Review MASTER ‘Saints Dispelled’

Master belong to the forerunners of death metal with Paul Speckmann being the driving force. The start of the band wasn’t the beginning of a straight-forward adventure as the band disbanded even before a debut album hit the record stores. This happened though a few year later after a restart.

The self-titled debut was released right in time when it comes to the beginning of a wave of death metal band in the early 90s. The latest studio album by Master was revealed in 2018 and is named ‘Vindictive Miscreant’. Also due to a few other project Speckmann was involved in, the waiting time for the newest album was rather long. After six years of absence, Master return with ‘Saints Dispelled’.

The 14^th release features eight brutal and ruthless death metal songs. Tracks like the roaring ‘Minds Under Pressure’ are straight-to-the-point and already the opener, ‘Destruction in June’, displays all Master trademarks. In general, it’s the faster pace, the well-placed breaks, the evil vocals, and the massive rhythm-section; it all comes together right at the beginning of the album and paves the way fpr a great metal experience. And not to forget the blood-curdling scream at the beginning of the song that gives you the shivers.

The acoustic intro of ‘The Wiseman’ breaks the pattern and is a nice distraction before a blistering guitar introduces a massive grooving metal track. Merciless, that is right description for ‘The Wizard of Evil’ which is the brute finale of an oldschool death metal album, including a screaming guitar solo and a fade-in/fade-out section at the end of the track.

Paul Speckmann and Master release with ‘Saints Dispelled’ a next roaring death metal album that challenges people’s neck-muscles from start to finish.