Dom Martin
Buried Alive
Double Live CD. 2024. Blues.

The Belfast blues musician's first double live CD will be released on December 13th, 2024. So let's hear what it sounds like when the highly acclaimed Northern Irishman hits the strings. Blues has to sound particularly good live, and can Dom Martin do that? I love the organic nature of blues. The light and also the heavy melancholy. That only comes across properly live, and yes, Dom can do it really well. There are now a few new greats in blues, Joe Bonamassa or Samantha Fish or Ally Venable, to name just three. All three are top on the guitar. They write their own songs. How does Dom stand out? Joe Bonamassa plays all kinds of blues and is very successful commercially, Samantha Fish is more classical, and Ally Venable can really rock too. Dom is in no way inferior to that. He seems fresher. His ballads are commercial and technically clean, and that's true even live. The sound is modern in general. I like the rock parts, where a little stoner influence flows in. Or the dirty old school ballads. Dom can do all of that. In my opinion, blues is only good live and so I was looking forward to reviewing Dom Martin's live CD. The CD was sent to me by V2/Bertus zur Verfügung gestellt.

The design looks good and gives me a 70s vibe. The set contains two CDs. Technically there is nothing to complain about, the sound is clean, the atmosphere comes across. And the latter is the most important thing in a live reproduction.

How does that sound now? The opener "Daylight I will Find" is beautiful southern blues. For blues, it's super clean and yet it works straight away. "Government" on the other hand is a very pretty commercial ballad and sounds perfect. For me, it lacks the dirty side and yet the beautiful sound doesn't throw me off. It continues southern with "Buried in the Hail" and I'm impressed by the versatility of Dom's voice. It sounds clean and technically top, but this voice makes it the first highlight for me. Highlight two follows immediately after with "Howlin". Again beautifully southern, with a fast beat and a cool long solo. Very vintage and yet modern. "Belfast Blues", again southern, is a lively homage to Dom's home town of Belfast. The fact that blues can still sound modern is something you get here again. And it has the blues that are alive. Highlight? Definitely. "Unhinged" starts off beautifully raw, reminiscent of Jimmi Hendrix. You just have to bob along. Best to listen to it loud! "Lefty 2 Guns" starts off nice and slow and creates a dark bar atmosphere. Could also fit well in a modern western. Maybe a bit too much "machismo", but musically it's a blast. Blues needs rhythm and Dom and his live band have that. "12 Gauge" hits you slidly, with a funky rhythm and exudes a lot of energy. "Dixie Black Hand" exudes New Orleans blues and ends the entertaining first CD.

CD two features three songs from the first CD, although played acoustically. I liked “Easy Way Out/Belfast Blues” straight away. Here we have a talented singer and guitarist. It’s a crisp 11 minutes long. “Hello in There/The Fall” sounds nice. Is this still blues? In terms of talent, the song develops and gets better. But it doesn’t quite grab my attention. “Daylight I will Find” feat Demi Marriner loses a bit in the duet and doesn’t take me along like it did on CD 1. “Here Comes the River/12 Gauge” starts off more quietly. Southern blues, more thought-provoking in its melancholy. The second part finally brings the pace back up, more life to CD 2. “Dog Eat Dog” is too long-winded, too smooth, too nice for me. I’m slowly coming to a conclusion. But first comes “Hell for You/Mercy”. The guitar is beyond reproach. But also lacks pep. It all flows along, a ballad. "Mercy" doesn't make it any better. Without the virtuoso guitar playing I would be out (technically everything is great) and I hope that "Dealer" will get me back in. Here too I miss the pep at the beginning, but it's definitely not a bad song and my patience is rewarded and the drive returns.

I could make my conclusion short. CD 1 has the right mix of drive, ballad and atmosphere. Technically perfect blues, good voice, lively blues. All my highlights can be found here.
CD 2 is also technically perfect. And yet the spark doesn't jump across. The songs are too long for that. Of course, that's just my subjective perception and doesn't change the quality of the performance. Overall, the double CD is a clear recommendation for blues lovers. And for me, CD 1 remains. Dom Martin has the blues.

The photos are all from my CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.