Heartbreaking oppressive melancholy and destroying despair catches and draws into worlds that can be entered only by the listener. A sacral choir preludes Inflame Thy Heart that already shows everything in matter of epic sadness that makes you wanting to fall into it and sink in perpetuity.
The sophomore Martyre of Danish dark metallers SATURNUS is a grandiose piece of mesmerizing, melancholy-draped melodies, stirring solos and great guitar work. Stylistically one might get old Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Katatonia in mind. Songs such as Empty Handed and Lost My Way add necessary variety and heaviness almost sound cheerful compared, while other ones like Thou Art Free are pure acoustic songs. But at the end the deeply sad songs like Noir and Thus My Heart Weepeth For Thee are the ones that make Martyre to something special.
Singer Thomas AG Jensen speaks, whispers, narrates, sings clean and growls. But for my taste clean parts are cut a little too short. Another thing I’d like to nag about a little is the long playing time (more than an hour) of this record that acts a bit lengthy at the end. But I actually couldn’t choose one or two tracks to let out. All 12 of them build up a homogeneous entity. Keyboards and sample create dense but unobtrusive soundpictures, increasing Martyre to an epic opus. This album is a must-have for all dark metal fellows!