| CD REVIEW Master |
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Band: Master Master were originally formed in 1983, and this band is one of the most influential ones ever within the (Death) Metal scene. As a matter of fact, prominent formations such as Napalm Death, Pestilence, Entombed, Carcass, Benediction or Dismember have cited Master as one of their early influences! Main man Paul Speckmann is / was also known from (American and Czech) bands and projects as Speckmann Project, Krabathor, Abomination, Funeral Bitch, Martyr, Death Strike or Solutions, to name a few. And two other Master-members, drummer Zdenek Pradlovsky and guitarist Alex Nejezchleba, are involved with Thrash formation Shaark. The Human Machine is the tenth full length, and it was recorded at the Czech Shaark Studio, known from bands as Root, Goreinhaled, Inferno or Fleshless. It lasts for forty six minutes and exhales the purest and roughest old school spirit. This material sounds as if it were recorded over twenty years ago, yet with a decent sound quality, of course. Both vocally and instrumentally, Master do what they always did: bringing straight-forward, no-nonsense Death-brutality with a Thrash-edge. The riffs and rhythm section, as well as the guitar solos and grunts, it does sound the way it did in the glory-period, when bands as Death, Obituary or Cannibal Corpse (coincidence or not: all Morrisound-stuff???) ruled the deadly worlds.
The album lacks of originality, but it does not bother. The album lacks of modern gadgets or experimental-progressive elements too, and that’s the strength behind this recording, because it would betray the band’s roots, and that would be sad, wouldn’t it? So if you can appreciate plain American-oriented Old School Death Metal with both slower and fast tracks, lots of devastating aggressiveness and a fat, pulverising sound, then The Human Machine will be an orgiastic pleasure! 84/100 Ivan Tibos. |
