Year: 2021
Total Time: 43:42 
Label: Frontiers Records

MARTYRIUM, is a melodic Black Metal band from Malta, with a style that to many could remind the pioneers of this marriage of the gothic element with the most extreme sound, CRADLE OF FILTH. This is a band, behind the microphone of which we find once again, as often happens in recent years, a woman doing these vocals that characterize the genre they represent.

The Maltese are not new to the field. The six-member band has been active for almost twenty years, with their first album being released in 2002, while this year, their new work, “Lamia Satanica”, is their sixth full-length album.

The album is solid, homogeneous and shows the experience that the years have given them. But for those who have no contact with their music, “Sacred Book of Baal”, a song full of contrasts between faster and slower moments and with very interesting parts from the guitars and keyboards, “Starless Opacity”, a song with a tempo that is not as extreme as in the previous song, but with a great variety in the rhythms created by the bass, guitar and drums, “Emanation of Souls” and “Curse of Salvation” where the vocals of Sandra Misanthrope are amazing , with some oriental melodies in the first and gothic melodies in the second, “Venom Divine” with its excellent alternations, and the gothic / baroque contrasts of “Betrothed to Damnation” as well as the always very good orchestrations, will introduce you to their world with the best way.

Despite its short duration (the album lasts only 36 minutes), its ten compositions, one of which is its short introduction, are meticulous, interesting and with a very good production that fills you. The friends of the genre will enjoy it as well as the previous works of the band, which again kept its standards high.

Rating: 7/10
Editor: Fanouris Exintavelonis
Related Link: MARTYRIUM – Official Page