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More from Varanis_Ridari
Here is the latest in my series of classic metal reviews. I'm probably going to lay off the death metal for a while after this, because it's turning me into a one-trick-pony of sorts. The last review highlighted a very important band from the Swedish scene, and this one is about a historic band in the U.S. scene from the same year. If you've never heard Master, here's a sample:
Master - Master (song from album of the same name)
As always, here's the review for those who don't want a file:
Master – Master (1990)
Front man Paul Speckmann has had so many iterations of his marque band over the years that it is quite possible to hear the same song recorded by four different projects. Nevertheless, Master has proven his most memorable namesake, and the eponymous debut album took five years to make in order to prove why. Mr. Speckmann first formed Master after leaving the band War Cry as a reaction to the band wanting to play more conventional heavy metal whilst him and his supporters wanted to keep the music fast and intense as the band had done so far. Master would write a few songs and fall apart before Speckmann would keep the ball rolling by forming Death Strike and continue work on pretty much the same sound.
Death Strike would see War Cry guitarist Chris Mittlebrun join them, and then released a single demo before Speckmann disposed of the drummer and replaced him with Bill Schmidt renaming the group back to Master; the legendary self-produced demo tape that was originally meant to be completed as a full-length debut was then recorded, but became traded as a bootleg when Master made business choices that led to their contract being torn up before they could do any more work. Speckmann would then abandon Master and create a band called Funeral Bitch (after the title of a song written for Master), recorded some of the same songs yet again in demo form, plus some new compositions, before jumping ship again to the band Abomination, which would ultimately receive a contract from Nuclear Blast that allowed many of his past musical incarnations to see publication (including Death Strike).
The recording of this album was done with two different line-ups and featured two slightly different track listings. The first take was done in late 1989 with the original lineup featured on the demo from nearly five years before, but didn't satisfy the label when it was first completed because the sound was considered dated in the realms of death metal by then, so Speckmann dismissed the original group and found all new band mates to record the album again in early 1990 with a few different songs and enough music to make it a full-length. This recording pleased the label even less, so they remixed the original lineup version with engineer Scott Burns (who produced the re-recorded version as well), and brought it in line with the raw feel of the 1985 demo. The second version was released under the band name of The Speckmann Project in order to recoup some money, but was virtually redundant and sold poorly. With Abomination also dropping a debut in the same year, this meant a whole lot of Paul Speckmann in short time, which is probably why this album was slightly overshadowed despite the bands reputation in the scene at the time.
The debut was musically identical to the previous 1985 demo, but adds a cover of Black Sabbath's “Children of the Grave” and the songs “The Truth” and “Pay to Die” originally written by Speckmann while he was in Death Strike. Overall, the music is simple, direct, and features almost no palm-muting, giving the album a raw atmosphere similar to punk rock or the later Norwegian black metal. Straightforward speed metal and thrash percussion is further accentuated with steady double bass and almost no deviation in tempo, giving the music just enough battery to push it into the brutal realms of the death metal sound. Considering that this stuff was written before Possessed or Death dropped albums, it's easy to see why this music was so genre-defining when it was first issued in demo form five years before it's release here; polished up as a proper debut album several years later, the music still retains much of it's glory, but wears a little thin on the listener with it's monotonous song structures.
From the plain black cover emblazoned with it's iconic red band logo, the album immediately states that this is no technical sojourn. Tracks like “Master” and “Mangled Dehumanization” serve as hallmarks on this album, establishing the signature ferocity of Paul Speckmann's vocals atop the backdrop of constant grinding guitar tone and drums. The form of death metal played here is so primitive and direct, that it's almost the aural equivalent to being bludgeoned to death by a Neanderthal that has discovered a guitar, but decided to use it as a club instead of as a musical instrument. The running time clocks in at a short and sweet 27 minutes, which is just long enough to get in, rip off the listener's head, and get out; if the album was much longer, it would grate on the nerves. The punk aesthetic of this early work serves the intended purpose well, and was lost on all but the upcoming deathgrind scene, which also saw that less could sometimes be more in the world of extreme music. Is this album pushing any real musical boundaries? No. Was it the most lethal animal roaming the scene in 1990? Certainly not. What Master's debut did finally bring to the table was validation of Paul Speckmann's stripped-down approach to extreme heavy metal, and gave listeners that had taken inspiration to form their own death metal bands from ideas found in the formative works of Master, Death Strike, or even Funeral Bitch a long-awaited payoff. Objectively, the album is a lesson in minimalism that presents a take-it-or-leave-it to the death metal fan not previously aware of this body of work.
(7/10)
Master - Master (song from album of the same name)
As always, here's the review for those who don't want a file:
Master – Master (1990)
Front man Paul Speckmann has had so many iterations of his marque band over the years that it is quite possible to hear the same song recorded by four different projects. Nevertheless, Master has proven his most memorable namesake, and the eponymous debut album took five years to make in order to prove why. Mr. Speckmann first formed Master after leaving the band War Cry as a reaction to the band wanting to play more conventional heavy metal whilst him and his supporters wanted to keep the music fast and intense as the band had done so far. Master would write a few songs and fall apart before Speckmann would keep the ball rolling by forming Death Strike and continue work on pretty much the same sound.
Death Strike would see War Cry guitarist Chris Mittlebrun join them, and then released a single demo before Speckmann disposed of the drummer and replaced him with Bill Schmidt renaming the group back to Master; the legendary self-produced demo tape that was originally meant to be completed as a full-length debut was then recorded, but became traded as a bootleg when Master made business choices that led to their contract being torn up before they could do any more work. Speckmann would then abandon Master and create a band called Funeral Bitch (after the title of a song written for Master), recorded some of the same songs yet again in demo form, plus some new compositions, before jumping ship again to the band Abomination, which would ultimately receive a contract from Nuclear Blast that allowed many of his past musical incarnations to see publication (including Death Strike).
The recording of this album was done with two different line-ups and featured two slightly different track listings. The first take was done in late 1989 with the original lineup featured on the demo from nearly five years before, but didn't satisfy the label when it was first completed because the sound was considered dated in the realms of death metal by then, so Speckmann dismissed the original group and found all new band mates to record the album again in early 1990 with a few different songs and enough music to make it a full-length. This recording pleased the label even less, so they remixed the original lineup version with engineer Scott Burns (who produced the re-recorded version as well), and brought it in line with the raw feel of the 1985 demo. The second version was released under the band name of The Speckmann Project in order to recoup some money, but was virtually redundant and sold poorly. With Abomination also dropping a debut in the same year, this meant a whole lot of Paul Speckmann in short time, which is probably why this album was slightly overshadowed despite the bands reputation in the scene at the time.
The debut was musically identical to the previous 1985 demo, but adds a cover of Black Sabbath's “Children of the Grave” and the songs “The Truth” and “Pay to Die” originally written by Speckmann while he was in Death Strike. Overall, the music is simple, direct, and features almost no palm-muting, giving the album a raw atmosphere similar to punk rock or the later Norwegian black metal. Straightforward speed metal and thrash percussion is further accentuated with steady double bass and almost no deviation in tempo, giving the music just enough battery to push it into the brutal realms of the death metal sound. Considering that this stuff was written before Possessed or Death dropped albums, it's easy to see why this music was so genre-defining when it was first issued in demo form five years before it's release here; polished up as a proper debut album several years later, the music still retains much of it's glory, but wears a little thin on the listener with it's monotonous song structures.
From the plain black cover emblazoned with it's iconic red band logo, the album immediately states that this is no technical sojourn. Tracks like “Master” and “Mangled Dehumanization” serve as hallmarks on this album, establishing the signature ferocity of Paul Speckmann's vocals atop the backdrop of constant grinding guitar tone and drums. The form of death metal played here is so primitive and direct, that it's almost the aural equivalent to being bludgeoned to death by a Neanderthal that has discovered a guitar, but decided to use it as a club instead of as a musical instrument. The running time clocks in at a short and sweet 27 minutes, which is just long enough to get in, rip off the listener's head, and get out; if the album was much longer, it would grate on the nerves. The punk aesthetic of this early work serves the intended purpose well, and was lost on all but the upcoming deathgrind scene, which also saw that less could sometimes be more in the world of extreme music. Is this album pushing any real musical boundaries? No. Was it the most lethal animal roaming the scene in 1990? Certainly not. What Master's debut did finally bring to the table was validation of Paul Speckmann's stripped-down approach to extreme heavy metal, and gave listeners that had taken inspiration to form their own death metal bands from ideas found in the formative works of Master, Death Strike, or even Funeral Bitch a long-awaited payoff. Objectively, the album is a lesson in minimalism that presents a take-it-or-leave-it to the death metal fan not previously aware of this body of work.
(7/10)
Category Story / Rock
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 10.6 kB
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