UMUR
"Pageantry for Martyrs" is the second full-length studio album by Italian death metal act Hour of Penance. The album was released through Xtreem Music in June 2005. It´s the successor to "Disturbance" from 2003 and features a couple of lineup changes since the debut as lead vocalist/bassist Mike Viti has been replaced by Alex Manco (on vocals). Guitarist Francesco De Honestis has also left and has been replaced by Giulio Moschini. No new bassist has been added to the ranks, so the bass parts were recorded by the two guitarists Giulio Moschini and Enrico Schettino. Drummer (additional screaming vocalist) Mauro Mercurio reprises his role from "Disturbance (2003)".
First off new lead vocalist Manco has a very similar sounding growling vocal style to his predecessor, so you probably wouldn´t be able to tell that there´s been a lead vocalist change if you didn´t know it. Manco has a brutal growling style with a slight aggressive edge to it, and his vocals work well with the instrumental part of the music. "Disturbance (2003)" was a promising brutal and technically well played death metal release, and while the promise maybe wasn´t completely fullfilled on that album, "Pageantry for Martyrs" delivers more fully on the promise.
The material is sharp, brutal, and gloomy, featuring loads of tempo changes, breaks, and good variation between blasting and mid-paced parts. It´s a crushingly brutal release in every way possible, but Hour of Penance still manage to incorporate enough changes and catchy brutal moments to their songs, to make "Pageantry for Martyrs" a strong and memorable release throughout. The raw yet detailed and brutal sounding production also helps the album to shine and the many powerful and skillfully played riffs and rhythms are great assets too. I hear an (early) Immolation influence in the music, but I´m sure Hour of Penance won´t mind being mentioned as their peers.
Upon conclusion "Pageantry for Martyrs" deserves to be mentioned much more than it does, when people discuss great brutal death metal releases, and Hour of Penance as a band too. I hate to use the word underrated because it´s a strongly subjective way of viewing a release, but "Pageantry for Martyrs" certainly deserves any praise it has gotten since its release and it definitely get a strong recommendation from me. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.