Band:	Dread Sovereign
Album:	All Hell's Martyrs
Style:	Doom metal
Release date:	March 21, 2014
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Drink The Wine
02. Thirteen Clergy
03. Cthulu Opiate Haze
04. The Devil's Venom
05. Pray To The Devil In Man
06. Scourging Iron
07. The Great Beast
08. We Wield The Spear Of Longinus
09. Cathars To Their Doom
10. All Hell's Martyrs, Transmissions From The Devil Star

After the less than warm reception surrounding Twilight Of The Gods' Fire On The Mountain last year, Alan Averill (of Primordial and Void Of Silence notoriety) is back with a vengeance with the debut of his new Dread Sovereign project. After putting out a small EP last year, the group now see themselves hitting the scene hard this year with All Hell's Martyrs, a more concise delivery of ideas that's guaranteed to win over fans both with its eerie vibe and overall catchy atmosphere. Brace yourselves, kids: this one's a fucking banger.

Dread Sovereign expound upon the "heavy doom" ideal to an almost superior level, with All Hell's Martyrs containing enough thickness to satisfy BBW lovers the world over. The band's potent technique is established immediately with "Thirteen Clergy": pulsing, riff-heavy doom, with the vocals of Alan Averill as the icing on the cake that really helps to accentuate the vibe of the music and complete the overall formula. "Haunting" wouldn't necessarily be the best term to describe them, but they do have a very distinct, almost horror-esque tinge to them, like the tone your devious grandfather would take when telling you ghost stories past your bedtime after your parents consistently warned him not to. At the very least, the man knows how to deliver the goods.

Interestingly enough, perhaps even more so, All Hell's Martyrs also sees Dread Sovereign delving into slower, almost darkly atmospheric moods as well. The shorter tracks ("The Devil's Venom," "The Great Beast"), as well as some moments on "Cthulhu Opiate Haze" see a fine attention to a dreamlike, almost otherworldly sense of ambience, that forms a natural accompaniment to Averill's vocals and helps the music put you in the zone even more. This technique, however, sometimes feels a bit underdeveloped, and my only real complaint with the album was that it wasn't used more.

All in all, All Hell's Martyrs is without a doubt one of the better doom efforts of the year thus far, and as of now could possibly be considered as a contender for debut album of the year. The catchy riffs, the occasionally eerie atmosphere, the splendid vocals of Alan Averill, and even the well-executed guitar leads of the member referred to simply as "Bones" (just check out "We Wield The Spear Of Longinus") all combine to form one pretty damn solid effort, that definitely grows with time and has the potential to impress the more one listens to it. This album sets some high standards for Dread Sovereign to follow up on, and it's certainly one of the best modern doom efforts I've heard in quite a while. Play it loud, and doom on.