Master's Hammer - Ritual (1991)Release ID: 2775
This was a new one for me, and I'm glad I found it. It's an absolute banger.
The music on this album is so good that I was compelled to look up the translations. To my pleasant surprise it's not just a bunch of satan slop. The lyrics here are definitely occult, but not outright satanic and that's the diference to me between mundane and interesting. You can find them here: https://ultimatemetal.com/threads/masters-hammer-english-language-translations.522936/ Good job lads!
Sonically, it sounds like Bathory mixed with the first two Metallica albums. Though it is never as fast or tight as the Kill 'em All or Ride the Lightning, that's part of the charm here. Instead the riffs have some room to breath, and this gives the album some grooves that remind me of traditional doom metal in a bizarre way.
Saving the best for last. the vocalist on this album is František Štorm, which I hope is pronounced something like "Frantic Storm", because that's his vocal approach. He throws every black metal technique you can ask for at the wall in this one. He is a fascinating man, a Czech born guy that likes to spend his time in India, and he's also a teacher, as I am. I would absolutely love to pick his brain. His voice has a very unique timbre that's hard to describe-something of a Black Metal Goblin. It's either going to put you off, or it's going to be the most fun voice you've heard in the genre. I'll leave you with a picture of the handsome devil: https://cdn.xsd.cz/original/e64695d280c8355a8ca284ca97f5a2a5.jpg
Now go enjoy this album. I certaintly did!
1991's debut album "Ritual" represented my entry point into the world of Czech black metallers Master's Hammer back in the day, an experience that would see me experimenting with most of the remainder of their back-catalogue at one point or another with the exception of their 1995 electronic/experimental third album "Šlágry" which I've never found the courage to investigate. The band's second & third demo tapes were pretty decent as well as their 1992 sophomore album "Jilemnický okultista" but the remainder of the Master's Hammer discography is largely underwhelming with only 2012's "Vracejte konve na místo" seeing me leaving with a positive outlook. It's really this first-up full-length that will forever be the centrepiece of Master's Hammer's legacy though & I'd suggest that it's influence can be easily picked up on many of the early Second Wave of Black Metal releases.
"Ritual" is a funny record for me as I can easily hear its importance in the evolution of the modern black metal sound but there's quite often one element or another that holds me back from fully committing. The riffs are a lot thrashier than most early 90's black metal bands would opt for which was perhaps more of a reflection of Master's Hammer's First Wave credentials than anything else while the primitive blast-beats give "Ritual" a fair whack of old-school street credibility. There's a quirkiness to their sound though that I find hard to put my finger on with the vocals of front man Franta Štorm often taking an unusual yet captivating route, despite the clear influence from Bathory's Quorthon. In fact, the Bathory influence is clear throughout "Ritual" with all eras of that classic artist appearing in one shape or form, the most significant of which being the wonderfully epic closer & album highlight "Útok" which reeks of Bathory's Viking metal period.
The tracklisting is relatively consistent with only the weak "Géniové..." failing to hit the mark but I'd suggest that there aren't enough genuine highlights for me to be considering my higher scores with only the high-quality instrumental title-track & the very solid "Černá svatozář" competing with the closer for highlight status. I do quite enjoy the opening intro piece "Intro (King of the Bohemian Forest)" though & feel that it sets the mood for the album quite well. The rest of the record is nothing more than mildly enjoyable though & doesn't justify the sort of praise you'll see from some parties. I genuinely feel that there's an element of getting carried away from a purely timeline-driven perspective with some reviewers as there's no doubt that "Ritual" was slightly ahead of its time. I find that I can hear their influence the most prominently with Norwegian Second Wave legends Enslaved & would be very surprised if there wasn't a link there. For me personally though, I can't quite position Master's Hammer's debut in as positive a light as I do the debut album from fellow late-First Wavers Samael whose "Worship Him" album from the same year left a noticeably deeper mark on my youth. Perhaps Master's Hammer are just a little too quirky for my taste but I do still enjoy "Ritual" without it ever really commanding that I give it regular revisits. Those with a taste for late First Wave artists like Root, Tormentor & Mortuary Drape may get more out of it than I do though & I'd still recommend that any black metal nut worthy of their bullet belt should at least have an understanding of "Ritual", if only for the sake of completism.
Master’s Hammer’s debut is a surprisingly melodic package of classic Black Metal material. Somewhat similar to Bathory’s transitioning stages as they add elements of “epic” sound with synthed choirs, but always stay strictly in first wave Black Metal territory. The band really lean into simple melodic leads, and they work the hell out of it. Every track has got some really memorable riffs despite them being quite simple and containing just a few notes. The drumming is actually a few levels above the other instruments, containing a nice variety of groovy Heavy Metal beats and classic Black Metal blast beating.
The band had plenty of time to perfect their craft with multiple demos and EPs, but this is still technically a debut, and a great one at that. Ritual isn’t the most unique album in the scene, but everything about it is executed extremely well, and the album is a fun, epic, evil ride. Not mind-blowing, but there are really no weaknesses to this thing, a classic example of melodic first wave Black Metal.
The Awkward Stage
As I've been continuing to parse through my classic Black Metal homework, the stretch between Bathory's Blood Fire Death (1988) and the explosion of Black Metal starting around 1994 has become more and more strange to me. While I find I consistently enjoy the heavily Thrash-adjacent material of the late 80's and the more modern style of Black Metal of the mid-90's, this experimental phase that groups like Master's Hammer were a part of seems to rub me the wrong way. Albums that are right smack in the middle of an evolution between multiple influences have frequently won me over in big ways, but it seems like the initial evolution of Black Metal misses that mark for me. Even though Ritual has a ton of interesting and unique sounds and ideas, I can't help but think the whole thing comes across as awkward no matter how many chances I give it.
Ritual's defining aspect is easily the vocals, as they're some of the most inhuman and chilling wails I've heard. While I can appreciate some seriously raw Black Metal, the novelty of Štorm's performance wears pretty thin by the time I get to "Jáma pekel" despite the impressive effects he's able to achieve on "Každý z nás...!". Considering how ghoulish his vocals sounds its incredible how Master's Hammer is able to compose any sort of instrumental melody around him, but they manage to do so with varying results. Ritual is an early Black Metal medley that hints at ideas that would become staples for the genre in the years to come, but miss the mark here. "Géniové..." is the most obvious with the creepy, atmospheric choir and slower melodic riffs giving the whole thing a more gothic and theatrical feel even though Master's Hammer stumbles through the strange syncopated rhythms that don't exactly pan out.
The rest of Ritual falls somewhere in-between the experimental "Géniové..." and the blast-beat ridden "Jáma pekel", with the self-titled track "Ritual" being a pretty solid instrumental addition. I can't complain at all about the riffs since each track has a nice balance of chaotic versus melodic passages that keep the transitions fresh and interesting. The solos are also quite good, with "Černá svatozář" having a very notable one. They sometimes bite off more than they can chew with some of the more precise interactions between the riffs, drumming, and vocal melodies though, leading to something that sounds admittedly evil and unchained but a bit clumsy in places.
I can absolutely appreciate what these guys were going for at the time and it's exciting to hear the beginning of theatrical elements like a more expansive background choir and classical instruments like the occasional timpani. These small but meaningful additions really help to move Ritual away from the fiery and thrashy lo-fi beginnings of Black Metal into a slightly more refined product that is still suitably chaotic. Even though I listened to Ritual enough to come around to hearing the interesting genre progressions it offers, I still can't shake the feeling that it comes across as just plain awkward as a whole. The vocals have some impressive shock factor but really grate against the rest of the production, especially on tracks like "Géniové...". Even though Master's Hammer were able to further the Black Metal sound in their own individual fashion, the middle ground they created lacks the experience of later Black Metal but doesn't have the same unbridled aggression of genre's origins.
