In the footsteps of Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore, we now have a new Irish singer/songwriter/guitarist for this generation, Dom Martin. Well, only partially. Unlike those guitar heroes, Martin has principally made his mark as an acoustic guitarist. Martin has won The UK Blues Award for Acoustic Act of the Year for three consecutive years, 2020-2022, and Instrumentalist of the Year for two consecutive years. These honors have placed him in the UK Blues Hall of Fame already. Buried in the Hail is Martin’s third album and arguably his most diverse and fully realized effort as it contains both acoustic and electric roots and blues songs with his trio of Ben Graham on acoustic and electric bass and Jonny McIlroy on drums. The album was recorded in Dublin and produced by the Grammy-nominated Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy.
It reflects a more mature Martin who has several songs on the album recounting his rowdier more youthful persona. The album is bookended with a couple of instrumentals highlighting Martin’s fingerpicking skills. “Hello in There” opens and “Laid to Rest” closes. The back porch acoustic stomper “Day I Will Find” resembles the kind of blues found in Mississippi rather than the Emerald Isle and again it’s Martin’s guitar work that stands out. On the other hand, haunting Celtic strains imbue “Government,” which lyrically suggests a politically rife song. but Martin is non-committal in his explanation, explaining that he’s apolitical. Like Dylan was in his political phase, Martin is reluctant to offer an explanation. “Belfast Blues,” named for his native locale, speaks to his untamed days with the kind of riveting acoustic picking that recalls artists like Kelly Joe Phelps and Chris Smither.
Always cognizant of including one cover on this album, Martin turns to a song he can relate to, Willie Nelson’s “Crazy,” sounding nothing like Willie or Patsy Cline in his downtempo rendition which has a much heavier dose of melancholy than expected, and the sound of his electric, slide-oriented guitar for the first time. “Unhinged” is a crunchy electric-driven shuffle with echoes of those aforementioned electric guitar heroes. The standout guitar track “The Fall” is a brooding tune, mesmerizing and hypnotic through both Martin’s vocal and gentle picking. The melancholy likely points to the fall of our society in general, expressing the global view that we’re just not as nice to each other as we used to be.
As you likely guessed “Howlin’” is indeed for that muscular stomping blues of Howlin’ Wolf. The title track, carries similar resonating tones of “The Fall,” clearly just the type of tune that’s in Martin’s wheelhouse, where his spooky vocal is inextricably woven into his guitar lines. There’s a middle section spiked with distant voices, that makes the tune even edgier, and McIlroy’s clattering of cymbals only adds to the drama toward the close. “Lefty 2 Guns” is a short narrative of a hitman, which according to Martin “ends this show by killing the parts I can’t have anymore.” Electric guitar merges with the acoustic here to deliver a mix of spooky and angry. Then Martin eases out quietly in the instrumental closer, leaving us impressed but honestly a bit baffled in the process. It’s hard to pin down must where he’s coming from lyrically in his songs but the sonic journey is ultimately rewarding.
