Thrash/punk crossover pioneers Martyr release a collection of mostly demo tracks from their short history in the mid-80s as well as a couple unreleased tracks from the mid-90s, giving the community a glimpse into the state of music at the time.

Martyr came onto the California scene in the mid-80s with their first demo, Fall on Your Face, being released in April 1986 and still available on their bandcamp site.  Following this, the 9-track demo Death is Dead was released the following year as the band began playing shows and gaining notoriety in the scene sharing the stage with other notable bands of the era like the Crucified.  Success of the early demos led to a cassette only demo Imminent Warfare in 1988 and another demo a year later.  Around this time the band was even noticed in the mainstream metal community and included in reviews by the magazine Kerrang.  Sadly, life got in the way and the band did not really continue past those demos although the band Betrayal was formed from the remnants of Martyr.  In 1993, a compilation album, Wickenstraut was released containing all the demo tracks plus a few new ones.  Martyr was quiet from then until 2001 when they put out The Passing of Time with the band Betrayal which featured 7 tracks from Martyr and 3 from Betrayal.  The included tracks that were taken from the Frantic and Imminent Warfare demos. Fast forward to 2025 and Martry has released 10 tracks covering their releases along with some unreleased tracks all of which have been newly remastered by Rob Colwell of Bombworks Sound.  The tracks were sourced from the original demos or CD pressings as all the masters have long since disappeared.

This album certainly took me back in time, not only the music but also the recording quality as many of the tracks certainly have the quality one would expect from mid-80’s demo tracks that may have even been cassette only releases like the opening track “Imminent Warfare”.  That being said, much credit to Rob Colwell as they are rough compared to the ultra-clean productions we usually hear, but the roughness gives that vintage quality to the songs and ultimately is what one would want. “Imminent Warfare” sets the stage perfectly for the rest of the album. Slow foreboding intro that explodes into an insanely fast riff and driving drums that you would expect from the punk/thrash crossover bands. Ladislao Prado’s vocals shouted over the top are clear and the guitar work is on par with the best of the time.  Martyr is new to me but I’m instantly reminded of bands like SOD and others.  Somewhat surprisingly, I would have expected the quality of the demo recordings to have gotten better over time, but “Frantic” which came from a later demo than “Imminent Warfare” has somewhat worse sound quality but a great slower riff that comes through clear and powerful as well as some nice harmonized guitars.

Moving onto “War Circus” the sound quality sounds very much like a regular studio album and the song itself has a serious Megadeth feel from time to time in terms of song structure and the main riff while the style in the guitar solos and the vocals are definitely Martyr.  The nine minute song twists and turns and picks up a bit of a groove along the way.

The first two tracks taken from the 2001 compilation The Passing of Time, “Impiously Deranged” and “Fallen Deceived” are a step back in sound quality and the band has a bit of a darker tone and again some Megadeth-sounding parts. “Plead the Blood” from the same compilation opens up with just some acoustic guitar before being backed by subdued bass lines that eventually leads the song into a guitar lead opening with the full band and metal coming in.  Guitar work during the opening of the song is really good and the song explodes into another ultra-fast track with the drumming really driving things along.  I would imagine the full rhythm section is responsible but the bass is difficult to pick up in the mix being what it is.  “Escaping the Altar” and “When Darkness Reigns continue in a similar vein as the rest of the tracks and are equally good.

“American Holocaust” and “Truth”, both previously unreleased and from 1995 sound very different in quality and production from the rest of the tracks on the album.  Bass guitar is clearly heard now and the overall sound is so much fuller giving the feel of these being regular studio tracks and perhaps a vision of where the band could have gone if they’d stayed together. “American Holocaust” and “Truth” are mostly a bit slower and have more of a groove than the previous songs without losing the punk/thrash crossover feel if a bit slower and the vocal effects on “Truth” add another dimension.

Roxx Records is doing a great service in compiling historical recordings that many of us may have heard at one point and then forgotten about and the demo quality adds that level of authenticity. For those who love this punk/thrash crossover era, Once Upon a Tale is a great way to revisit the past and for those who weren’t around at the time, this is a great example of the sounds that influenced so many.

Rating: 8/10

Written by John Jackson

Tracklist (notes courtesy of Roxx Records) 

1. Imminent Warfare (title track from Imminent Warfare cassette only demo) 1988
2. Frantic (title track from Frantic cassette only demo) 1989
3. War Circus (from the album Wickenstraut CD only release) 1993
4. Impiously Deranged (from the compilation The Passing of Time CD only release) 2001
5. Fallen Deceived (from the compilation The Passing of Time CD only release) 2001
6. Plead The Blood (from the compilation The Passing of Time CD only release) 2001
7. Escaping The Altar (from the compilation The Passing of Time CD only release) 2001
8. When Darkness Reigns (from the compilation The Passing of Time CD only release) 2001
9. American Holocaust (previously unreleased recording) 1995
10. Truth (previously unreleased recording) 1995

Record Label Roxx Records

Release Date 28 March 2025

Band Members
Ladislao Prado – Bass, lead vocals
Mark Johnson – Guitar, vocal
Dave Mowry – Drums, vocals

Weblinks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martyrdeathmetal 
Death is Dead demo Bandcamp: https://martyrdeathisdead.bandcamp.com/album/death-is-dead
Fall on Your Face ep Bandcamp: https://martyrdeathisdead.bandcamp.com/album/fall-on-your-face-ep
Roxx Records: https://www.facebook.com/RoxxRecords777

Video for “Truth”

Video MARTYR DOCUMENTARY (1990 or 1991)