Martyr

Martyr – I really enjoy being pleasantly surprised among the hundreds of scents I encounter, many of which feel derivative, mediocre, copied, bland, and lacking any sense of storytelling as they project on the skin. This time, the fragrance truly surprised me... and in a hugely positive way. Starting with the name – a brilliant idea, followed by an even better concept and execution of the bottle design. And then the juice itself: the composition/blend, longevity... What intrigued me the most, though, was the evolution over time, which I perceive as a coherent story. There’s also a sense of maturity and craftsmanship from the creator that ties it all together. Bravo. I’m doubly satisfied, even more so because the scent truly aligns with my specific taste. I absolutely LOVE perfume brand debuts like this. Instead of a few “meh” scents, we get a solid “TA-DA!” The perfume opens strong and dark – for me, it evokes the smell of smoldering wood burning near... a factory. Over time, the scent becomes increasingly woody, with a darker aroma reminiscent of an old forest, damp undergrowth. In the drydown, I see a picture forming of brighter resinous, woody, and green notes emerging – especially oakmoss – although the smoky opening still lingers, like a powerful inhale of scent that stays in your nostrils and on your clothes from the beginning. This is a really cool creation, with an interesting evolution and truly good, or maybe even great, performance. The opening somewhat reminded me of Black Tar (Parfumerie Particulière), and also a bit of Incendo (La Curie). Highly recommended – and major applause to the Artist behind this work.

"Are there any perfumes that remind you of Saint Sebastian? That evoke the images of him tied to a tree, impaled with arrows, in transcendant ecstacy and/or pain?"- idiotghost Martyr by Profundum smells exactly as this anonymous user described. It's heavy and it's rough, yet it manages to bring me some comfort. This fragrance smells like a like religious trauma or like a soul of an atheist with a very religious past, enchanted in a perfume bottle. It's a truly interesting perfume. Also, it reminds me a bit of Vi et Armis by BeauFort London, but without that irritating to some herbal note, that I suppose is meant to be opium. On the side note, it's quite surprising to me that this perfume had it's premiere in June and not in some colder month. It's not a summer scent at all, and I suggest that anyone who thinks otherwise should become a martyr themselves for the greater good. Edit.: hey, so I just wanted to add that I'm a hypocrite and I've already worn this fragrance twice this summer. Both times in the evening, but still, in the summer. Don't get me wrong, I still don't think it's a summer perfume, but surprisingly it worked out pretty well both times. Probably because of it's absolute lack of sweetness, characteristic for most heavy fragrances.

Love from the first try. A burned down church in the middle of the forest. Initially I get this blast of sharp metallic tingles in my nose, as if it was nails burned in a campfire. Then, the scent settles more into this beautiful charred wood. It is very realistic, yet still creative. The fragrance is not linear, it progresses with you throughout the day. What is interesting, is that it is one of my most complimented perfumes. I get comments about how pleasant and interesting the smoke feel is. When I tell people what are the notes, they usually act surprised such a combination can smell so pleasant. It seems unapproachable, but it is such a nicely composed and blended work that it truly is quite approachable. Yes, it is still very dark, and definitely not for everyone, but for a right person it will be an amazing perfume to compliment a dark outfit.

This is what black metal smells like! But seriously, it’s the scent of rebellion and love for nature. At first, you’re hit by a fresh-spicy, and even slightly metallic blast, but it quickly transforms into a smoky, leathery, charcoal-like, and forest-like scent. Like a bonfire in a Norwegian woods. You can smell the pines, other trees, and resins all around. After a few hours, the fragrance calms down significantly and becomes an ode to nature and forests. It smells resinous, woody, fresh, and green and alive, as if the forest itself is rising from ashes. To me, it’s a journey from rebellion to acceptance, from destruction to rebirth... The scent feels very natural yet quite heavy. The performance is excellent, with strong projection at first, gradually softening with each passing hour.

My first ever blind buy, and what a buy it was! I love the idea of smoky and earthy scents, but usually they end up just being overbearing in person. However Martyr manages to feel slightly light within that darkness. The name is truly perfect, a dark struggle but with heavenly absolution. The longer I’ve had this scent the more it takes on new shapes for me. The first ever whiff was only woodsmoke (a really nice one though). Now it’s a symphony of smoke, some light metallics, a top note that’s almost cola and a lush base of moss. I’ve noticed that the moss becomes almost too much in rainy weather, so I would recommend this more as a wintery scent. This is truly a scent that can manage to change the way you feel, in the same way that a song is able to. Oh how I love it!

very strongly smoky opening, slowly develops into piney/mossy smell. there definetely is something rebellious about it. even though the strong burnt charcoal, almost sour! note seemed overpowering at first, it is elegant and balanced enough for wearing it casually. the resin-like aromas are noticable enough for others around you, but closer to skin a warm earthiness of (...almost?) patchouli emerges. best qualities of a campfire put out by the rain, a cigarette on a damp autumn evening, i would love to wear it with a heavy, scratchy woolen coat, with its hairs biting my collar just as the smokiness bites my nose ;) experimental, yet simple enough to work. 8.5/10

I can only see nuances that distinguish Martyr from Adi Ale Van’s Dilema. And of course the practical side of it is that this one is available for purchase... Very sophisticated gothic style, a bit more occidental when compared to Dilema, probably because of the lacking saffron and papyrus impressions. Otherwise woody, leathery, a bit toasted woods, spice. There is a heritage line from Jacomo de Jacomo, through Jovoy’s Private Label and probably others that I am not familiar with. Yet there is enough innovation and creativity to certainly make it worth trying for anyone into the genre.

I Never did review before, but this Diamond got me, if you like nature, dark,woody, smoky, in Perfumes, Martyr is for you, for me Gives feeling like Home and Protection at the same time. And feels like to be in the forest with really really old spiritual people next to the fire with drums and haveing some kind of ritual for warriors Really Really must have 🙌 And Dominik is one of the best and kindest guy i ever seen in perfume life. For me it was blind buy, the first one, but falling in love Instantly , He's the best 🏆🏅🥇

Charred wood, leather, and metal. It’s like you’re walking through a forest that is on fire... This fragrance is most certainly not for everyone but it’s perfect for those who love wearing heavy smoked scents. I personally love it so much. I want to add to this review. Martyr exudes that sort of post apocalyptic world smell where everything is made out of metal, power cables hang dangerously low, and smoke arises from every factory still standing..strange and powerful in all its metallic nuances.

I love this perfume, it is extremely woody, extremely Smokey with an undertone of metal. I can smell a bit of pine sap dripping down the seemingly burning tree crosses deep in a dark woods. Very strong smell, maybe best to spray on clothes instead of skin, but alas, still very pleasant

Absolutny majstersztyk, z początku bardzo, bardzo dymny, czuć żar, który dosłownie pali w nos, następnie wkracza w nieziemski leśny klimat, czuć mech, dogasające ognisko, żywiczne i skórzane nuty. Uwielbiam nosić ten zapach na ubraniach - cudo.

I have a unused bottle of this fragrance. Number 79 out of 200. If anyone is interested in trading or buying, write me a message on instagram: bozobenceferenc

This sure is something. It's so atmospheric, smoky, piney, waxy, dark dry resin sap. This is what fire dancing in an old church would smell like. Adore.

Just like Fatale, this too is really good. I feel like I should have worn Martyr before Fatale so that my following comments would take into consideration which fragrance came out first, but you'll get what I mean anyways. Martyr in some ways is like a less approachable version of Fatale, focusing even more on the charred woods/ember-like facets of the house's DNA (as of the time I'm writing this). Martyr also has hefty amounts of thick smoke and incense over these charred woods and embers, as well as very mild green, almost camphorous undertones, which give the scent a rather "natural" edge, like it's representing a recently constructed wooden chapel on fire. During the mid dry down this becomes very leathery, but surprisingly smooth and not gasoline-y like Cuoium, for example, whereas the deeper dry down is dominated by ambers and some remaining woodiness from the opening. Unfortunately I already gave my sample away but this reminded me of BeauFort's Rake & Ruin, although I'd say this is much more wearable than the BeauFort, as Rake & Ruin is very intensely smokey and spicy. Overall I see the appeal of this fragrance and I think I'd go as far as owning it (Fatale too), although it is hard to come across and limited to 200 bottles from what I understand. Performance was disappointing but I'll give Martyr the benefit of the doubt as I sprayed it off a sample and the scent is quite woody, so there might have been some nose blindness at play. Projection and sillage were both very light, I wasn't really catching whiffs of this throughout the day, even right after spraying this on me. Neither my mom nor my sister said anything about the scent (and I know they dislike intensely smokey fragrances) so projection was very intimate. Longevity is great, as expected from such a dense fragrance, reaching 8 hours with ease.

Rats. Unfortunately this is really underwhelming. I wanted to love it because I think the bottle design is super creative (and I'm not even normally a fan of flashy bottle art), but the scent itself is pretty forgettable. Mainly just dry woods and faint smoke paired with a subtle band-aid aroma. Maybe some incense. The description on the site mentions yakisugi, which is a Japanese method of flame-curing cedar to preserve it, but I'm getting more of a hinoki thing. Sometimes I've had a hinoki scent read like "bandages" when applied, and that's what I'm getting here as well. It's definitely not unpleasant by any means, but there's this trend lately where it seems like up-and-coming perfumers are taking cues from how Imaginary Authors adds one fantasy note to each scent, and then they crank that idea up to eleven by adding a bunch of other fantasy notes to the pyramid (splinters, nails, and yakisugi in this case). Then they put some melodramatic slam poetry in the write-up and hope it keeps people from noticing the scent itself is just kinda mid at best. Personally I'm not a huge fan of that approach. Plenty of people will argue that this is fine art for whatever reason, and I think those people have really terrific imaginations, but if you're on the fence, and especially if you're considering a blind buy, this legitimately isn't something you need to rush to purchase IMO. You're likely to wind up having bought yourself a really expensive, cool-looking paperweight. That said, the write-up sorta admits this is a scent all about teen angst, and I think that's actually really accurate. It's a scent for angsty teens, so if you're one of those, disregard this whole review and go blow your allowance on it. For grown adults, definitley sample first to confirm you love it before taking the plunge. It takes forever for the house to ship samples, but it's worth it to save a couple hundred bucks. Other smoky, angsty scents I prefer over this: Rook, Lita, Terroni, Moth, A City on Fire, T Rex, Terror & Magnificence, Iron Duke, Coeur de Noir

Synthetic Metallic leather with a little bit of pine, on the base of ebene fume. Nothing really special, it smells good, but its nothing new.

a perverts dream... this is one of those unfathomable, and slightly uncomfortable, things you would smell in a dingy club but your intoxicated body would be turned on by, because the sweat and alcohol would mix with the wood soooo well as it always does on strangers skin. to ever get my hands on something like this permanently would make me cum in my pants in all honesty..

Got this on skin and it’s dark loud and kind of unhinged smoky leathery church vibes straight away not trying to be pretty or mass appealing it feels intense and serious like you either get it or you don’t not a crowd pleaser but it has character and that’s why i respect it honestly feels more like an art piece than a perfume

I just recieved a sample of this, and for us swedes and norther guys, this one smells EXACTLY like a dilluted "beckolja", wich is a derivative from tar extraction and used as a mosquito repellant for us northerners. Im not sayin it's bad, but this fragrance is perfect for people who want to smell like a true out doors man.

If anyone in the USA got a bottle of this and wants to sell it or trade please dm me on my frag page @king_unicdailyfragrances 🙏🏾🙏🏾

Absolutely everything I love in a bottle, and absolutely unavailable in my region. 😐

Forget everything else, I'm in love with this bottle.

This is a cold gothic catholic church. Love it.