Martyrmachine interview: ‘Efficiency Justifies Everything’, Łódź and live drums

Martyrmachine are an EBM and electro-industrial duo from Łódź, Poland, whose new album “Efficiency Justifies Everything” arrived on 26 June 2026. The nine-track record pairs Jakub M. Kasiński’s electronics and vocals with Szymon Adamiak’s live drums, and turns capitalist discipline, technological alienation and post-industrial Łódź into rhythm. The project grew out of Kasiński’s earlier solo work as Martyr, started in 2018, was renamed Martyrmachine in December 2022, and gained its second member when Adamiak joined in June 2023.

In this interview for Side-Line Magazine, Martyrmachine speak with us about the album’s title and themes, the shift from Martyr to Martyrmachine, what live drums change in a programmed sound, their use of Polish and English lyrics, the Łódź poetry behind several tracks, their reinterpretation of Sodom’s “Nuclear Winter”, and why they treat a concert as physical confrontation rather than a clean playback.

Martyrmachine interview

Karo: “Efficiency Justifies Everything” sounds like a title that could belong equally to a corporate manual, a political slogan, or a dystopian commandment. Where did this phrase come from, and what does it say about the world you wanted to confront on this Martyrmachine album?

Jakub: The title is basically the sum of all the options you mentioned. For many people, its negative tone probably passes them by completely, and they see it as something entirely normal: efficiency above everything. Mainstream media and society in general are primarily interested in economic growth and climbing higher in global rankings, rather than the human-capital cost that all of this entails.

That is largely what the album is about, although it is not a coherent, linear story. It is more a cross-section of phenomena appearing within galloping capitalism from the end of the nineteenth century up to today.

Szymon: You have put together three possible interpretations of our title quite well. In my view, however, it refers most strongly to the “dystopian commandment”. Of course, most of the work on the album rested on Jakub’s shoulders, but I think its final shape was influenced not only by his internal struggles, but also by direct experience of the system we currently live in, as well as our travels in Poland and abroad. I fully agree with Jakub, and if I were to add something from myself, it would be the permanent feeling of the pressure of success propaganda mixed with collective brainwashing in the context of a collapsing, post-industrial city.

Karo: The press description presents this Martyrmachine album as a manifesto against a world ruled by efficiency, control, and technological alienation. How personal is this critique for you? Is it mostly directed at society and systems, or also at the way individuals internalize these demands and begin to discipline themselves?

Jakub: I do not think it is possible to criticise the system without also touching on the question of the individual people who create that system and function within quiet consent. I address this especially in my own lyrics. In some tracks, we used poems written over the past century that deal with similar subjects. My own texts speak precisely about individuals functioning in the realities of the modern world, whether they live passively inside it or try to influence it somehow.

Szymon: For me, this strike against the system has quite a personal meaning. As a person who has been unwillingly pushed into the gears of the capitalist machine, unfortunately from the lower social layers, working on this album was something like a cold shower after a long, exhausting journey. Even though I am able to move within today’s socio-economic reality, it was a kind of salvation for me. I will not go into the subject of victims internalising the violence inflicted on them, but I can say that such references can also be found in our music.

Karo: Martyrmachine began as Jakub’s solo project Martyr in 2018 and later changed shape, name, and sound. Looking back at “CONCRETE” and “Fabryka Żalu”, what did those earlier releases teach you about the language of the project, and what did you know had to change before “Efficiency Justifies Everything”?

Jakub: The most important change was definitely recording live drums, which already happened during the digital release of the “Fabryka Żalu” EP. In that case, however, it was only a refreshed version of an old track that had already existed and been released earlier. With “Efficiency Justifies Everything”, it was different. Here, the tracks were created and shaped alongside the drums, which certainly influenced their final form and made the whole thing sound more coherent. My recording and mixing skills also improved, which made it possible to express the whole concept more effectively through sound.

Szymon: I do not feel competent to answer this question, so I will leave the stage to Jakub.

Karo: The name change from Martyr to Martyrmachine feels important. It suggests not only transformation, but also a collision between suffering, mechanism, sacrifice, and industrial force. What did the new name allow you to express that the original name could not fully contain?

Jakub: In fact, these two entities should be separated with a very thick line. One ended when the other began. They differ from each other drastically in form and content, to such an extent that I think I will stop mentioning “Martyr” at all as the beginning of Martyrmachine: two separate projects, close only in name. These are my very current thoughts, though, so anything may still happen. The whole transformation is actually a reflection of my own internal maturation, from very personal and emotional dark electro to socially engaged industrial music.

Szymon: As above.

Karo: Szymon joined Martyrmachine in 2023, bringing live drums into a form of music often associated with programming, machines, and strict electronic structures. How did this change the physicality of Martyrmachine? Did it make the music more human, more violent, more unpredictable, or perhaps more machine-like in a different way?

Jakub: I think that, in general, human and machine complement each other perfectly. In fact, one cannot exist without the other. Every machine has to be programmed; for now, nothing can come into being without the human factor. Live drums certainly make it possible to balance more effectively between the rawness of electronics and evenly arranged samples, and the humanism and margin of error that add authenticity to the sound, especially during concerts.

Szymon: I will not replace the machine, but I am forced to cooperate with it. That margin of error is exciting on stage, but also technically demanding. The machine does not slow down, it does not wait. In short, it does not forgive. Is it not far more interesting to watch such a struggle on stage than to allow a drum machine to do its job without any unnecessary fuss?

Karo: You describe the Martyrmachine sound as balancing aggression and melancholy, mechanical rhythm and emotional weight. How do you keep that balance from becoming either too polished or too chaotic? Is there a point in the studio where you know a track has found the right amount of dirt, discipline, and feeling?

Jakub: Here, everything mostly comes out in the wash, as the saying goes. The balance finds its own place during the process. If the demo version really leans too far in one direction, then usually it is no longer considered as a candidate for Martyrmachine and ends up as one of many unfinished projects on my hard drive. Occasionally I may even finish such a project, but it still remains in the “for the drawer” category, at least for now.

Szymon: In this area, Jakub makes the decisions, so I give him the whole floor.

Karo: The album includes Polish titles such as “Przy Pracy”, “Styczeń”, “Redukcja” and “Na Barykady!”, alongside English-language titles like “Modern Man / Modern Times” and “Techniques Of Propaganda”. How do you decide which language belongs to a song? Does Polish give you a different emotional or political charge than English?

Jakub: Three of the four Polish-language tracks were created as part of a special repertoire for a concert in the “Zawieje” series, organised by Łukasz Pawlak, our publisher. Because of the location and circumstances, we could not play our usual concert then, so we prepared a special set consisting mostly of completely new tracks. For the lyrical layer, we used texts from an anthology of poetry about Łódź titled “Kwiaty Łódzkie”, which is where the Polish language came from. As a curiosity, I can add that this was our only, and probably last, performance using a guitar.

Szymon: For me, it is a healthy linguistic balance. As a patriot, I would like to express myself mainly in my native language, but of course English can reach the vast majority of listeners.

Karo: The first Martyrmachine single pairs “Reform Yourself” with a reinterpretation of Sodom’s “Nuclear Winter”. Covering a thrash metal classic within an EBM/electro-industrial context is an interesting gesture. What drew you to that song, and how did you approach translating its energy into the Martyrmachine language without simply imitating the original?

Jakub: “Nuclear Winter” is a great song, and the opening riff is simply iconic. One day it was stuck in my head so persistently that I had to play it on something, and because my guitar was broken, I played it on a keyboard. In my teenage years, I was very deeply into thrash and related things, and out of those biggest legendary bands, Sodom was my favourite. In a way, I am still connected to that environment, because in another band I am a member of, we play thrash.

Privately, as I get older, I am more drawn to new-wave black metal, but I gladly return to things from years ago with a large dose of nostalgia. When I sat down to work on the cover, I knew I would definitely have to slow it down a little. 194 bpm is simply too much for our style; it would have become very unclear and the whole thing would have lost its point of impact. I also cut out the middle section of the original to keep the dynamics and leave only the meat. In my opinion, the balance between the metal roots and the electronic interpretation came out exactly right.

Szymon: The decision was made individually by Jakub. I am not a huge fan of thrash metal, but I have a lot of trust in our vocalist when it comes to choosing songs to cover.

Karo: I saw Martyrmachine live at Wrocław Industrial Festival 2024, and what struck me immediately was how physical Martyrmachine felt on stage. The live percussion and self constructed iron instrumentation did not function as decoration, but as part of the body of the performance. How important is this visual and physical dimension for you? Do you see a Martyrmachine concert as a presentation of songs, or rather as a ritual of pressure, noise, movement, and confrontation?

Jakub: I would lean rather toward the second option. I really like creating an elevated and slightly theatrical atmosphere during concerts. The whole thing can even be treated a bit like a performance, although more improvised than directed. We have a skeleton in the form of the setlist, but everything else can differ greatly between two consecutive shows. Physicality and authenticity live are at the core of what we do. After all, it is electronic BODY music, so something very bodily and tangible. When you come to a concert, you want to feel emotions, almost touch them. That is exactly the kind of experience we want to give the audience, and fortunately it comes to us very naturally.

Szymon: I fully agree with Jakub. For me, a concert should be something more than a played sequence of sounds. I also like acting a bit and I feel good with it. I have the impression that the audience usually buys into it, and because of that it allows for a higher level of immersion.

Karo: “Efficiency Justifies Everything” is described as a new chapter and a clear step forward. Once this album is out in the world, where do you imagine Martyrmachine going next? Do you feel drawn toward making the sound harsher, more melodic, more theatrical, more industrial, or is the future of the project something you prefer to discover through friction rather than planning?

Jakub: For me, everything is born more from impulses than from a strictly arranged plan, or even intentions and visions. Future releases will certainly overlap to a large extent with the previous ones, but I am not yet able to say how they will differ. If someone is very curious about new material, we invite them to the concerts. That is where new creations can be heard first.

Szymon: Difficult question. I have no idea what the future will bring. We are certainly managing to make efficient use of various opportunities; who knows how they will shape us?

About Martyrmachine

Martyrmachine are an EBM and electro-industrial duo based in Łódź, Poland. The project began as Martyr, the solo work of Jakub M. Kasiński, started in 2018, and released early material including “CONCRETE” and the “Fabryka Żalu” EP. In December 2022 Kasiński renamed the project Martyrmachine, marking a turn from personal dark electro toward socially engaged industrial music. In June 2023 drummer Szymon Adamiak joined, adding live percussion to a sound built on electronics, samples and self-constructed iron instrumentation.

The duo mix programmed EBM and electro-industrial structures with live drums, Polish and English lyrics, and themes of capitalist discipline, labour and post-industrial Łódź. They performed at Wrocław Industrial Festival in 2024. On 23 January 2026 they issued the single “Reform Yourself”, paired with a cover of Sodom’s “Nuclear Winter”, as a 7″ through Requiem Records. Several Polish-language songs grew out of a set prepared for the “Zawieje” concert series run by their publisher Łukasz Pawlak, using poems from the Łódź anthology “Kwiaty Łódzkie”.

“Efficiency Justifies Everything”, released digitally on 26 June 2026, runs nine tracks: “Przy Pracy”, “Reform Yourself”, “Styczeń”, “Threads”, “Modern Man/Modern Times”, “Redukcja”, “Na Barykady!”, “The Other Cheek” and “Techniques Of Propaganda”. In this interview, Kasiński and Adamiak from Martyrmachine place the album in that timeline, describing it as a record where live drums and programmed structures meet under pressure rather than resolve into comfort.