Victimized

Marthe’s intoxicating blend of Bathoryisms and loose psychedelia only intensifies on this single released earlier this year. ‘Victimized’ picks up exactly where the ‘Sisters of Darkness’ EP left off, marrying foot stomping heavy metal with Viking intensity, soaring guitar leads rich in bracing spirituality yet minimal in melodic content, and a stirring blend of distorted and clean vocals, matching Quorthon for sheer dramatic commitment and easily outdoing him for…well, being in tune frankly.

There is something eminently refreshing about how Marthe blends her influences from the primitive yet melodic end of early Nordic black metal, to classic heavy metal, and elements of a more blues orientated lineage. The presentation and execution are austere yet efficient, no moment is wasted, each second fraught with tension or release. It combines motivational anthemic qualities with elements of real bite and aggression, a simplicity of delivery that sees emotive and thematic depth supervene atop its modest foundations.

All this amounts to what critics would call sincerity or authenticity. Hard as these qualities are to pin down – finding their definitions more often through their antithesis – it is clear that Marthe is one of the few projects currently working through its germinal phase that can lay claim to these descriptors with little fanfare or supplementary justification needed besides the sheer joy taken from the music itself.

Originally published at Hate Meditations