Nottingham deathcore troupe Martyr Defiled finally release their debut album having spent the last three years touring their bollocks off. Whilst they've released a demo and an EP along the way 'Collusion' is their first real opportunity to really stamp their mark on the scene.

Taking the deathcore blueprint as a starting point they add quite a few of their own touches to separate themselves from what is increasingly (in my honest opinion) becoming a stagnant and generic genre. There's plenty of subtle off-kilter melody interspersing the brutality and tracks like 'Acts Of Sedition' wouldn't have sounded out of place on the last Pestilence album. They seem to also be able to switch from Suffocation-like straight death to open drop-C chugging via almost black metal passages to tech-death seamlessly. Repeated plays certainly highlight the variety Martyr Defiled have in their songs (and please note that word "song", a seemingly forgotten concept in deathcore).

A very promising debut indeed which, combined with the band's unquestionable work ethic, should give them a decent springboard to a promising future.

http://www.myspace.com/martyrdefiled