Martyr - You Are Next (2016)

One of the more interesting, if short-lived heavy metal bands to adopt the popular name, Martyr, this quintet from Utretch, Holland, was formed by guitarist Rick Bouwman in 1982, and performed a very technical, pre-thrash style of melodic speed metal, as evidenced on their very first demo, entitled "If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old," recorded later that year. But it was the band's second demo, 1983's "Metal Torture," that got them noticed by influential Aardschok magazine and led to several compilation appearances, and an eventual contract with local Megaton Records, which released Martyr's debut album, For the Universe, in 1985. By then, the band's lineup consisted of vocalist Gerard Vergouw, guitarists Bouwman and Marcel Heesakkers, bassist Antoine Van Der Linden, and drummer Elias Papadopoulos, who set out on a tour of Europe supporting Canadian thrashers Exciter; they secured a new deal with Metalloid Records as they were getting to work on their sophomore album, Darkness at Time's Edge. Released to largely positive reviews in 1986, the LP was promoted with the band's first music video and additional touring in allegiance with Dutch hard rockers, Helloïse, but sales were still sluggish, and Martyr wound up breaking up by the following year, feeling let down by their record company's inability to properly distribute the record. They would re-form in October 2001 for a special performance at the Heavy Metal Maniacs Festival, and continued to reunite sporadically over the years that followed, eventually announcing that a new studio album was in the planning stages for 2009. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia.