It's sort of hard to believe that Master has been around for almost 40 years now. We remember seeing these guys at nearly every club in the world back in the days, and front-man Paul Speckman and crew never disappointed. The discography is an impressive collective of honest, brutal Death Metal that is straight from the book of said genre. From 1990 up to 2018 Master has produced solid to great releases, and they have never gone away and have become more brutal with age. After the impressive and intense "The Human Machine" from 2010, Master re-emerged with "The New Elite" from 2012, 11 tracks of sadistic, blood-pumping Death Metal that is always steeped in thrash elements that satiate and subdue the wandering nomad fan of both genres. Arguably one of the first Death Metal vocalists along with Kam Lee or Jeff Becerra, Speckmann's throaty, almost hoarse delivery belches and bellows out over the din of some speedy guitar work that pummels the senses as much as it impresses. The initial first tracks in "The New Elite" and "Rise Up and Fight" show that Master is still at the top of its game, both lyrically and musically. While there is no denying the absolute tenacity with which Master assembles and shatters the psyche within the span of any one album, "The New Elite" is a vile slab of musical vermin that is about as brutal as it comes while still retaining a perfect balance between guttural noise and intelligent metal easily consumable in large portions. Slower tracks like "Redirect the Evil" harken back to a time where Possessed and Dark Angel reigned supreme in the West Coast dominion. The sound is a total encompassment of the Swedish sound of the late 80's/early 90's and a modern underground anger employed by only a few cellar-dweller bands that 'get' it. We expected all of this and more from Master and they failed to disappoint, as usual.
