MARTYR WHORE – The Blue Coresh Nietzsche Malsaine (CD 1996/2002)

(Blue Rosemary Records)

It´s strange. Some time ago, I put a review about MARTYR WHORE´s first album „Roseydolvelt Ballet“ onto this website and a short time later, Llod Argento of the band contacted me because of it. He told me, that the band is going to be reformed actually and he sent me this CD. As far, as I understand, „The Blue Coresh Nietzsche Malsaine“ contains the 1996 recordings for the planned second album, which never has been released until today. Finally the band put it out in 2002 on their own label and it is a shame, that it took such a long time, until everybody is able to listen to this stuff. In times like these, when classical Death-Rock is very rare and everybody listens to boring Metal-Pop like HIM, the world needs bands like MARTYR WHORE, who represent the real Gothic-Underground.

I (and many other reviewers) called „Roseydolvelt Ballet“ some kind of „Only Theatre Of Pain 2“ and I guess, that was a bit the band´s intention. The second album has changed a bit. Of course, it is still pure Death-Rock and will please all fans of early Rozz Williams´ Christian Death, but it seems, that there are some more Metal influences and it has more raw power. Think of a collaboration of 45 Grave and Super Heroines with Rozz singing about Death, Hell, Sex and Blood. Well, this description seems to point to the self titled debut album of Shadow Project and I think, this is the best comparison. As Llod told me, the band was also heavily influenced by philosophers like Nietzsche and Kant.

So, there are some open questions...will MARTYR WHORE be back? Have they really been „only“ a copy of early Christian Death? Why didn´t it come to the release of this album back in the mid 90s? These questions will be answered soon in an interview at www.backagain.de . (A.P.)

(Apollyon/Efa)

MARTYR WHORE are a French band and they existed in the mid 90s beside the greatest French Gothic-Rock band Corpus Delicti. As far, as I know, both bands didn´t like each other, but anyway, both played very good Gothic-/Death-Rock.

MARTYR WHORE released their only album (as far as I know) on Germany´s Apollyon label, home of bands like The Last Dance, Engelsstaub, Ikon and Madre Del Vizio. It was definetly the right label for the band and for a short time, the name of MARTYR WHORE was well known in the scene, even, if they are nearly totally forgotten today. If there ever would habve been an „Only Theatre Of Pain Part 2“, it surely would have sound like „Roseydolvelt Ballet“. Every single second of MARTYR WHORE´s debut album sounds like Christian Death´s big classic...and it does not suck! The band sounds so close to Rozz Williams´ legendary band, that it becomes likeable. It is pure Death-Rock with the typical hammering bass, the shrieking guitars and  suffering vocals plus many B-Movie-Horror effects and sounds. The album nearly sounds like a remake of „Only Theatre Of Pain“ with new lyrics or something like that and it is fantastic! If I remember right, there had been rumours, when the CD was released, that MARTYR WHORE was a project of Rozz Williams himself or that the songs had been unreleased recordings of the original Christian Death from 1982 or so. Of course, this wasn´t true, but listen to the album and you start thinking about that for sure.

Anyway, „Roseydolvelt Ballet“ is simply a great Death-Rock album and it is a shame, that the band never came back after this (as far, as I know...anybody out there,  who knows more?). (A.P.)