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Master's Hammer > Finished > Reviews > exumer
Master's Hammer - Finished

One of the most sinister recordings ever - 100%

exumer, November 22nd, 2009

I first heard of this demo in one of the few interviews the Nifelheim-Bros did in the end of the nineties. I think it was Tyrant who told the interviewer, that he recently had been fortunate to lay his hands on an original copy of Master's Hammer's "Finished" demo and that it was worth the fortune he had to trade it for. Since then I myself searched for this piece of vilest Black Metal ever recorded. Some years later I had luck in finding a person, who could trade me a copy of the tape. What came, when I first listened to it even surpassed my really high expectations: The sound of pure Hell!

Introduced by some kind of Bathory-ish winds and bell tolls, "Duse Nesmertelmjch" soon unleashed a violent Black Metal storm that immediately had me in its grasps. It's almost impossible to increase the amount of aggressiveness and pure evil this track emanates. The sound is total underground, with a strange buzzing on the guitars, that adds to the overall feeling of the music. Seen from afar on a mere technical view, the sound is really shit. But just turn it on eleven and you will not be able to withdraw yourself from the black magic the demo wraps around your soul.

The other tracks are in the same vein and are probably the best Black Metal released in 1988 (and yes, I know Anno Domini by Tormentor, which comes close but does not reach it). Master's Hammer went onward after this demo, releasing another 3 demos and a total classic album ("Ritual") in the history of Black Metal, but the vile intensity of this piece of utter darkness is unreached even by them. The demo is not perfect (its a demo after all), yet perfect in its impact on the listener. Therefore there's no way around 100 points.

I hope that this demo (and the other ones from Master's Hammer as well) will see the light of day in a proper format again (LP and CD). It would be a shame if they would only be available on bootlegs and mp3 trades.