Maniac Party

Master is probably one of the only thrash bands from Russia that ever drew any attention from the rest of the world, other than Shah. That’s probably due to the fact that you can’t find the damn albums anywhere BUT Russia! I’ll never understand why a European or American label never distributed these albums. This is very solid thrash injected with a bit of groove. Think Cowboys-era Pantera, but a little more angry and aggressive. Heavy chainsaw riffs proliferate this album with some nice shredding. The bass is present and pounding, capable of splitting your head open. I like the singers voice as he lends a nice bit of aggression to the music and a great deal of character to the band. His accent is distinct and really catches your ear. The highlight here, though, is the drums. Excellent fills, plenty of double bass kick, loads of crashes and tons of moshing! The guy is as precise as a machine!

It takes a bit for the album to get started as there is some kind of “horror” sounds thing that lasts 2 minutes before Beastie Generation comes roaring in. Crushing riffs and drumming go for a bit before BOOM! All out speed! The song itself is about 5 minutes long but intro takes it over the 7 minute mark. Unfortunately the trend is continued on Maniac Party as there is a 30 second intro of what sounds like a kindergarten classroom. The song itself is brutal, with a vicious thrash break through the chorus. I just wish they would kick right instead of these goofy intros.

Lock Them In The Graves starts off with church bells that carry on before sounding midnight. After a bit the guitars slowly start to build in a haunting fashion before unleashing a MEAN riff. Absolutely crushing riffs through the vocal lines and chorus. This is one case of the intro actually working! At around 2:45, prepare to be soundly beaten! The band put their foot down and begin pulverizing! After that, it’s back to that crushing riff.

Burning In Hell comes right in for a change. It’s a mostly mid-paced track with some thrash breaks thrown in, mainly at the chorus. Pretty solid track. After it comes one of my favorites, Screams Of Pain. This one is a blazing thrasher! I love that double bass kicking right smack in the middle of the chorus. A heavy as hell mid-paced bit builds up to the solo, then it’s back to the ass kicking. This one is followed by Time X. It happens to be a minute and a half bass solo. Kind of a throw away track really. Doesn’t hurt the album, but it doesn’t add much either.

They Are Just Like Us follows the bass solo. It’s a mid-paced track with some nice vocal lines in the chorus. The riffage leading up to the chorus is heavy as all get out! Very catchy track that can get stuck in your head!

Punk Guys starts off with another annoying intro, this time of someone riding up on a motorcycle. At least it’s followed by a scorching bit of thrash. Don’t know why they called it Punk Guys as there is no punk to be found here! Ah well, they can call it whatever they want when it sounds this good! At the end you get the sound of the motorcycle riding away.

All this leads up to Go! which is pretty short and sweet. Just a bit over a minute and half, this one has a bit of melody tossed in. Nice display of versatility from the band. This one is an instrumental like Time X. All in all a solid album with only one track that you could up and throw away.