Album Review: Scar the Martyr - 'Scar the Martyr' | theMusic.com.au | Australian music news, gig guide, music reviews

Scar the Martyr's self-titled debut album isn't exactly anything to write home about. There isn't anything on offer here that you haven't heard before and it doesn't really warrant multiple listens. While enjoyable enough at times, this is mostly a pretty forgettable experience.

Musically very straightforward, there's not a lot of twists and turns here. The whole album sounds like a beginner's guide to heavy metal, especially in the riff department, which are all boring as hell. The foundations are there but overall each track fails to impress, rarely changing tempo at all throughout the record's entirety and being almost permanently stuck at one dynamic level.

When vocalist Henry Derek makes use of his clean vocals, he often sounds strikingly similar to James LaBrie (Dream Theater). This somewhat whiny vocal style sounds amusingly juxtaposed against some of the grittier, heavier riffs at times. The rest of the time when he's growling away, Derek does a pretty good job of leading the band.

As for the drums, it's hard to be more underwhelmed. For a band largely being driven by the revered Joey Jordison (Slipknot), the drums rarely do anything interesting at all, and even some of the fills, which are obviously intended to be pretty flashy, sound tame.

There really isn't much more to say about 'Scar the Martyr', other than you probably shouldn't bother with it. Even if you're a fan of Slipknot there's no guarantee you'll like it.

If anything, Scar the Martyr's debut album is a contender for 'Most Average Album of the Year'. Don't assume you'll enjoy it because you're a fan of Slipknot either, because you won't. Proving once again that Joey Jordison is better off sticking to his Slipknot duties, this is one album you won't remember next year.

1. Intro

2. Dark Ages