It seems funny how Martin has almost stumbled into a doom metal career given the amazing range of his vocals. Often compared to Ronnie James Dio when it comes to vocalising, I’d always imagined that he would have succeeded more in a band where the music was in a more up-tempo style rather than the step-by-step slowed pace that permeates doom metal at its best. That’s just a personal opinion, because I guarantee you Tony’s vocals here match anything else he has done in his career.
Tony’s big moment of fame came when he scored the gig as vocalist of Black Sabbath in the mid-1980's when that ship was taking on water and looked to be heading for a big iceberg after several false starts following the Osbourne and Dio days. And yet he sang and contributed on five of the final seven Sabbath studio albums, with only “Dehumanizer” and “13” not featuring his vocals. And for the most part they are terrifically enjoyable albums. You should check them out if you haven’t already done so.
Since those days Martin has been prolific in the music business, appearing on many bands sings as a guest singer as well touring and recording both in his own band and other projects. Despite this, his music hasn’t always been easy to track down for fans, and on a personal level this has always been a disappointment. Tony Martin’s vocals were always superb, a great voice and a great range, and to have not seen him make his mark since those days of the late 1990’s is remarkable. So when it was announced that he had recorded a new solo album I was genuinely excited, because several artists in recent years have released albums that have harked back to their roots, to when they produced their best material, and have poured that into their new material. Judas Priest’s “Firepower” is the best example of this. So I hoped to hear a new album, a long overdue one, that provided us with the best that Tony Martin could offer, and while I didn’t expect his Sabbath-era material, there was always hope.
Tony’s big moment of fame came when he scored the gig as vocalist of Black Sabbath in the mid-1980's when that ship was taking on water and looked to be heading for a big iceberg after several false starts following the Osbourne and Dio days. And yet he sang and contributed on five of the final seven Sabbath studio albums, with only “Dehumanizer” and “13” not featuring his vocals. And for the most part they are terrifically enjoyable albums. You should check them out if you haven’t already done so.
Since those days Martin has been prolific in the music business, appearing on many bands sings as a guest singer as well touring and recording both in his own band and other projects. Despite this, his music hasn’t always been easy to track down for fans, and on a personal level this has always been a disappointment. Tony Martin’s vocals were always superb, a great voice and a great range, and to have not seen him make his mark since those days of the late 1990’s is remarkable. So when it was announced that he had recorded a new solo album I was genuinely excited, because several artists in recent years have released albums that have harked back to their roots, to when they produced their best material, and have poured that into their new material. Judas Priest’s “Firepower” is the best example of this. So I hoped to hear a new album, a long overdue one, that provided us with the best that Tony Martin could offer, and while I didn’t expect his Sabbath-era material, there was always hope.
For anyone who is familiar with Tony’s work from the past, this album is a pleasantly surprising detour to something a little more aggressive both vocally and musically from what he has done before. That’s not to say it is as big a deviation as Black Sabbath’s “Forbidden” was from “Headless Cross”, but it is an interesting path. Anyone who knows Sunbomb’s “Evil and Divine” album from 2021 would know it is Tracii Guns and Michael Sweet’s foray into doom metal, and how well that worked, and this acts in the same way. Tony’s career with Sabbath would prepare you for this, but not completely, as it is a modern take on the classic doom metal sound, and does it really well. Martin combines with guitarist and co-writer Scott McClellan to create an excellent collection of differing tracks within the genre. With other excellent musicians in Venom drummer Danny Needham, and ex-HammerFall bass guitarist Magnus Rosen, the band is on song throughout.
Opening with the excellent “As the World Burns” that does sound eerily similar in its opening to the Sabbath song “When Death Calls”, it is probably the fastest and most intense song of the album, but that does not mean that it is all downhill form this point. Indeed the terrific mood created here is encapsulated as the album moves on. “Black Widow Angel” dials the tempo right back but still punches at you , before the atmospheric synths and drums through the first half of “Book of Shadows” perfectly offset Martin’s vocals where he shows how effortlessly he can sing and still retain perfect pitch throughout. “Crying Wolf” is perhaps a little out of place within that, as its more bluesy feel takes it out of the genre that has come so far. That’s not to say it isn’t enjoyable, it just sticks out like Adam Gilchrist’s ears amongst the other songs in its company.
The power of Martin’s vocals through “Damned by You” is just awesome, turning what could easily have been an above average song into one that becomes one of the best on the album. It is this vocal power that continues to keep Tony Martin so high in fans thoughts as a singer. “No Shame at All” is a mid-paced doom rocker that is enjoyable enough though without anything overtly brilliant to attract you to it, and “Nowhere to Fly” is the token sombre ballad that is one where you feel the urge to press the skip button if you are so inclined. All albums seem to have one don’t they, that ballad track that seems to be the one blight on society that covid hasn’t found yet.
The final four songs of the album follow the style of what has come before them “Passion Killer” is a standard mid-tempo doom song without any real surprises, no changes in riff stylings of drum pattern, and for the most part Martin singing in the same key throughout. “Run Like the Devil” changes things up, upping that tempo and with a faster running pattern that gives the band the chance to loosen the seatbelts and see where the road will lead them. “This is Your Damnation” drags things back again by driving the acoustically based track to its conclusion. Again, you all know my feelings on songs such as this. If you enjoy them, this is good. If you’d rather have more power and aggression, this is a sore point. The album the concludes with the title track “Thorns”, which mixes everything into the song to be what I guess the band is hoping will be an epic conclusion. I think it’s ironic that Pamela Moore, best known in metal circles for having played the role of Mary on Queensryche’s “Operation: Mindcrime” album, also has a role here on a song that sounds very like a late 90’s early 2000’s Queensryche song... which, if you are fan of Queensryche, you will know is a massive sledge on this song. If you switched Geoff Tate in to sing this, it would be a Queensryche song. Oh well, you can’t have everything I guess...
Opening with the excellent “As the World Burns” that does sound eerily similar in its opening to the Sabbath song “When Death Calls”, it is probably the fastest and most intense song of the album, but that does not mean that it is all downhill form this point. Indeed the terrific mood created here is encapsulated as the album moves on. “Black Widow Angel” dials the tempo right back but still punches at you , before the atmospheric synths and drums through the first half of “Book of Shadows” perfectly offset Martin’s vocals where he shows how effortlessly he can sing and still retain perfect pitch throughout. “Crying Wolf” is perhaps a little out of place within that, as its more bluesy feel takes it out of the genre that has come so far. That’s not to say it isn’t enjoyable, it just sticks out like Adam Gilchrist’s ears amongst the other songs in its company.
The power of Martin’s vocals through “Damned by You” is just awesome, turning what could easily have been an above average song into one that becomes one of the best on the album. It is this vocal power that continues to keep Tony Martin so high in fans thoughts as a singer. “No Shame at All” is a mid-paced doom rocker that is enjoyable enough though without anything overtly brilliant to attract you to it, and “Nowhere to Fly” is the token sombre ballad that is one where you feel the urge to press the skip button if you are so inclined. All albums seem to have one don’t they, that ballad track that seems to be the one blight on society that covid hasn’t found yet.
The final four songs of the album follow the style of what has come before them “Passion Killer” is a standard mid-tempo doom song without any real surprises, no changes in riff stylings of drum pattern, and for the most part Martin singing in the same key throughout. “Run Like the Devil” changes things up, upping that tempo and with a faster running pattern that gives the band the chance to loosen the seatbelts and see where the road will lead them. “This is Your Damnation” drags things back again by driving the acoustically based track to its conclusion. Again, you all know my feelings on songs such as this. If you enjoy them, this is good. If you’d rather have more power and aggression, this is a sore point. The album the concludes with the title track “Thorns”, which mixes everything into the song to be what I guess the band is hoping will be an epic conclusion. I think it’s ironic that Pamela Moore, best known in metal circles for having played the role of Mary on Queensryche’s “Operation: Mindcrime” album, also has a role here on a song that sounds very like a late 90’s early 2000’s Queensryche song... which, if you are fan of Queensryche, you will know is a massive sledge on this song. If you switched Geoff Tate in to sing this, it would be a Queensryche song. Oh well, you can’t have everything I guess...
I can tell you that I am a great fan of the three albums Tony Martin sang on with Black Sabbath from the late 1980’s - “The Eternal Idol”, “Headless Cross” and “Tyr” - and as a result I think this album had a lot to live up to before I had even heard it. And one of the main things that I have taken away from this is that Tony’ vocals are a more mature version that from those albums. And given they are more than thirty years ago that shouldn’t be surprising. But along with the songs written, and the style of music they sit in, it is remarkable to listen to. The resulting contrast between the bottom-heavy instrumental sound and Martin’s largely clean and soaring vocals that have lost none of their power at the age of 62 is pretty stark, and yet these two opposing extremes work together effortlessly to create a highly unique and nuanced take on the modern heavy metal aesthetic.
In looking back at Tony Martin’s wonderful career, this stands as one of the most unique offerings to carry his name, and for me it is definitely one of his best. Not all of it may be brilliant. In some places it tends to get off track with a couple of bluesy acoustic numbers in “Crying Wolf” and “This Is Your Damnation”, which while they are performed adequately, they just seem out of place amongst the stronger tracks at the front of the album. The songwriting partnership between Martin and McClellan is almost as compelling as the former’s was with Tony Iommi, and hopefully if another installment of this duo is to come to light, it will manifest itself in a span of less than 17 years. Existing fans of this highly underrated master of the metal microphone will not be disappointed, and there is a far broader appeal to those in doom and groove metal circles than you would expect.
In looking back at Tony Martin’s wonderful career, this stands as one of the most unique offerings to carry his name, and for me it is definitely one of his best. Not all of it may be brilliant. In some places it tends to get off track with a couple of bluesy acoustic numbers in “Crying Wolf” and “This Is Your Damnation”, which while they are performed adequately, they just seem out of place amongst the stronger tracks at the front of the album. The songwriting partnership between Martin and McClellan is almost as compelling as the former’s was with Tony Iommi, and hopefully if another installment of this duo is to come to light, it will manifest itself in a span of less than 17 years. Existing fans of this highly underrated master of the metal microphone will not be disappointed, and there is a far broader appeal to those in doom and groove metal circles than you would expect.
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