Industrial black metal is a subgenre frequently invoked by the faithful, a mixture of old school darkness and modern cityscape hellishness, and it's often done well but not always originally. Sure, the precursors and originators of the style - Mysticum and Blacklodge especially - have their influence still felt, but by and large those who walk their own path within the subgenre are rare indeed. Mysterious French project Der Märtyrer don't especially come over as unique if you spend a lot of time researching industrial black's depths, yet there's a lot to recommend on this debut release, a sub-twenty minute exploration of digital darkness.

The band name those originators as direct influences, along with everyone from Atari Teenage Riot to The Prodigy, and you can hear shades of all on the four numbered pieces here, each having its own style. Opener I is fuzzy and violent, beginning with shrieking feedback before hypnotic blasting percussion and snarled vocals come in, one of the most straightforwardly black metal pieces present albeit with plenty of electronic bells and whistles in the background. II, conversely, is slower and groovier, more dub influence evident in the rhythmic pounding beneath an almost Dødheimsgardian instrumental palette and bellowed vocals.

That's followed by the more intense tones of III, with what sounds like French lyrics spoken and snarled above a nearly catchy beat, speeding up halfway through with, again, what sounds like a snuff movie sample - disturbingly effective. IV thereafter is a return to the fuzzy opener, albeit with less blackened blasting and more of a club beat beneath it all. The project state Antaeus as an influence and you mainly can hear this more in the disturbing atmospherics of their sound rather than anything more directly musical, but IV's darker and more aggressive heaviness does remind you of the band's countrymen. Obviously, there's a long way to go before they rival them for true, deep profundity, but as a new project Der Märtyrer are more than welcome and this is a fine introductory release.