01. Towards Our Storm
02. Shreds Of Martyr
03. End Of Relief
04. Celebrating Collective Terror
05. Far Beyond Humiliation
06. Life In A Pain Amplifier
07. Exiled Innocence
08. Naked Knife Absolution
09. Deranged Parasites
10. Egomanisch
Comment:
After their impressive debut “Disturbance” in 2003 where HOUR OF PENANCE took the underground Death Metal scene by storm with their sheer intensity and tight brutality, now comes the perfect follow up in form of a truly killer masterpiece!!
“Pageantry For Martyrs” is the band’s sophomore release which shows even tighter and more brutal compositions supported by an incredible production. Obviously inlfuenced by acts like HATE ETERNAL & NILE, these italian bastards delivers an album that gathers the best elements from both bands and add what’s now becoming their own sound.
This album will definitely crate a well deserved place in the scene for this awesome band!! Just listen and die!!
Hour Of Penance, it has been some time ago that this deathmetal band from Italy has put a disc on the market. After their demo release in 2000 and a year later an Ep they gave us their debut album Disturbance in 2003. After 2 years of recording silence they now showing us their 2e full album "Pageantry For Martyrs", this release has been brought to us by Xtreemmusic and I must say that Hour of Penance is playing some high quality deathmetal. Goddamn what a great fucking album this is. This disk lets hear everything what a good deathmetal band should offer: the fast blastbeats of the drummer are more than enough on this album and tracks like "End or Relief" this number let us hear that the lowtempo deathmetal is still alive and kicking. I have heard many deathmetal releases from this year but i definitely can put this album in the top 5 of best 2005 albums. The ten tracks of sickness and violence are played tight and brutal, Which is possible cause they have spend 2 months in the studio to make this great fucking deathmetal I just say that this is an album you certainly need to get it because it's worth it and you will not regret it.
It seems like the Italian underground has yet another band to offer to the death metal scene from its stout abode. ‘Hour of Penance’ were formed in 1999 with their first demo release seeing the light of day a year later. ‘Pageantry for Martyrs’ is the band’s sophomore release, two years after their debut ‘Disturbance,’ and still unavoidably derivative in nature. Amidst the throbbing palm-muted guitar passages and the pummeling drums that do well in convincing us of the band’s stature, this welcome slab of brutality smells of US death metal from a mile away. Sporting relentless time changes, tight drum fills, absolutely cloacal vocals and yes even some of Cannibal Corpse’s swirling riffage (“Far Beyond Humiliation” just reeks of the Corpse’s roll and churn), ‘Pageantry for Martyrs’ is pretty much textbook brutal death metal, meandering somewhere between Decrepit Birth and Disgorge minus the technical over-indulgences of the former; even Nile seem to have their say, especially on ‘End of relief’s mid-tempo chug. An invigorating upshoot on the death metal life-line of recent years and yet an album that still won’t do much for someone whose brutal US death metal isn’t the order of the day. It does make one think whether brutal death metal is on the wane or indeed enjoying a resurgence as of late, seeing that there are a number of bands that are still stubbornly blasting away like there’s no tomorrow. Oh and watch out for a hidden small song near the end of the final track; looks like these guys love their Hentai…
OK, like what I've said on my first review about this band, they will not their fans disappointed and this 'Pageantry For Martyrs' will shut the mouth off to people who doubt about their smart in creating technical death metal. Beside their evil sense can be easily captured in every tracks on the album, the arrival of Alex 'Necrotorture' from sick mofo band called Splattered Cavities has create Hour Of Penance without a doubt to be most elite and brutal band ever come from Italy, his oral and and guttural desecration has big effect to band's main goal, you'll love his vocal characters on this album. Hour Of Penance is a new Italian death metal icon, arising the Rome throne and you must prepared to be conquered.
Italy isn’t too well known for its death metal bands. Natron released a great album last year but as far as I know, that’s pretty much it at least when it comes to brutal stuff. Rome based Hour Of Penance is a fine addition to the scene and even if their debut album “Disturbance” was already a very promising album, this sophomore outing takes things even further.
Taking influence from American acts like Suffocation, Nile (without the Egyptian stuff), Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel, it should be noted that when it comes to originality, Hour Of Penance sucks big time. But in this case I couldn’t care less. “Pageantry For Martyrs” utilizes just the right kind of riffs, great drumming and natural yet brutally heavy production that makes a good death metal album. Vocals are your average growling, but in this environment it works perfectly.
The most important thing is that these compositions understand the importance of dynamics. The songs are mostly driven by fast and furious blastbeats, but there are just enough slower parts to keep things interesting. Third song “End Of Relief” is particularly juicy with its slow, crushing riffs and the results are GODLY. “Naked Knife Absolution” even manages to create some malevolent and dark atmospheres in the vein of Immolation and last song “Egomanisch” could be one of the better songs Incantation never wrote.
“Pageantry For Martyrs” is simply one of the best death metal albums to come out this year so far. It is no timeless classic, but damn good slab of brutal killing nevertheless. So gather your weekly pocket money and give Hour Of Penance a change.
"Pageantry for Martyrs" es toda una demostración de Brutal Death técnico,retorcido y agresivo... si esta banda ya os sorprendió con "Disturbance", preparaos para escuchar este demoledor "pageantry for martyrs", que desde "Towards our storm", el primer corte, hasta el último "Egomanisch" despliega un enorme abanico de brutalidad y buenos temas, temas en los que podremos apreciar influencias del sonido de formaciones como HATE ETERNAL, SUFFOCATION y NILE. En comparación con su anterior trabajo, la banda ha ganado muchisimo en términos de producción, con un sonido masivo y limpio al mismo tiempo, en cuanto a estructura de los temas, estos son mucho más densos, con partes rápidas en las que el sonido del doble bajo es pesado al igual que la batería, que parece una batería de cañones a pleno rendimiento... a ello debemos añadirle la increíble labor vocal de su nuevo cantante, Alex, con unos registyros realmente brutales y con un toque muy oscuro; sin duda alguna, estamos ante uno de los cd's del año dentro del brutal Death, y no debeis dejarlos pasar de ninguna manera.
This four-piece comes from Italy and plays - drum roll, please – epic symphonic blablabla like their fellow countrymen Rhap..., no, bullshit, they really are from Italy, but they play US-styled, technical, brutal Death Metal in the vein of MORBID ANGEL, IMMOLATION and the likes. After a demo MCD in 2000 they now have released their debut album which offers nine songs full of raging blasts, doublebass attacks, furious breaks and technical riffs. Their varied songwiting covers the whole range of speed, from mid- to up-tempo to fast to very fast etc., everything you can ask for from a good Death Metal band. To put it plain and simple, if you like pure, high-quality Death Metal, without any kind of disturbing influences, you should give these guys a chance and check their website www.hourofpenance.com where you can find some mp3 files from their two CD releases plus an excerpt from their forthcoming split 7" EP with CADAVERIC CREMATORIUM which will feature a cover of DEICIDE‘s 'Lunatic Of God‘s Creation‘.
Dos años después de su fantástico y prometedor debut, regresa una de las bandas italianas más brutales de su panorama musical, HOUR OF PENANCE. En un país no excesivamente dado a productos extremos, con la excepción de los grandes NECRODEATH, HOUR OF PENANCE aparecieron recién estrenado el milenio con una propuesta no muy novedosa, pero muy bien llevada a cabo. Puro Brutal Death a la vieja usanza.
Siguen con los mismos referentes de su debut, combinando la técnica de HATE ETERNAL, con la brutalidad de NILE y el regusto vieja escuela de IMMOLATION, todo muy selecto y escogido, pero llevado más allá, con unas guitarras muy particulares y oscuras que llenan el ambiente de buenos riffs y alguna melodía de vez en cuando de factura brillante.
Gran parte del atractivo de su propuesta reside en su impresionante sonido autoproducido, que aumenta la potencia y efectismo de la música de los italianos y que permite convertir temas como "Shreds Of Martyr" en auténticos escaparates para todos los componentes del grupo. Desde el bajo enfermizo y mastodóntico, pasando por la brutal voz (que en este disco recorre menos registros que en su anterior obra), la apisonadora de Mauro a las baquetas, y como ya dije, los maestros de la guitarra, Giulio y Enrico, culpables de transformar la música de HOUR OF PENANCE hacia un producto más interesante de lo que a priori se podía pensar teniendo en cuenta el saturado panorama del Brutal Death.
Los italianos saben que el estilo que han elegido, cuando se domina y se pasa de ser una vulgar imitación, da para mucho. Por esta razón, no se les caen los anillos al componer mórbidos medios tiempos como "End Of Relief" o "Egomanisch" que se transforman en pesadas losas llenas de fuerza y sentimiento en su lado más oscuro. Precisamente este disco mejora con creces su debut en este sentido, aumentando la variedad de las composiciones, sabiendo combinar momentos cargados de groove, difíciles de olvidar, con asaltos bestiales dónde la batería ametralla nuestras cabezas, y los momentos más reflexivos a los que hace un momento me he referido.
A diferencia del caotismo que muchas veces gobierna este estilo, HOUR OF PENANCE no se olvidan que al otro lado de los altavoces hay alguien que quiere escuchar algo más que un muro sónico. Los italianos nos saben sorprender con temas como "Life In A Pain Amplifier", llenos de elementos inesperados en perfecta conjunción con el brutalismo general. Es difícil aburrirse con este gran grupo, tanto si eres aficionado al Brutal Death, como si no lo eres, la lucidez y madurez de HOUR OF PENANCE no te dejarán indiferentes.
Gran lanzamiento para la comunidad extrema que demuestra que aún hay luces entre tanto clon, que consiguen llevar esta música a la posición que se merece. No los dejes escapar porque no te decepcionarán.
Hour of Penance, an Italian brutal death quintet, have most assuredly avoided the sophomore slump by unleashing Pageantry for Martyrs, which proves to be potent for those who fancy the subgenre or those who follow the band’s label religiously. As I stated in my review of Masacre’s Total Death, Xtreem Music is a phenomenal record company that hosts several acts, and Hour of Penance is yet another reason why accolades should be tossed around liberally to all applicable parties.
On Pageantry for Martyrs, it’s obvious that the group is not obsessed on reinvention, because the formerly mentioned album fails to carry even an ounce of originality. However, the frenetic musicianship – coupled with overt talent – makes for much more than an agreeable listen, and the band’s presentation is quite infectious due to a number of inclusions. Manco’s (Necrotorture, Splattered Cavities) gruff vocals have just the right tone, and the other instruments sound good overall. Mercurio’s (Rust of Reason, Eyeconoclast) furious drumming does a commendable job of accentuating certain riffs here and there, plus the double-bass is relentless and seemingly content to remain that way.
Even selecting a song at random will allow you to experience Hour of Penance’s sound firsthand, so there’s no insurmountable track lurking beneath the jewel case or anything of the sort. Though, the opening number “Towards Our Storm” is a well-done introduction to Pagenatry for Martyrs as a whole. I can fully envision Deeds of Flesh fans jumping on this bandwagon without second-guessing themselves. Overall, the production values and eviscerating performances makes for a sturdy record.
Frankly, my allegiance with Masacre still stands (I like the sloppier, down-home approach), though moonlighting with Hour of Penance has been joyous. And, moreover, this is another fine slab from the death metal-mongers at Xtreem Music. Pageantry for Martyrs is fast, furious, and doesn’t include Vin Diesel. Check this out, please?
After their stunning debut "Disturbance" Italian death metal monsters are back. "Pageantry For Martyrs" just continues the killing. Fast and furious songs. Variation with breaks and even faster accelerations. Deep and brutal vocals, flashy guitarriffing and intense drumming. 10 Songs that are having great production and identity. Hour Of Penance is THE Italian answer to brutal death metal bands from the USA. Just love it!!
Obwoływani europejskim HATE ETERNAL Włosi z HOUR OF PENANCE powrócili z drugim albumem! Powrócili aby w wyrafinowany sposób kontynuować swoje misterne dzieło death metalowej zagłady (czyż nie powinienem układać sloganów reklamowych dla Mystic???). Płyta po prostu bardzo dobra. Począwszy od masywnego dźwięku, doskonale wyważonej konstrukcji utworów, kończąc na technice gry. Płyta może nie jest tak dzika jak debiutancki album, niemniej jednak rozgniata równie doskonale! A mamy tu 10 deathowych ciosów, gdzie na przemian jesteśmy udobruchani (nie w dupę! nie w dupę!) szybkim miarowymi tempami, błyskotliwymi blastami, poprzez średnioszybkie, całkiem średnie tempa i czy ściany gitar. Weźmy np. taki „Far Beyond Humilation”, “Exiled Innocence” czy “Naked Knife Absolution” i mamy poparcie powyższych stwierdzeń. Płyta jest cholernie równa, nie ma słabszych momentów, nie ma przestoju, a wszystko jest idealnie dawkowane. Gdzieniegdzie pojawiają się 2 wokale, potężne ściany gitar i grzechoczące stopy. Zamykający „Egomanisch” jest jedynym, można by rzec odstającym utworem, ze względu na wolny koniec, kilkuminutową pauzę (jak kurwa kocham takie zagrywki!) i nieco dziwaczny koniec.
On this excellent sophomore release, Italy's finest take yet another step towards greatness. Like their Swedish contemporaries Imperious, they use their Hate Eternal, Morbid Angel and Nile influences to come up with their very own brand of high quality death metal. The musicianship is excellent, the production superb and the outcome is an album at a rarely heard level of fine brutality. Imperious, which is what I find closest in comparison, may be a bit more varied and have more memorable inputs, but Hour of Penance make up for this in brutality. A very good release indeed.
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