[9/10] Since 1995, Quebec, Canada’s Martyr has steadily improved upon its over-the-top brand of death metal. In 2006, the group released Feeding the Abscess, a recording built onto the group’s ongoing momentum, elevating their profile to that of groups such as Death, Atheist and Cynic. Although the group’s name doesn’t draw a vast amount of recognition such as a Death, the amount of talent the group possesses is undeniable. Havoc in Quebec City chronicles the group’s superb talent with a 15-song live set, bonus live songs, and a lengthy documentary.

The production values for the live set are fantastic. The multiple cameras allow for each musician to show off his individual talent, and there is much talent here. A variety of lights and a large banner create colorful images of the band raging through classic tracks. Martyr plays a set that includes tracks from throughout their career, although the bulk of the set consists of material from Feeding the Abscess. What this portion of the DVD is all about, though, is grasping the group’s extraordinary playing.

Martyr masterfully creates off-time signatures, but unlike groups such as Meshuggah, Martyr executes numerous changes. A typical Martyr song has so many personalities it could confuse Charles Manson. The randomness of their changes is not beyond comprehension, though, for Martyr produces memorable parts. The clear, close footage affords the watcher an even greater understanding of what the group is doing, in particular the drummer. The only negative point of the live set is Daniel Mongrain’s guitar is barely audible, which nullifies his complex leads.

The issue of Mongrain’s guitar does not appear on the bonus live tracks. Martyr compiled this portion of the disc from various shows, mostly Canadian festivals. Many of these shows do not feature light shows of such extravagance as the show at the Imperial, nor is the crowd as hyped, but the sound trumps the other show. One video of interest, “Virtual Emotions,” was taken from the Imperial set, but includes a novel concept: The entire footage is of the drummer. Another highlight is Martyr’s coverage of the Voivod song, “Brain Scan, where they bring out former bassist Blacky.

The documentary portion consists of a thorough look at the band, from their immature beginning to their current world-class musician status. The film offers a complete history of the group, including the recording of each album, tours, memorable shows, lyrics, commentary by current and former members, and an explanation of their name and logo.

During the segment on recording Feeding the Abscess, Martyr gives details on using Blacky on “Brain Scan,” which the group recorded not only as an homage to one of their idols, but as a tribute to (now deceased Voivod guitarist) Piggy.

Near the end of the documentary, a number of people involved in the music biz give the band an excellent plug. One of the cooler scenes involved Matt Heavy of Trivium talking about Jason Sucof turning him onto the band. Heavy actually sites their guitarists as influences for creating side-ways rhythms, and admits that Warp Zone is not quite within his prowess.

Havoc in Quebec City is an excellent video, definitely a must for fans of the group or fans of progressive/technical death metal in general. Because their music is so fast, complicated and random it may just be too much for the senses, but watching a live performance of Martyr’s, albeit one on the tele, really puts their music into perspective. The only drawbacks of this DVD are no video clips and the poor guitar sound during the live set. These facets are minor, though, it would take a major catastrophe to ruin these Canuck’s music!

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