If you don’t know who Master is by now, get the fuck off my blog. Still here? Good, because the new FUCKING Master album is here, and ‘Vindictive Miscreant’ is, well, Master at their finest. I think the signing of a legendary band like this truly marked that step for Transcending Obscurity from just being a label that put out awesome stuff into being a label that no one in the scene can overlook now.
The title track opens with what only be described as REAL old school death metal. It takes you right back to early Sepultura, Death and Obituary, as well of course as Master themselves. They still play like it is 1991, full of energy and gritty old school charm. Nothing overly technical or shiny, just thrashy dirty death metal. The gurgling, swamp chug of ”Actions Speak Louder Than Words’ is excellent, while the rabid ‘The Book’ has a nasty, punkish edge running through its veins.
With the shortest track running at 4:13, you’d almost be forgiven for thinking some of these tracks are a little longer than necessary, but you never feel it. The rampant ‘Engulfed by Paranoia’ is a highlight for me, although I am a little partial to the speed fuelled violence of ‘Stand Up and Be Counted’ as well. Consistently heavy, with little needed in the way of variety but nothing in the way of mediocre, you can tell this is the work of a band who found their groove and sound a long time ago, and have been honing that razer edge for a while now.
With a lot of ‘legend’ bands, all you can normally hope for is that any new material does not scar their legacy, but ‘Vindictive Miscreant’ stands tall as probably Master’s finest work since ‘On the Seventh Day…’. A legitimate old school death metal album that lives its gimmick, combining thrashy riffing with bile drenched vocals, Master don’t need to write material this good any more; they could just live off their legacy but thank fuck that doesn’t seem to be part of the plan! This is tremendous.
https://masterdeathmetal.bandcamp.com/
The Killchain 