Dom Martin – Buried Alive
Forty Below Records – 2024
CD1: 9 tracks; 45.49 minutes
CD2: 7 tracks; 51.46 minutes
Northern Ireland’s Dom Martin has had a spectacular rise on the UK and European scene since his debut EP in 2019, consistently winning plaudits (and awards) for his music and garnering a strong reputation for his live shows where he often includes a solo acoustic segment alongside his usual electric show. This two CD set takes the best recordings from the tour that Dom did to promote his 2023 studio album, Buried In The Hail, CD1 being electric, CD2 solo acoustic. On CD1 Dom plays electric guitar/vocals, ably supported by bassist Ben Graham and drummer Aaron McLaughlin; on CD2 Dom plays solo acoustic/vocals, Demi Marriner joining him on one cut on rhythm guitar and vocals. The recordings are drawn from gigs in the UK, Belgium and Germany.
CD1 concentrates on songs from Buried In The Hail, just two coming from Dom’s other albums. Dom makes a relatively quiet start with “Daylight I Will Find”, his dobro giving the tune a slight country blues feel: “It’s been a long old road to ruin, daylight I will find”. “Government” has a folksy feel with rather muddied vocals but “Buried In The Hail” builds well from its gentle slide opening to a dark place, not least due to Dom’s deep, brooding vocals, the rhythm section crashing in at appropriate times to accentuate that feel of foreboding. “Howlin’” sounds like it should be a tribute to Howling Wolf, but, until some uptempo lead guitar mid-tune, it moves along more in a catchy country blues style. “Belfast Blues” is based round Dom’s rolling riff, from which he adds some occasional slide, followed by “Unhinged” which has plenty of screaming, distorted guitar work that fits the title. “Lefty 2 Guns” is the last title drawn from Buried In The Hail and returns to the brooding style that Dom seems to favor (including some bruising riffing) before he revisits two songs from earlier albums, both heavy rocking numbers, “12 Gauge” and “Dixie Black Hand”, the former using lots of slide, the latter having a gentler interlude in which bassist Ben shows his skills, before closing the disc with a blast of really heavy guitar.
CD2 finds Dom in more introspective mood as he opens with the title track of his debut EP “Easy Way Out”, coupled with the autobiographical “Belfast Blues” one of just two tracks from Buried In The Hail that appears in both electric and acoustic sets. You notice immediately that Dom is able to modulate his vocals from his usual gruff tone to a higher register which he deploys well here. As with most of the material here, Dom takes his time, this first track running well over ten minutes. Demi Marriner’s harmony vocal adds to the more optimistic feel of “Daylight I Will Find” on which Dom plays some good slide but the overall feel of these songs is perhaps summed up by lyrics like “I can’t swim, I’m only dragging you down; here comes the river, drown me in it” (“Here Comes The River”). Dom plays beautifully on “Hell For You”, opening with a flourish worthy of flamenco-style playing before settling into quieter mode for the rest of the song and the co-joined “Mercy”, another lengthy track that hits the ten minute mark. The last two tunes here are drawn from Dom’s Spain To Italy album, “Dealer” laying bare Dom’s previous experience of addiction in stark fashion and closing the set in dark and sombre mood.
These two discs encapsulate both faces of Dom Martin’s abilities, equally at home on electric guitar as he is in solo acoustic mode, a man on the rise on the European circuit.
