Hopeless Hopes reviews

English & French

Quand on regarde tout ce qui s'est fait dans l'ère métale des années 85-95, on trouve seulement une dizaine de groupes qui ont su se détacher du troupeau, qui à un moment donné se sont dit "nous on va par là, pis mangez toute d'la m....". Bien on en a aussi quelques-uns comme ça au Québec. [...].

Martyr en est un de ceux-là.

Hopeless Hopes, sorti en 1997, nous donne un métal solide et serré, avec énormément de mélodie dans les notes. Bordant les Sépultura, Slayer, DBC et parfois Merciful Fate, Hopeless Hopes est garanti de faire bander les fervants de ce style pratiquement disparu au mains du death pur et dur.

Des solos à la King et Mustaine, des riffs recherchés, du contenu original sont les points de mire de cet album qui démontre un talent véritable pour la musique, sans compter une aptitude mathématique au dessus de la moyenne.

C'est un groupe où le professionalisme règne. Et ça paraît dans leur présentation, dans la production et l'étalement des chansons sur l'album. Bref, c'est un plat des ligues majeures à se mettre absolument sous la dent.

C'est un album qui est distribué indépendamment (comme c'est souvent le cas) et qui est disponible au Magasin de Club-Culture.

Club Culture - Jean-Francois Boivin

Technical death ensemble. Very upbeat and pissed, I find the rhythms catchy and vocals gutteral. I hope to hear more from these guys in the future.

DA' CORE #15 ( summer 98 ) - Dave Zimmerman - 4/5

This is technical death metal of massive proportions. Being the technical death antagonist that I am, I was surprised this was so enjoyable. Just goes to show why Canadian death metal rules. There’s a lot of melody thrown into this twisting mass of technicality and I suppose that could be what makes it more palatable. There are also quite a few thrashy parts in Martyr’s music, too. This rules, so all you technical death fans, get in touch with this band!

Eternal Frost Webzine - Goden

Tout droit venu d'outre-atlantique et plus précisément du Québec : ce quatuor fera sans aucun doute parler de lui dans le milieu underground par ce CD neuf titres qui laisse s'exprimer un death metal très technique, à la manière d'un DEATH, mais avec des éléments parfois thrash... MARTYR ne s'entérine pas dans des structures trop pesantes à l'oreille et permet à l'auditeur de pouvoir respirer et apprécier cette déflagration technique. Lénergie générée est inépuisable avec de multiples breaks : passeport vers un voyage torturé mais toujours rigoureux dans une cavalcade de nifs et de solos séduisants.

Metallion #14 - Fabrice CASSARO - France

Cet album pour moi est un chef d'oeuvre! Les riffs sont puissants, variés et très techniques. La musique est extrêmement travaillée contrairement à d'autres groupes du genre. Ils ne se contentent pas de faire des power chords et des riffs répétés mais plutôt un espèce de long solo intensif. Ceux-ci sont d'une complexité inégalée. Le plus intéressant c'est que ça buche même si c'est très technique. La qualité du son est excellente pour un album indépendant et les arrangements sont bien faits. On entend clairement tous les instruments et les passes qu'ils font sont vraiment bonnes. Pour ce qui est du chanteur, ceux qui aiment le monde qui gueulent et qui grognent, c'est pour vous.

L'Edition Métallique - Mathieu Gervais - 9.5/10

This is the first Canadian band that we've gotten to review so far, it seems funny because we get cd's from all over the world but this is the first one that's been Canadian. What is this saying about the metal scene in Canada? Anyway needless to say I was very excited about getting this cd, many thanks go out to Martyr for being the only Canadian band to support a Canadian metal site so far. This death/thrash band from Quebec is just fucking great! This band plays very well together musically and they have some deadly hard core sounding vocals. The guitars on this album are also amazing, the album kinda reminds me of Death, especially their song structures. Lyrically Martyr is awesome, their songs are intense and deep at the same time. The two songs that I liked the most were "Prototype" and "Nipsky" which I thought were the two most brutal songs in the album. The bands logo is also pretty cool, not quite the same as some other death metal logos. This album also has some excellant sound quality, very clear. I hear that Martyr will be releasing a new album in 2000 so be on the look out for it, I hope to be reviewing it also.

METALPUS WEB ZINE - Tracy Lex

Calling all technical metal freaks! Here's a band I'm sure most of you have never heard of: Martyr! I realize this album came out quite a while ago, but I finally got my hands on it. This CD is very hard to come by, and because Martyr's music is rather outstanding, I think they deserve some attention!

Martyr is a technical death-thrash band from Quebec, Canada who play some very intelligent, complex, and aggressive metal. Their debut album Hopeless Hopes has nine songs, each containing plenty of tempo changes, melodic guitar leads, and dual harmonies. Guitarists Daniel Mongrain and Pier-Luc Lampron present a tight and vicious guitar tandem. They inject loads of variation and subtleties in their riffs, and move from blistering speed attacks to mid-paced standard crunching effectively, giving the album its great dynamics. And both guitarists contribute some damn fine uplifting and melodic leads. Although I must say that in "Prototype", at the 1:16 mark, the guitar harmony is a blatant rip off! I can't quite place my finger on who originally did it, but I know I've heard it before! Bassist Francois Mongrain does well to make himself heard on this album. And rightly so, because the guy can shred! Most of the time he follows behind the guitarists, but oftentimes he thrusts forth some licks that just make your mouth foam! And due to the album's superior production, his bass comes across nice and clear. And I've always thought it was cool when you can hear the bassist's fingers move across the frets, making that slight scraping sound. Drummer Francois Richard is pretty rock solid also, keeping perfect time with the other members. It would be nice to hear someone like Sean Reinhert (ex-Cynic) behind the kit, but Francois injects enough variation in his playing to keep things interesting. Handling vocal duties on the album are both guitarist Daniel and bassist Francois. Upon my first couple listens to this album, I was a little disappointed with the vocals, because they aren't too different from what I've already heard. But the music is just too damn enticing, and after repeated listens, the vocals don't really bother me anymore. Daniel and Francois sound similar to each other, both opting for a lower death-like growl most of the time. Sometimes, however, they vary their voices, either going higher or lower to give more variety, which helps. And cheers to Miguel Sanchez and the band for an astonishing production job! With music this complex, it really helps to hear every instrument clearly, and with good balance.

It is obvious these guys have been influenced by other earlier technical death and thrash bands. The material on this album reminds me mostly of latter day Death, but also Atheist and Pathogenic-era Tourniquet. They seem to love metal, and have put in lots of hard work to produce an album that will stand out amongst others in the ever-increasing metallic realm. Do yourselves a favor and check this out while you can! Being an independent release, it is very hard to find. So far the only place I've seen it listed is Relapse Records. I tried ordering it several times from them, and after a few months, they finally had it back in stock.

Metal-Rules - Nathan Robinson - 4.25/5

Again and again, repeated like a broken record, French Canada's carries the metal burden for the rest of our vast country. Here's another living proof. Hopeless Hopes might be the band's first CD, and a demo disc it might be, but the results show case a mature band ready for an international presence. Martyr, possessing both an acute sense of direction and quality musicianship (not to mention the looks and packaging required to succeed in the scene), swim the waters frequented by Death, early Cynic and to a lesser extent Obliveon. The results are no weak excuse for metal either. In fact, it's all quite heavy. While the dual vocal approach has taken a few lessons from Chuck Schuldiner's school of vocals, the tight musicianship - especially the timed drum beats and the proficient guitar acrobatics - leave little doubt that Martyr is not a band to be dismissed easily. The band execute their music well, although it could lean a little less on Death. They do stray occasionally, like on Non Conformis with its more hardcore approach or on Inner Peace where the technicality is closer to what you'd expect from Obliveon. But over all, Martyr is a good bet for your metal ears.

THE UNDERGROUND REVIEW #19

Wow now this is the shit!Excellent professional packaging, sound and musicianship. Allthough this band is not your typical guttural vocals, chugging riffs kinda thing, they have acheived a unsurpassable technicality and overall tightness along the likes of DEATH, CYNIC, OBLIVEON and more.Amazingly accurate harmonized runs and fills with equal competence on the drummer's part have created this non stop masterpiece of Death/Thrash mayhem. This cd is a must for the death metal fan who likes to hear and feel the effort put into the writting of metal. They might not be the most brutal thing in the world but they can ultimately put your in your place and kick you in your face when it comes down to song writing. I have also had the chance to see this band live which in my opinion shows their cd no justice. They unleashed an all out free for all assault on my brain. Definatly a purchase you won't regret.

Vile Intent/Production - Shawn Carrier - Canada, Ontario

Imaginé en 1991 par ses fondateurs François et Daniel Mongrain, le concept de Martyr a depuis ce temps fait un bon bout de chemin pour aboutir à ce qu'il est aujourd'hui. Après "Ostrogoth" (1995) et "Hopeless Hopes" (1997), le groupe lance à présent son tout dernier disque qui s'intitule "Warp Zone", un chef-d'oeuvre en son genre. Les prouesse techniques que ces virtuoses accomplissent mettent en déroute l'imaginaire du possible. Un death métal technique progressif qui génère un état second d'écoute active. l'esprit créatif et novateur de ces musiciens transcende manifestement la moyenne, et de loin, de très loin même. Ils transposent en musique un tout auditif de qualité rarement perceptible et c'est la raison pour laquelle on se doit d'en profiter à fond la caisse. Le volume à fond, préférablemen. Le mélange ahurissant de leur savoir-faire, de leur adresse et de leur habileté musicale rend tous les morceaux de cet album retentissants et mémorables; ce qui les place sans contredit parmi l'élite de haut niveau, sur le dessus du panier comme on dit. Prééminent.

Kérozen - Fritz

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