded the WARP ZONE album
at Victor Studio with producer Pierre Rémillard
(ANVIL, GORGUTS, CRYPTOPSY, OBLIVEON, QUO VADIS).
WARP ZONE was released in March 2000.
Features : Guest vocalist Luc Lemay from GORGUTS
Enhanced CD with extensive CD-ROM content.
The album's concept is an exploration within one's
life evolution, transitions, self-questionings and reflections.
In September 1999, Daniel Mongrain also joined GORGUTS.
He's performing on their new album entitled FROM WISDOM
TO HATE, which will be released on March 2001 (OLYMPIC
RECORDS).
In Summer 2001, Martyr recorded a live concert in Rouyn-Noranda
for the production of a live album.
The live album Extracting the Core was released in
September 2001 through Skyscraper Music. The cd presents
9 live songs from the two previous albums, and a multimedia
presentation where one can find plenty of video samples,
pictures, and audio samples taken from the previous
albums.
In Fall 2002, Sekhmet Records released Warp Zone -
Europe Edition.
CONCEPT
Themes like affliction, oppression, and agony had to be
conveyed by a single word. With this concept in mind,
the name "MARTYR" was unanimously decided upon.
MARTYR's intricate and aggressive Technical Metal style
is built on complex structures which allies a multitude
of emotions from many different musical approaches.
The music is not limited to the conventions of traditional
metal music, the band striving to push those limits
to create a more open-minded concept.
MARTYR's music are reflected through lyrics which express
emotions such as anguish, outrage, revolt and indignation
towards humanity, and the need to improve oneself within
this harsh environment. But all in all, the best way
to understand this is to listen to the music... and
let it drown into your soul.
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