Antestor - Martyrium (2000)

Originally wrote & published on March 15th, 2005

Decked out in corpse paint, spikes, black clothes, grim looks upon their faces, and all of the other customary black metal gear, yet you probably won’t find any upside down crosses or pentagrams in this band's wardrobe. In less of course they have a big X covering them, which probably by now has you wondering what the deal with this band is.

Norway’s Antestor plays un-black or white metal as some have come to call it or if that doesn’t make things clear they play black metal with Christian lyrics. Yep Antestor plays black metal and worships Jebus, and you thought burning down churches and writing unholy hymns to Satan was rebellious, silly you. Well I’d say the rebels just got rebelled against. Actually, Antestor’s roots date back to 1989 when the band was formed under the name ‘Crush Evil’ in Oslo, Norway smack dab right in the middle of those rebellious kids that were burning churches and writing songs about all things evil. Even before his untimely death Mayhem’s Euronymous was so bold as to say, “The Militants of Norwegian black metal will Force this band to split up,” which of course never quite happened, and then last year Mayhem’s drummer Hellhammer joined the band as session drummer. Oh my, the times they are a changing people...

Musically these guys play melodic mid-paced black metal with doom metal influences, and believe it or not they actually do it pretty well. Some of these songs have some rather interesting guitar riffs in them, the vocalist uses no less than three different vocal styles (death, black, clean), the synth work gives the album a nice atmospheric touch, and if you can get past the ultra corny Christian lyrics then you’ve got one decent black metal album in your hands. The lyrics, well, are your typical praise Christ, destroy evil lyrics, which the band put best on display with ‘Materialistic Lie.’

‘Lustful bodies skinned to the core , still crying out for so much more, Needing eyes filled with desire , made to be just another liar, Turn away it’s hell to pay , Not a very nice place to stay.’ So as you can see the corny meter is going crazy on this album, but I suppose if you actually were a Christian you’d find something of value in this album's lyrics.

Far from being the most original album, Antestor's ‘Martyrium’ is still a pleasant melodic black metal release that can be enjoyed by all without the fear of Satan getting his clutches on you. So gather up the wife and kids, get a good fire blazing, sit back, and learn about Christ the black metal way.