Martyr is the work of Nicolas Peter who does the vocals, guitar, drums and bass…so, an all around jack of all trades, then! Fists of Iron is an EP of five tracks which Peter describes as follows: “As the Covid-19 crisis hit Germany with all its might, I’m unable to access my project studio to finish the already recorded instrumentals. But to maybe help you a little through the time of quarantine and social distancing, I decided to put out 5 tracks that are already finished.”
A combination of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden springs to mind when listening to each track, and Peter does actually make a decent go of it. ‘Lightning Strikes’, ‘Fists Of Iron’, as well as the suitably titled ‘Protectors Of Metal’ is sonically reminiscent of Judas Priest’s hit track ‘Painkiller.’ ‘Nothin’ But Metal’ is a bit more reminiscent of Judas Priest’s album British Steel, but they all have strong riffs, twin guitars and a Rob Halford-esque vocal approah — which means if you like that combination, this is worth a listen. The guitar solos are all up to par too and don’t get widdly even in the rapid sections. The instrumental track, ‘Thunder’ strangely has the more structured and cohesive approach and you’d swear it was Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris driving it along on bass.
Fists of Iron is nothing particularly different but, as I say, if you like this style of metal (as I do), then there is a lot to be enjoyed on this foreshortened by the pandemic album.
Fists of Iron will be released on 24th July via Gates of Hell Records.
