MARTIKOR is a Progressive Death Metal band based in California, USA. Formed in 2021, they released a debut album titled “Soliloquy” and are now back with the follow up, titled “Acedia.” The album has seven songs. “Soothing Battle” is first. The song is powerful, and bleak. The picture painted is one of pain, anguish, and regret, and the violin notes sound like tears trickling down your face. The sound shifts and roars back with anger at the end, however. “Elegy” has a wavering sound that shifts back and forth from melancholy and sad to angry and hateful, sounding like the tortured mind of a lunatic.

“Coiled” begins with somber clean guitars, and some vocal moans. It sounds like the calm period that often follows a bout of anger. You crawl back into bed and try to forget about it, but it still gnaws at you. “A Tremor in Infinity” has deeper, darker, and more ominous tones. The clean vocals sound excruciating, and the harsh vocals hit like lashes from a whip. The little reprieve that you do get from the pain is not very soothing at all. “Born Among Thorns” also begins with melancholy tones, but the pain lurking in the background is just enough to keep the listener from relaxing. Indeed, when it comes to fruition, it is a full ten on the infamous pain scale.

“Awake (Bidar)” sounds like you have come to the part of the album’s journey where you can no longer mask the pain. So, you embrace it, let it turn you into a monster, and wear it proudly on the outside. The title track closes the album. At the end of the day, you are just tired of the fight…the demons…the fact that you can’t ever clear your head. “Acedia” means spiritual or mental sloth; apathy. That is exactly what you get out of the album. So much pain and torture can take a toll on someone. After walking around with it inside you for decades, you reach the point where you retreat inside yourself and become sloth, one of the seven deadly sins.