[8/10]
No Hope No Morality is the new album from British deathcore band Martyr Defiled. Having been lingering around the scene for a long time with the album Collusion and various EPs listed as their releases, they have built up a large and loyal fanbase, played festivals internationally, and are arguably the heaviest band in the UK right now. The album has been highly anticipated for a very long time after the success of singles such as ‘Infidels’, ‘Goldstein’ and ‘Isolate’.
No Hope No Morality is as hard hitting as an album gets, which is no less than expected. The band display their typified style that has garnered so much success in each song; There is no over-reliance on complex guitar work to create interesting music – something which seems all too prevalent on some paths of metal music – but it doesn’t mean that they are not capable of it, and use it well in songs such as ‘No Hope’ where heavy chugging works in tandem with wonderfully erratic guitar solos. There’s also variations of slow and fast riffs across the album, even contrasting in the same song with ‘Sineater’ being the perfect example of this, slowing the breakdown down to a mind-blowing level.
In weeks before the release, Martyr Defiled teased fans by releasing the tracks ‘Demons In The Mist’ and ‘616’, which both end up being as close to stand-out tracks on the album as it gets. ‘Demons In The Mist’ is my personal favourite off the album; it strikes the chord of having catchy guitar riffs, brutal breakdowns and provocative vocals. ‘616’ also exhibits incredibly aggressive lyrics to match the music, and well-matched samples that fit with the song.
‘Neverender’ shows a different side to the band, dropping in some harsh yelling vocals and beautifully melodic guitars in the chorus, something unusual but refreshing. This doesn’t stop everything else being brutal, and the breakdown that signs off the track is quite frankly enough to make the world implode. The album winds up with the track ‘No Morality’, befitting of it’s place as the final song on the album and brilliantly brings an end to the maelstrom of chaos that has been forged by musical punch after punch.
After being a fan of Martyr Defiled for a long time, I found No Hope No Morality to be brilliant from start to finish. It shirks the dilemma of being too repetitive, and the band have clearly not limited themselves with the styles of songs they can create. The atmosphere the album creates is dark and eerie, and each song is ballsy, bonecrushing and full of force. Fans of deathcore music are bound to love the release, but its appeal reaches a much wider demographic that will cement their place in the current music scene. Don’t expect Martyr Defiled to disappear any time soon.
Words by Ryan Barley
