Master's Hammer

國籍:捷克
風格:Epic Black Metal, Experimental
 
自Venom、Bathory...以來，世界各地的Black Metal暗流從來也沒有消失過。而80年代末，90年代初的東歐一直在國內(nèi)鮮被提及。來自捷克的Master's Hammer和匈牙利的Tormentor可能是當年東歐地區(qū)最具代表性的兩個吧？《Ritual》發(fā)表于1990年，來自Master's Hammer的一部中速邪惡的黑金屬經(jīng)典！ 《Ritual》中的歌曲結(jié)構(gòu)很清晰，兩把吉他一把旋律，一把節(jié)奏，旋律并非《Transilvanian Hunger》那種簡單輪撥產(chǎn)生的單調(diào)式旋律，而是相對復雜的演奏，并時常出現(xiàn)一些很有特色的Solo??！作品中旋律和Solo給人印象很深，非常的Master's Hammer化（東歐色彩？），獨特！!節(jié)奏吉他多數(shù)時候是典型的黑金屬式的快速細碎的輪撥，為音樂主線做著鋪墊和渲染，也時常出現(xiàn)一些很Headbanging的Metal Riffs，2、6、7、9等多數(shù)曲目都是代表。主唱吊嗓的Grim唱腔明顯影響了無數(shù)后來的樂隊。專集中鼓的表現(xiàn)很有特點，時而連續(xù)快速，時而慢速凝重，時而痙攣式的敲打。鍵盤的少量加入和交響化的編排使整體音樂既黑暗（旋律、Bass）、扭曲（鼓、唱）又有氣勢（復雜的編排），比如&Jama Pekel&。而&Geniove&等作品則要顯得更壓抑和病態(tài)些。 Master's Hammer的金屬化或者說根源化非常明顯，聽聽同名演奏曲的主導Riffs，這是80年代初Blitzkrieg、Metallica、Celtic Frost...都一直沿用的形式。而其他曲目也同樣根源化明顯?！禦itual》首先是金屬專集，然后才是意境黑暗，內(nèi)容褻瀆的黑金屬專集！！而且有些東西是需要反復聽的，Master's Hammer和Samael等相對中慢速或者Beherit那樣極度扭曲的都是如此，多遍下來，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)似乎已被詛咒似的深深喜歡上它們而無法自拔。
 
by Eduardo Rivadavia
 
One of the Czech Republic's first black metal bands, Master's Hammer was formed in Prague in 1983, and spent the first half of their career operating in obscurity behind the Iron Curtain, but working on demos that slowly spread their cult into the West, as they were circulated by resourceful heavy metal fans trading tapes across the globe. In fact, tape-trading and illegal imports were just as instrumental in providing the members of Master's Hammer with their mostly contrabanded source of inspiration, which evidently included the works of primal English BM godfathers Venom, theatrical Danes Mercyful Fate, and Swiss mavericks Hellhammer, among others. By the time what was then still Czechoslovakia broke free of Communism and the Soviet Union's control, in 1989, Master's Hammer had come into their own as a band, and, just two years later, their stunning debut album, Ritual, revealed a surprisingly contemporary and intense brand of black metal, featuring rampant savagery wed to well-crafted arrangements and keyboards, akin to rising Norwegian powers like Mayhem, Emperor, and Darkthrone. The group -- which at this time was comprised of vocalist/guitarist Franta Storm, keyboardist Vlasta Voral, guitarist Tomás &Necrocock& Kohout, bassist Tomás &Monster& Vendl, drummer Mirek Valenta, and percussionist Honza &Silenthell& Pøibyl -- also had a backlog of material, apparently, because they wasted little time before recording their sophomore full-length, The Jilemnice Occultist, which emerged through France's Osmose Productions, in 1992 (it is also rumored that said album was recorded prior to their debut). Unfortunately, Master's Hammer lost most of their membership a short time later, and after a few years of inactivity, Storm and Voral decided to record a farewell album entitled Slagry (1995), whose progressive experiments and numerous obscure cover songs had very little to do with metal, or the band's previous output, thereby signaling the end of Master's Hammer.