For those who have not yet listened to the local hipster whisper gossip train, Plague of Tyranny is a megaband composed of Paul Speckmann (Master), Alex Bouks (Goreaphobia), Jim Roe (Incantation), and Chuck Sherwood (Incantation).
1 CommentTags: alex bouks, chuck sherwood, death metal, jim roe, paul speckmann, plague of tyranny
We all know the metal cycle: something gets press, people rush out to buy it, and then years later we see it in the sale bin as companies reduce stock in something which, since it is no longer in the metal media, is not selling. Right now the re-issue of the Abomination demos is getting this treatment.
4 CommentsTags: abomination, death metal, paul speckmann
From roughly 1984 to 1992, Paul Speckmann recruited different lineups to express the same idea through different band names such as Master, Deathstrike, Abomination, Funeral Bitch, and Speckmann Project. With similar basic sounds and shared songs, these bands differed mostly in personnel.
1 CommentTags: abomination, death metal, deathstrike, funeral bitch, master, paul speckmann, speckmann project, vic records
Master on their seminal record On the Seventh Day God Created… Master operated on the principle of taking one idea and pounding it into the listener’s brain as much as possible without droning on and maintaining some form of forward movement. Paul Speckmann’s riffs are simple and straightforward but there was always something there that pushed them above the hordes of bands making minimalistic Hardcore influenced Death metal. The first actual riff of the first song “What Kind of God” is a perfect example of what made Master deceptively unique at the riff level.
Tags: analysis, classic, death metal, master, on the seventh day god created master, paul speckmann, what kind of god
Hammerheart Records is reissuing Master‘s second album, On the Seventh Day God Created… Master, on both CD and LP. Get the CD digipak as it contains the Speckmann Project as a bonus disc. Leave the vinyl with the same sound for the hipsters.
3 CommentsTags: compact disc, death metal, digipak, hammerheart, hammerheart records, master, paul speckmann, reissue, remaster, speckmann project, vinyl
Doomentia Records is releasing both Abomination albums, Abomination and Tragedy Strikes, on vinyl. Abomination was another death metal/punk hybrid band featuring Paul Speckmann of Death Strike and Master.
6 CommentsTags: abomination, doomentia records, paul speckmann, reissues, vinyl
Master are embarking upon an American tour to promote their recent Epiphany of Hate album. Hopefully the Portland show will have a bigger turnout as the last major metal show there, Profanatica, had a very poor turnout due to social justice warrior fanaticism.
5 CommentsTags: death metal, master, paul speckmann, upcoming tours, US tour
Master, Autopsy, Motörhead – what do they all have in common? They’re all long running bands that settled on a workable style relatively early and generally stuck with it for decades, gradually refining their craft while managing not to lose control of the forces that initially motivated them. Master is arguably the grandfather of this tradition within the realms of death metal, as they’re the approximate beginning of the constellation of Paul Speckmann projects (since War Cry is allegedly a far cry from most of his work). Given that Master sticks with tradition on An Epiphany of Hate, anyone who’s familiar with Master should know exactly what they’re going to get.
This album belongs to the more elaborate school of Mastercraft that’s come into being in the last few years; while Master has never written especially long or complicated songs, the level of musicianship and organization on display here is a definite improvement from the early days of the band. The production and mixing is also higher fidelity, but improving such is not nearly as difficult as becoming a better songwriter. I’d argue that Paul Masidval’s (protip: Cynic) contributions to Master during his brief mercenary period in the early 1990s must’ve resonated with Speckmann on some level and encouraged this elaboration. An Epiphany of Hate is still relatively sparse in its overall construction; the songs here are built out of comparatively few riffs; if not necessarily the three per song figure that comes up in older discussions. Monophony is still the band’s weapon of choice, but like many of the bands that have… mastered this sort of metal, Master’s musicians know when to keep it up and enjoy their freedom of melody and tonality and when they should instead use some sort of harmonic reinforcement. This expansion without overextension is something a lot of bands aren’t able to successfully pull off, so it does reflect pretty well on them.
I don’t know how much of an advance An Epiphany of Hate represents over 2013’s The Witchhunt, if any, but it’s still a good addition to Master’s legacy and a worthy addition to your 2016 collections.
2 CommentsTags: 2016, an epiphany of hate, death metal, master, paul speckmann
The varied Paul Speckmann projects — Master, Abomination, Funeral Bitch, Death Strike and Speckmann Project — reveal attempts to forge a new genre out of the ashes of speed metal. Roughly combined of metal, punk and 60s rock, the Speckmann approach took several forms which reflected his vision of what was occurring in music at the time.
Funeral Bitch comes to us straight from the 1986-1987 era and reflects the influence of thrash on Speckmann. Not thrash as the teeny-bopper magazines us it to describe Metallica-style speed metal bands, but thrash in the sense of Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, Corrosion of Conformity and Cryptic Slaughter. Funeral Bitch sounds like the first COC album hybridized with the early Sodom demos under the advice of The Mentors.
Short songs weighing in at around two and a half minutes or less use the infectious vocals Speckmann borrowed from 60s rock, the buoyant energy from punk, and the shaped phrasal riffs of metal but deliver the punch quickly. Versions of “The Truth” and “Funeral Bitch” from other Speckmann projects reveal how these songs were sped up and the vocals simplified to a single cyclic hook for this rendition. The result is in many ways more compelling, because the extreme speed and thrashing drum aggression of Funeral Bitch requires simplification and removes many of the excesses inherited from rock that made Master and Abomination releases confused at times. Like commando raids in the night, these short songs leap in to the fray, speak their piece, bash down the opposition and then disappear into the jungle.
These two demos provide different views of the same idea. The earlier one shows more of a punk influence, while the later shows the marks of actual thrash and perhaps influences from the rising grindcore scene. On this re-issue they are at radically different volume levels which makes regular listening difficult, but these historical recordings fit another piece in the puzzle of the evolution of underground metal and provide a punchier, more effective version of the Speckmann vision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTCukN7X90w
2 CommentsTags: abomination, death strike, funeral bitch, master, paul speckmann, speckmann project, Thrash
A variant on one of the original thematic origins of death metal, the Deathstrike–Master–Abomination style of very punkish Chicago death metal combined Motörhead with early death metal to make a hookish but pummeling form of very basic music.
You can read more about Abomination in our current death metal news and reviews feed.
No CommentsTags: abomination, death metal, deathstrike, funeral bitch, master, paul speckmann
