Not for the light-hearted

There are not too many Maltese bands who play underground and black metal. One of these is Martyrium, and they have been around since 1998. Following various changes in their line-up they settled in 2001.

Jason Mifsud is their drummer, and Kurt Dimech vocalist. David Pulis plays the keyboard and Malcolm Mallia is on bass. Mark Azzopardi and Pjancia are there two guitarists. Some of their songs have a female vocalist - Lisa Micallef Grimaud.

Their first album, Withering in Voluptuous Embrace is to be launched at Remedy, Paceville, on Friday. Speaking to The Sunday Times, they said that the album was profesionally recorded at Temple Studios, Mistra, in November 2001 and contains eight tracks which include The Hatred Cornucopia, The Ebon River Princess, Tears from the Demented Heart and Promises, the latter featuring vocals by Ira Losco and Marvic Lewis. The cd is 56 minutes long.

So far Martyrium have played about four live concerts, and always received very positive feedback.

The lyrics are mainly by Kurt, but Mark occasionally gives a helping hand. However all the band members contribute to the final product. Their influences are varied - grind metal, trash, progressive rock and commercial - and their songs are very personal.

In fact having so many personal influences and experiences contributing to their music, makes their style change drastically, and not just from song to song. With songs around seven minutes long, they get to exploit the twist in style to the fullest.

They switch with ease from fast, powerful music to a more mellow style, but never at the expense of melody, this especially in the keyboard and the female vocals.

They are also keen on atmospheric pieces, highly reminiscent of horror films, and also include some of the classic in their style.

There is a very dark atmosphere to their music, but they try to be as original as possible.

Despite their full-time jobs, they are all very dedicated to the band and have more material available.

The CD is only available through the band members, and they can be contacted by phone (9980-4602) or by e-mail: kurtd@euroweb.net.mt, shalom@maltanet.net, zlayer@maltanet.net or pjancia@maltanet.net.