Martin Grech is another one of those “happy accident” finds. I first encountered Grech’s song Heritage while watching the credits to the film The Devil’s Chair. It’s a great, country blues like song about facing your demons. I was immediately hooked and had to find out who made the song (which took quite a lot of digging). That was when I ran across Unholy.
Unholy is rather different than Grech’s more available album, March Of The Lonely. With March Of The Lonely there is a lot of acoustic guitar and slow pace. The entire album is almost Dead Can Dance style. Unholy however is more of a metal album. It is heavy, raw, and deals with dark subject matter like death and insanity. Tracks like “I Am Chromosome” and “Guiltless” are driven by electric guitars, heavy beats and Grech’s fierce vocals. His singing goes from moderate screaming at times to deep, somber whispering. With “Erosion and Regeneration” it is simply Grech reading in a very creepy manner with somber ambient music slightly buried underneath his vocals.
Some like to compare this album to Nine Inch Nails’ Downward Spiral. It’s an understandable comparison, but Martin Grech’s Unholy is so much better. It’s more emotional, more raw, heavy and a lot more creepy. A perfect combination. Admittedly, it is a little mean of me to write up a review of this album. The only reason is because it is a difficult album to find. Seek it out though. It is well worth the hunt.
Check out the video to Guiltless below. The visuals created for the music are just as creepy as the song and will fire up your desire to find this album.