Master Master is the first album from American band Master. Released in 1990 it kind of fits in quite well with what was going on in the scene back then but its kind of a shame band leader Paul Speckmann didn’t get this out earlier as he’d come onto the scene in proto-death metal band Death Strike in 1983 and even recorded an album under the name Master in 1985 which would have put Paul at the fore front of the then embryonic death metal scene. Alas, as in so many cases recorded here already its those who got there first and stamped their mark on the scene first that got the rewards. I don’t know how many records this guy has sold but he’s definitely been a stalwart in the scene for a long time.
Onwards with the actual album review. This is actually a rather well formed slab of death metal. It doesn’t deviate much from what I remember old school death metal to be from that time, but it its quite well done and definitely deserves a listen at least once so that the true death metal enthusiast. There’s a great bass heavy tone to the whole album and I like how the vocals sound, with more of a shouty feel rather that the usual death metal growl. Sort of similar to what possessed were doing vocally. I feel like I detect a bit of a punk / grind feel in this too similar to early bolt thrower or something like that which does keep it interesting. There’s also a bass solo tucked away later in the album, which sneakily leads into a death metal version of Black Sabbaths “Children of the Grave”. I’m not sure how I feel about this but it’s definitely a novel take on the song with some cool creepy church organ keyboards in there.
The album does suffer a little from being a bit “Stock Standard” death metal when one goes back and listens to it now, but back in day would have been right up there with a lot of the underground bands of the time. I wouldn’t really call this “essential” listening for those new to the scene but if you’re looking for something that just grinds along this is actually a pretty quality listen.
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