Master "The Witch-hunt"

Band: Master
Album: The Witch-hunt

Review:

    After many years of playing extreme music Paul Speckmann is offering Death Metal fans with more intense heavily distorted jams. Paul is a veteran of the Death Metal scene and Master is definitely an important, and highly influential group. Master’s current line-up features the Paul Speckmann on bass/vocals, Alex Nejezchleba on guitar and Zdenek Pradlovsky behind the kit on drums. “The Witch-hunt” is the 12th release from Master and adds onto the long legacy which Paul has kept going since the 80’s. This new album is fierce, aggressive and maintains a classic Death Metal vibe. Master’s lyrics on the album are unapologetic and the vocal style used to present the lyrics is truly unmistakable. Paul sings with this gruff growling approach that reminds me of Lemmy, but with more of a tortured Death Metal sound. Each song on “The Witch-hunt” follows a similar sounding blue print and their are no songs that seem out of place. I think Paul’s distinct vocals and the intense speed driven Death Metal compositions, maintain that consistent sound which keeps the listener engaged. 
    The opening title track begins without warning and sounds like a bomb exploding over city. Paul’s harsh gutter growling vocals start narrating sheer brutal lyrics while Alex Nejezchleba tears into an insane sinister sounding riff. Drummer Zdenek Pradlovsky maintains intense double bass drum rhythms and throughout the album never seems to take his foot off the pedal. Track two, “Plans of Hate,” continues the classic Death Metal sounding attack, but with some Grindcore elements added to turn up the extreme musical insanity. I feel like the world around me is shaking and opening up a sink hole to hell as the song plays on. The song, “Another Suicide,” is a very strong thought provoking track with great lyrics. Paul’s vocals usually tend to make deciphering lyrics a bit of a challenge, but for some reason every word stood out to me during the song. “Waiting to Die” demonstrates Master’s ability to come up with catchy aggressive sounding riffs that definitely remind me of Motörhead, but more Death Metal of course. Out of the elven tracks on this album, my favorite is, “Remove the Clowns.” The song is intense and blends early sounding hardcore punk influenced Thrash with fast galloping extreme Death Metal. Such a rage filled track that creatively combines some the best of extreme musical elements. The guitar lead guitar parts woven into the song are fluid yet don’t over saturate the song with random note shredding. Another track worth mentioning is “Wipe out the Aggressor” which continues the intense galloping darkness that is heard all over this album.
    These guys never stray too far away from the status quo and I really respect that decision, because the devotion to such extreme music makes for killer consistent sounding tracks. Master’s, “The Witch-hunt,” is a continuation of early extreme Death Metal, but with a modern smack in the face from a veteran of the early days. I do feel the vocals on this album are an acquired taste for some people, but when matched with the aggressive sounding music I think the vocals perfectly complete the all out extreme noise. If you like brutal sounding classic Death Metal I think Master is a band for you. Glad to hear people like Mr. Speckmann continuing to release aggressive unapologetic music that never fades away.