Why I love this song! || The Martyr — Bleed the Sky

This is one of the most unique tracks to have ever come across my playlist, and this is why I cannot get enough of it.

Bleed the Sky landed on my radar towards my final undergraduate years. I remember the song so well, for multiple reasons. One of them being the general discomfort it created with the peri-metal, and religiously affiliated, alike.

The chorus, starting off with “There is no god! We would have engaged by now!”, is quite memorable.

The song has echoed in my mind for nearly two decades and listening to it now, I still like it as much as I did back then. If not more. It aged gracefully.

Bleed the Sky — The Martyr || Overall Score 16.5/20

Sonic Magic || 4/5

I think the production for this album, and this track was really sound. The guitars are loud, the drums are punchy, the bass is tight and the vocals are both dreamy and scorchingly aggressive.

The guitar tone, tuned to Drop B, with what must me a Peavey 5150, sounds gnarly. The trade-off with the clean guitars and clean vocals is really tasteful.

Musicianship and technical proficiency || 4/5

The guitars are quite nu-metal and not the most challenging on a technical basis. The drums are spectacular, and the combination of the guitars and drums is some of the best I have ever heard. The harsh vocals are up there with the best and the bass is so tight and well-matched with the drums.

Overall composition & Surprise || 3/5

This track does not have any big surprises that weren’t common from the nu-metal/metalcore crossover scene from back then. It has a nice contrast between clean and heavy, melody and grind, and a breakdown/outtro.

The way the track ends is seriously epic. It ends with you wanting more. Compositionally, it is not a masterpiece, but the flow of this track is perfectly suited.

Vocals || 4/5

The harsh vocals on this track of bone-chilling. It drips with intent. I love this delivery of the harsh vocals and it is easily some of the best that has ever been around. I am a big fan of the higher-pitched screaming.

The clean vocals are not the best by any means. I love it to bits because the melody and the harmonising are forever etched in my memory. The contrast between that and the harsh vocals is well selected, and even though it was a hallmark of that early metalcore, late nu-metal era, I still think it stands up to scrutiny, very well.

Lyrics || 5/5

The lyrics feel angry. I think they are angry. I am not sure who the composer had in mind in the first verse, the person “in bed again”, and “so worthy of being hated”. One can speculate, but you may never know. Song lyrics are, however, fungible and I have this picture in my mind of a major depressive disorder maternal figure or a bipolar maternal figure.

That is the thing about great lyrics, they allow you te create your own story, and this that in spades.

Melody/Riff || 3/5

It wasn’t the guitar riff that first attracted me to this song in terms of melody, but the clean vocals, against the extremely heavy guitar backdrop. I think it is spectacular. I haven’t scored it higher, because, without the guitar texture and the drums, the melody loses some of its magic, leading me to interpret that you are unlikely to hear someone sing it to themselves. I love this chorus melody, but I think it is the full percussive and heaviness complement that really brings it alive.

Drums & Percussion || 5/5

Do you know how many times I have searched Youtube for a cover of this drum track?

I have written to some of my favourite drum cover Youtube channels and asked to do a cover of this track, to no avail. I have even paid a guy to transcribe the drums to midi, so I can jam my guitar along with it. I think I have actually spent some time just listening to the drum track by itself.

I love the drums in this track so much, I will put it in my top 5 best-ever drum tracks.

The cymbal work, the kick pattern, especially, the laid-back stylistic delivery, and the post-chorus kick pattern in the clean section. This is overplaying, done perfectly.

Austin D’Amond drumming for Bleed the Sky, is unbelievable!!

Feel || 5/5

Because of the incredible drums, the great guitar riff, and the tight bass, I think this track has some of the best feel and groove ever. The contrast between the staccato kick pattern and guitar riff, and the effortless groove in the verse is particularly memorable.

The drums are “sticky”, for lack of a better word, and it created immense anticipation and satisfaction. It builds tension, it releases. In this sense, they are some of the best to have ever done it.

Emotional epicness || 4/5

Since the topic of the lyrics is quite specific, I find a great attraction to this track, emotionally, but I can make a case for other people not really finding a strong attachment. When I hear this track, I immediately feel something.

In conclusion

Bleed the sky have had some interruptions as a band and have also recently released some new material (2020 — This Way Lies The Madness [Album], and 2022 — Rot in Flesh[Single]).

I love their new stuff. It is very heavy and dark-sounding. I really like it and I can wholeheartedly recommend you take a listen to their catalogue.

Some recommended tracks from Bleed the Sky

• Carnage (Join Me in the Fire)
• Paradigm in Entropy
• Quite Here