Thorns

Tony Martin was unlucky to be the frontman of one of the top bands in the world. Moreover, unlucky to become one of its three main vocalists, who, as a rule, are compared with each other and by whom people judge the group as a whole. It's about Black Sabbath, if anyone doesn't know. Tony Martin turned out to be as much as the tenth vocalist, but only the fourth frontman, since most of these ten were studio substitutes and trial versions. And at concerts, only Ozzy, Dio, Ian Gillan are remembered, and Tony Martin, whose activity in the band was the second longest after Ozzy. And now, no matter what Martin does, he is doomed to eternal comparisons with Black Sabbath.

But this is a strategic mistake. Tony's solo work is not so well known, it is not so widely promoted. Although it follows a parallel heavy metal course, but it almost does not overlap with the music that Tony did as part of Black Sabbath. Almost. Sometimes something similar flashes, but it's more about the sinister motifs in the arrangements, the effect of gloom in the combination of chords. However, to a greater extent, Martin makes a different form of heavy metal, weaving progressive elements into his music, actively using keyboards, and sometimes the violin, which Tony plays very well. All this can be heard in his new album 'Thorns'.

The album was released back in January, and it didn't become a big event. Probably, this music is too serious. Tony tried to dig too deep. The attempt was successful, 'Thorns' really turned out to be a large-scale, multilateral work. But it's not popsy mainstream at all. Music with interesting finds — for example, a quote from Chopin's 'Funeral March' in 'Passion Killer' sounded funny, the violin entered perfectly, and in those fragments where the keys solo, the sounds of the instruments are selected so filigreed that these moments beg to be called the best ones in the album. Well, ones of the best for sure.

The most unexpected track is 'This Is Your Damnation'. It's acoustic blues, but it sounds like some bluesman decided to play heavy metal on his old acoustic guitar. Such things always raise questions — Ozzy has the same moment in his 'Patient Number 9', for example — and it can't be said that it harmoniously entered the album. But as an experiment, it showed that Tony is very good at doing acoustic numbers. It's also a kind of art.

'Thorns' is unlikely to be a contender for the release of the year, because Tony Martin's name does not shine so bright as to objectively compete with the mastodons of the first echelon. But everyone who understand, understand everything. You don't need to be a master of the highest class to create a masterpiece. You don't need to be a chart leader to create one of the most impressive albums of the year. It is unlikely that the first point is applied to Tony and 'Thorns', but the second one is quite.

Tony Martin definitely has kept his powder dry and is still on top of his game.The album starts with one high-pitched, fast-picked note in the guitar and some strong tom and bass drum hits: a declaration of war. This simple but effective balls to the wall intro is followed by a doomy riff with a double bass drum powered powermetalish beat. I wouldn’t say that second riff is directly a rip-off from Iommi’s work but Black Sabbath’s influence is there, as it naturally occurs on any traditional heavy metal band with mid-paced riffing. I am not familiarized with the other couple of albums he has released, but he used a complete band for “Thorns” and the quality of every instrumentist makes the whole album easy to hear and enjoy.

The first couple of songs have that early 90’s Sabbath vibe but the album in general isn’t that formulaic in terms of composition. Track no. 3, “Book of Shadows”, reminds me a lot of Bruce Dickinson’s solo work. Chilling gregorian chants and clean guitar arpeggios make a perfect mattress for Tony’s voice to scream his lungs out, reaching really high notes and playing with a very extended range. There’s a keyboard solo at the end of the song that I really dig. The rest of the album features a couple of power ballads with acoustic guitars too, but overall he sticks to the heavy doom metal riffing formula with some progressive twists like the keyboard undertones.

That classic hard-rocking vibe, done with modern production techniques by the generation that started it all is so pleasant to hear. That guitar hero soloing is not so common on modern guitarists and the same can be told about Tony’s educated and powerful vocals. The bassist uses a nice metallic tone, slightly distorted and probably using a pick, he perfectly understands his role as a company for the guitars but plays some witty lines apart from them here and there. The drummer is a fucking beast by traditional heavy metal standards, even if the songs aren’t that fast he dominates the double bass drum techinique and his cymbal work is methodic but extremely elegant at the same time. Even if it’s kind of early to call, I think this record is a strong contender for the album of the year title. At least on it’s genre it would be one of the best, that’s for sure.

Tony Martin has been kind of a cult figure for fans of melodic metal and rock for decades now, mostly based on his tenure in Black Sabbath. This new solo album Thorns doesn’t shy away from that – in fact it really just leans into exactly what you’d want as a fan of albums like Headless Cross. I am one of those people, and as Martin’s sleek, silky vocal tones are as intact as if he’d spent 30 years in a cryo-chamber, I can dig this.

The album rocks out with a heavy guitar tone reminiscent of early 90s Sabbath – a big bottom-end and a lot of doomy, oppressive riffs, though things don’t stay at a snail’s pace. One of the interesting things about this is that it has a kind of rock and roll vibe at times – just in the way these songs groove on with Martin’s classic-style vocals over-top and in the odd flourishes of melodious guitar solos, keys, even a violin at one point. Two of the songs eschew the crushing metal attack entirely – on the stellar bluesy romp “Crying Wolf” and the folk song “This Is Your Damnation” he goes for more of an Americana vibe that I really quite like.

Otherwise it’s all pedal to the metal. He opens up strong with “As The World Burns,” which shows off the more modern side of the album with chugging riffs and an aggressive, fiery performance. “Book Of Shadows” is the most like old Sabbath maybe, with an Iommi-esque acoustic intro and ominous build-ups with an epic vibe overall, though “Nowhere To Fly” is the most pure doom moment and probably could’ve come off of Cross Purposes back in the day. Other tracks like “Black Widow Angel” and “No Shame At All,” along with the brilliantly melodic “Damned By You,” just rock the fuck out.

If there’s an issue with this, it actually comes down to Martin’s vocal lines – it really seems like a bunch of these songs have the exact same chorus melodies, a sort of slower, epic lurching cadence to the lines as he just belts out the song titles. Not every song, but too many of them seem to lean back on the same style of chorus melody. Could’ve used a bit more variation in that aspect, especially as the music can be so dynamic.

Overall I still haven’t quit playing it, though. Martin’s ear for hooks is intact and he sounds fantastic. I like the musical variety on display. If you’re into classic metal and especially if you like his work with Sabbath, you can pretty easily blind buy this one.

It took 17 long years for Tony Martin to release his follow-up solo album to Scream. I have to say that I was pretty surprised to read that he did release Thorns because (at least for me) it came out of nowhere. Besides Tony members of the band are Greg Smith (ex-Alice Cooper, ex-Rainbow) on the bass, Magnus Rosen (Hammerfall) also playing bass, Danny Needham (Venom) on drums and Scott McClellan - guitars. Quite a bunch of high-quality musicians, I would say. So, what do they deliver for us on Thorns?

First of all, I would state that the spirit of Black Sabbath is always a little bit up in the air while you are listening to this release. I mean, of course this is no wonder because probably most of you know that Tony Martin released some great albums with Black Sabbath. What I also have to say is that he hasn't lost any of his power in his voice after all these years. He still sounds as powerful as he was like in the late 80s / early 90s and he's 64 years old. Chapeau!!

Thorns starts with a nice stomper called 'As The World Burns'. Mostly mid-paced tempo riffing and drums, stunning breaks and a great range of Tony's vocals make this track a great opener for the album. 'Black Widow Angel' could have been easily written by Black Sabbath too. Doomy, creeping guitars combined with galloping drums which sound very powerful. The bass part in the middle of the track is quite nice especially and underlines the dark atmosphere of the song. The album is really very varied and combines doomy pieces with much more epic tracks.

Nevertheless, there are few little bit weaker tracks on the album, too. 'Passion Killer' is one of the songs I don't like too much. I guess it's more modern metal feeling that this song spreads but it is not much my cup of tea. 'This Is Your Damnation' is an acoustic track which is quite irritating too. Not bad but not quite what I expected on this album. But all in all, the sum of the great tracks prevails on Thorns. 'Book Of Shadows' is one of my absolute favorites here. It starts with a choral singing and turns into a real killer of a melodic and epic track where also string instruments are used. It spreads a very majestic atmosphere and one can notice that Tony has lost none of his vocal skills in all these years. Here again you can feel the spirit of good old Sabbath – "The Eternal Idol" or "Headless Cross" come to my mind again. 'No Shame' is another Black Sabbath-like track. Just listen to the guitar riffs. What makes it unique though is Tony's very melodic vocal line so you cannot really say it's a sheer Black Sabbath rip-off. 'Crying Wolf' is another track worth mentioning because it has a very interesting melody. It starts quite unspectacular but turns into a nice track that spreads some warm and relaxing Mediterranean atmosphere through those Flamenco-like melodies.

If you want to listen to a really good metal album (difficult to classify it more in my opinion, not really doom, not really heavy metal…) you must check out Thorns. If you like the Tony Martin solo albums and his releases with Black Sabbath (okay, forget “Forbidden” please!) this is quite essential for you too. I think it is a very strong comeback album and I hope that it will not be that last one by Tony Martin.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Crying Wolves

Originally written for metalbite.com

It could be said that behind every iconic metal front man is a correspondingly elite flock of musicians, and the career of Birmingham born vocalist Tony Martin’s career since the 1980s bears this out at every point. Though his tenure with Black Sabbath in the late 80s and mid 90s has birthed some of his best known moments, one would be remiss to downplay the work carrying his instantly recognizable tenor via such noted bands as Empire, The Cage and even an auspicious live stint with Swedish epic doom metal pioneers Candlemass back in 2004. His various guest appearances have been no less noteworthy, particularly with that of Arjen Lucassen’s Star One and Magnus Karlsson’s Free Fall. Yet with so many virtuoso instrumentalists already under his proverbial belt, Mr. Anthony Philip Harford apparently still has some surprises up his sleeve, as underscored by the dark and heavy juggernaut of a solo offering he has now brought forth in Thorns.

In many respects, this album recalls the bleaker days of Martin’s tenure with Sabbath in the mid-90s, specifically the harrowing 1994 installment Cross Purposes. The lion’s share of the individual songs that round out this dank, twisted sonic portfolio tilt heavily towards the doom aesthetic, though guitarist and co-songwriter Scott McClellan’s background with noted Pantera tribute band Cemetery Gatez and a number of southern metal outfits tempers this slow and dreary approach with a sludgy, yet impactful character that gives things a notably modern touch. Indeed, this de facto super-group lineup that adorns this latest solo venture brings a fair bit of virtuosic and extreme metal credentials to the table to boot between the mad technical bottom end work of ex-Hammerfall bassist Magnus Rosen and the thudding assault of Venom kit man Danny Needham. Combined with some additional bass input by ex-Rainbow and ex-Blue Oyster Cult member Greg Smith, the musical results are nothing if not highly versatile.

Being the first solo outing from Martin since the notably heavy 2005 LP Scream, Thorns proves to be a jolting detour into merciless aggression for anyone with a familiarity with his past work. The opening auditory melee “As The World Burns” kicks things off with a veritable iron fist to the gut, starting on a pounding two chord drone that sounds eerily similar tonally to the intro to classic Black Sabbath anthem “When Death Calls” and then launching into an up tempo, riffs galore festival of sludgy thrash that could rival the faster offerings on The Great Southern Trendkill. It doesn’t find an equal in the intensity department to any of the ten songs that follow, though the speed metal-tinged crusher “Run Like The Devil” comes pretty close. The resulting contrast between the bottom-heavy instrumental presentation and Martin’s largely clean and soaring vocals that have lost none of their power at the age of 62 is pretty stark, yet these two opposing extremes work together effortlessly to create a highly unique and nuanced take on the modern heavy metal aesthetic.

True to Martin’s heavy/doom roots, most of the music found on here takes things at either a slow or more measured and moderated pace, but is no less forbidding than the two aforementioned high-impact fair. Taking things in a chugging, mid-paced traditional doom direction is the rocking crusher “No Shame”, while the somber balladry turned bleak blares of “Nowhere To Fly” recall similarly styled anthems like “Cross Of Thorns” and “I Won’t Cry For You” from the Sabbath days. Yet the real charms of this album are revealed when the traditionally metallic character of this album is augmented with some unconventional additives, such as a wild slap bass solo section courtesy of Rosen on the otherwise pummeling and dark metallic slough “Black Widow Angel”, the church-like wall of choral voices and keyboards that adorn “Book Of Shadows” and a melancholy violin solo adorning the punchy riff monster “Damned By You”.

In the grand scheme of Tony Martin’s highly accomplished and prolific career, this stands as one of the most unique offerings to carry his name, and definitely among the strongest notches in his expansive belt. Things maybe wander a little too far off the map with a couple of bluesy acoustic numbers in “Crying Wolf” and “This Is Your Damnation”, which are competently realized but maybe a tad out of place stylistically speaking, but overall this highly varied beast proves a cohesive one in the end. The songwriting partnership between Martin and McClellan is almost as compelling as the former’s was with Tony Iommi, and in some ways even a tad more eclectic, and hopefully if another installment of this duo is to come to light, it will manifest itself in a span of less than 17 years. Existing fans of this highly underrated master of the metal microphone will not be disappointed, and there is a far broader appeal to those in doom and groove metal circles to be found in this black sonic gem.

Originally written for Sonic Perspectives (www.sonicperspectives.com)