Martyr can be considered as one of those cult Dutch acts. You know back in the day not a lot of people cared about them but years later they’re quite hot in some circles. Anyway Rusty cage did a fine release with a new EP, “Fear”, as well as a reissue of “For The Universe”, both coming in a nice digipack. André got in touch to get to know the latest about Martyr.
Well, hello guys how are you?
Hi, we’re fine, thanx!!
You surprised me with the release of the new EP “Fear”. What was the motive to release this EP with those new songs?
It started as a bonus for the rereleases of our 85 classic cult metal album “For The Universe”. But after writing and recording the first songs for “Fear” we and Rusty Cage Records (RCR) soon found out that it had to be something more than just a bonus. So now it is a new record, a new EP with “FTU” as a bonus album along with it on a double digipack. And what’s best: the price is the same as for just one album haha!!
You rereleased “Fear The Universe” not that long ago on a German label if I`m correct. So what`s the reason to do this once more?
RCR wanted to release “For The Universe” as well back in 2004. But we just released it with High Vaultage / Metal For Muthas. So we said: “sorry, but no” at that time. A few years later RCR asked again, `cause they have the Dutch Cult Classic series as well on their label. So we said: “Ok, but it has to be different than the High Vaultage release”. That’s why there are 5 brand new MARTYR songs on “Fear The Universe” as well. So it is a double album with "Fear" and "For The Universe" together called "Fear The Universe". Still get it?
In reviews you can read that people ask for a full length album. Have you ever thought of releasing a full length in stead of an EP? Or was it just a teaser to feel how people would react on the new music?
Well you can say it has become a bit of a teaser, that’s true. We did not know how it would develop when we started writing new material after all these years. Bu tit felt really great. I can tell you that after the CD release party on the 20 Feb we immediately started to write new material. Hopefully this will be released on a full length new album somewhere 2010. I can’t predict anything about that yet, you know ‘cause we just have “Fear” out about only 3 weeks now!
When I listen to “Fear The Universe” and after that to “Fear”, I still hear some base elements in the later music. While writing the music for “Fear”, were there any doubts in which way to go? I mean, to choose between the old school sound and more modern influences? Or is it just a natural development?
It is a choice we made. “Fear” had to be traditionally based, because our roots are based in the 80’s, and in 80’s metal! But of course some new influences we picked up along the years we wanted to mix that all together with a more modern style. So still very heavy, with groovy guitar riffs and a mature sound. Also it had to have elements the old fans of MARTYR could recognize but attract new fans, who never heard of MARTYR before, as well! So I guess you can call it: classic metal with a modern twist.
What can you tell me about the songwriting of the album? It sounds very energetic and enthusiastic, like it is teamwork. Is this correct?
All the songs of “Fear” are teamwork, that’s correct. We mainly write by jamming at rehearsals. And everybody brings along ideas. We then recorded the new songs in many smaller parts. The process, from start to finish, writing, recording, writing, recording etc. took about 6 months all together. But the recordings itself did not take as long as that. Many parts were recorded in just one session. And I guess that’s why it sounds energetic and spontaneous as well!
I saw you in 2001 at the Heavy Metal Maniacs festival. Was that the second life of Martyr?
No, The HMM fest was mentioned to be a one time reunion. It was a great reunion and a blast for us to play there. We still play a lot for the HMManiacs. They are the best fans around!! But it was the Keep It True IV festival that brought MARTYR back to life really. That festival was so amazing, and the reactions of those true metal fans, from all over, during and afterwards KIT were so overwhelming that MARTYR wanted to keep that feeling. The same feeling we had back in the 80’s.
How do you look back at the early days? You were called one of the most promising Dutch metal bands and you even ended up on `Metal Massacre`.
Our intention, from the very beginning was to sound different then the other Dutch bands that were around. We did not wanted to have the ‘boerenkool’ (means Dutch traditional food) rock sound as many of them did, but wanted to sound more international with a difference in techniques. A different sound, heavier, more alternate and strike out!! After we released our demo “Metal Torture” it really started for MARTYR. It sold over 1000 copies worldwide and MARTYR became a very big success in the underground scene. One of the songs ‘Snow And Fire’ was also on a cassette called: “When The Hammer Falls Down” with other Dutch bands and was recognized as best song and MARTYR as best new up ‘n’ coming Dutch HM band. So Roadrunner did notice us and asked us to record 2 songs for the Dutch Steel compilation. We did. We recorded ‘Snow And Fire’ as well as our classic ‘Speed Of Samurai’. The last one did not appear on the album. I don’t know why, it is a classic. Boudisque (famous record store Amsterdam) noticed that we sold that many of our demos and wanted us to release the “FTU” album on their Megaton Records. So we did. We got in touch with Brian Slagel of Metal Blade as well and he asked us to write a song for the Metal Massacre VI album. We contributed ‘En Masse’ which was quite remarkable. Because it is the only not speed metal track on the MMVI release. In 1986 we also released the “Darkness At Time’s Edge” album (DATE).
Although there are still people looking for your music now, I have the feeling that some things didn`t work out as you probably expected.
True. The “DATE” album was a great step forwards compared to “FTU”. It was a more mature MARTYR and recorded to develop MARTYR’s popularity on a much larger scale. It did, but unfortunately the record company Metalloid Records lacked good promotion and distribution channels worldwide. It certainly was not due to the music, I know that for sure. Nowadays we still get great response on the “DATE” album!!
If you can do this period over again, what would you change? What I certainly regret are 2 things. We had to conquer Germany, because it is a big market for metal (it still is) so we could bring the “DATE” album and the band MARTYR to a far higher lever of popularity. The music was certainly outstanding enough to be much more successful those days. Second is: I will never listen again to major record companies when they ask to write music that is not in my heart. After “DATE” we were asked by Polydor to write more commercial songs, even a hit single, but no way could we do that. We made some demos for them, they were good, but it brought the band the famous musical differences. It did not work out!! Polydor Holland then signed Yngwie Malmsteen instead and MARTYR split.
Do you have some expectations with “Fear”? The world of metal has changed a lot and it seems that true heavy metal is not that popular anymore in Holland as it was in the past. A country like Germany however is the opposite. Is this a country you will focus on?
Yes, but not only Germany. We have very good reactions by the way in Holland as well. But from all over the world we get good response. Everywhere there are still MARTYR fans that remember us from the past. And what makes it even better, we notice, also at our live shows, that there are more and more new fans as well!! And that is really great. It is a restart for MARTYR!!
Unfortunately I couldn`t go to the CD presentation. How was it? Can we expect some more gigs in the near future?
It was a real party. The venue was packed, and we met a lot of friends and fans there. Like I said new and old fans. Of course at ‘Speed Of Samurai’ our fans again entered the stage to bang along with MARTYR. At this moment we have announced some more shows. In August we will do a new European tour. Check out our website www.martyronline.nl or www.myspace.com/martyronline for the latest news on MARTYR performances.
By the way, how did you end up on tour with Lizzy Borden? That must have been very nice isn`t it? Have you experienced some nice or funny stories that you would like to share?
The Lizzy tour was a blast. 5700 km in 2 weeks, doing 10 shows with them. They are GREAT guys and we had lots of fun with them. They gave us everything we needed to do a great show. And we did have great shows. I honestly can say that we were a good support act for the Lizzy guys because, though not all the Lizzy fans had heard about MARTYR before, we got terrific response everywhere. So the fans were indeed warmed up when Lizzy hit the stage. A great band as well, good musicians, and good metal music! I must say I liked their horror show a lot, and almost every evening I enjoyed watching it (for some parts) amongst the crowd. We came up with Lizzy because of our booking agency bajvan (www.bajvan-agency.nl). Our agency works closely with RCR. On this tour we were very close with the Lizzy guys. After our show in Poland when we got back to the hotel Chris Sanders (guitars) decided to drink with us in my room. We had of course Polish Vodka and whiskey. But at 05.00 Lizzy had to leave for the airport to do a show in Spain. So we hit the sack and Lizzy left. But Chris was so fucking drunk he puked in the bus all over Lizzy’s outfit. Lizzy was pissed off of course. And the smell was not easy to get rid off. So when we got back together again to continue the tour Lizzy made sure Chris did not longer hanging out with us that much hahaha.
Well, that`s it. Any final words?
Yes, I hope all of you will like the old, as well as the new, release on “Fear The Universe”. And we hope to meet every Quintessence reader somewhere, somehow, on the road this year!!Rock On!! Thanx for the opportunity to do this interview André!
Thanks a lot. Andre Groeneveld