Talvi Reviews Shadows by Fallen Martyr

A few months ago one of the most brutal metal festivals of the year, Paganfest America Part III, kicked off in Baltimore, Maryland. Besides the touring bands, Huntress, Arkona, Alestorm, and Turisas, there were quite a few opening bands. The one that stood out, and can arguably be one of the best uprising bands, was Fallen Martyr. These guys are true pioneers in the metal genre, and incorporate styles from power, progressive, death, and a hint of thrash metal. The guitar work by Gabriel Luis and Joe Martin is truely incredible, and is backed by some technical drumming by Jake Ford. Their bassist Doug Albers definitely stands out, and on top of everything, the perfection of the vocals by J. Ryan Rawlings. He has incredible range. From screams, to high octaves, he can do it with no problem. Fallen Martyr is releasing their debut album, Shadows, later this month, and Der Metal Krieger had the honor of listening, and reviewing it.

Band: Fallen Martyr
Album: Shadows
Genre: Progressive Metal 
Label: Siegen Records
Release Date: May 29, 2012

The album starts off with some fast paced guitar and drums, on the track “Revelry And Reverence”. You can feel the intensity the band has to offer. The vocals catch your attention immediately, leaving you to question how someone could have such a great range. The song is approximately 7 minutes long, and definitely has a great range of movements, showing the progressiveness this band has to offer.   This track is definitely a great way to start the album.

One of my personal favorites of this album has to be “Body of Light”. The track starts of with a keyboard track, which plays as a backing track with the entire song. Rawlings starts of with screams, which is backed by some solid guitar and drums. The song has some incredible guitar soloing, fast and extremely accuracy, and an amazing range of vocals. This song was also the opening track to the Paganfest show I attended, and immediately had me headbanging in seconds. This song helps to sum up what this band has to offer. And the track ends on a powerful note, with Rawlings screaming “Soon you will bow down! This is my time now!”.

Fallen Martyr is a band in which helps redefine metal, and the technicality  it has to offer. There is not one genre that this band could be labeled as, due to their perfection in so many metal genres. Shadows is an album that should be on every true metalhead’s wish list, and the first album to be purchased. Ever since I received my copy of Shadows, I have had this album playing in my car non-stop, and on my computer. It is truely incredible. These guys have nothing but pure talent in each of their selected instruments. And not to mention, their stage presence is so unique. They can captivate and audience with ease from amazing guitar and drum work, to the diversity of vocals, Fallen Martyr has it all! Check out their Facebook page, go to a show, and purchase Shadows when it is released on May 29th!

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