Review SPECKMANN PROJECT ‘Fiends of Emptiness’

To understand ‘Fiends of Emptiness’ one needs to go back all the way to 1983 when Master started and worked on their debut album. There was a bit of a back and forth between Master and the label at the time about the quality of the recording which led to a recording session in legendary Morrisound Studios in Florida. The outcome of this session didn’t make it to the Master debut either and Paul Speckmann didn’t want to waste the recordings. He decided to release them as Speckmann Project in 1991.

30 years later, Speckmann Project is back with the name giving mainman behind the mic and this time he worked together with Swedish Rogga Johansson. The two know each other quite well, having released a few records as Johansson & Speckmann. Most of these longplayers haven’t received an earth-shaking attention and now it is Speckmann Project that might has the potential to change things and give it a more positive direction.

‘Fiends of Emptiness’ is an old-school death metal album, featuring 13 songs. ‘Absolute Power’ is starting track into this death metal adventure and power is what song and album delivers. A howling guitar kicks it off before the song unveils its hellish fascination. The tunes on ‘Fiends of Emptiness’ are harsh and savage pieces with Speckmann’s vocals being an important ingredient. Each of the tunes on the album are straight to the point. There are no frills and unnecessary twists. With sledgehammer power the band smashes these song right into listeners faces, or ears if you will.

‘Fiends of Emptiness’ present the raw power of death metal. By purpose, this album reminds of the early days of a genre that started to gain momentum in the first half of the `80s. Fans of crushing death metal and genre purists should check out ‘Fiends of Emptiness’.