Review by Daniel for Master's Hammer - Ritual (1991)

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.