Saints Dispelled

The brainchild of mighty metal mentor Paul Speckmann, death-thrashers Master should need no introduction – at least they shouldn’t if you’ve had any interest in extreme metal since 1983! Virtually no one delivers this kind of thrashy death metal better than Master and their strict adherence to time-honoured codes has always lent them a timeless appeal. And, rest assured, Saints Dispelled is no exception.

Death thrash by numbers this ain’t but Master also cannot be accused of taking the sub-genre into uncharted territory; they leave that particular job to the thousands and thousands of bands who have followed in their wake. So, don’t launch yourself into Master‘s 15th(!) release expecting much experimentation (although “the Wiseman” does take a more ‘expansive’ approach) as each track sticks to virtually the same formula throughout…. but it’s this adherence to a bludgeoning, no-bullshit attack which makes Saints Dispelled so rewarding in an age of unrelenting technical wankery.

What is noticeable, however, is how reinvigorated the band sound in 2024. This could be down to the introduction of new drummer Peter Bajci and new guitarist Alex “93” Nejezchleba – who provide ample oomph for Sir Speckmann to get behind – but we would wager its simply because this metal veteran has nothing left to prove and is simply thrashin’ harder and faster with no fucks given. This approach pays dividends too with the likes of “Walk In The Footsteps Of Doom”, “Saints Dispelled,” and “Minds Under Pressure” ably stripping skin from bone in a manner that would shame 99% of their much younger peers.

We may be pushing our luck here, but Saints Dispelled could very well be the best Master album since 1991’s cult favourite On the Seventh Day God Created… Master.

Originally published on worshipmetal.com

Well, this was an immersion here because I didn't take notice of this band until recently! I got this album as well as 'Vindictive Miscreant' (2018). I didn't like their previous nearly as much as this latest! The vocals are all right on here, just if Paul got higher pitched, it would be annoying! They're a 3-piece, of which they originally began being based in Chicago & now in Uherské Hradiště, Zlín Region (Czech Republic). They've been pretty active at their current location emitting death/thrashing music on/off since their first origin (1983) more on than off since 1989, however. They've gone through many members since their first few recordings, but they've done a great deed & conducted this album as it was mixed/recorded at Studio Shaark.

I really like the riffs here, especially the structures of the songs & their originality. And I think that they basically should be referred to here as being in "a creative storm" with this. It was the music that captivated me the most. It seems as though the reason why this album did well was because their musicianship towered over the rest of their LP's (based only on the select few I've heard). Just the guitars are why I really took ahold here & decided to write about this LP. The rhythms are good (not boring) & the leads aren't sloppy, but not the most ingenious. I think that overall the guitars are definitely better on here (said once again) opposed to previous recordings. It seems that they're mature & creative even more so now. Since I haven't the experience in the decades of Master's releases (full-length albums & compilation/best of disc), it seems as though they've managed to have quite an impact on extreme metal as it is! I know Mick Harris mentioned Master on Napalm Death's immonsterrible 'Live Corruption' video (1990). Perhaps they're different from other extreme metal bands in the fact that they have a unique style & the vocals aren't full-throttle death metal, they're more raspy than anything else! Maybe a bit like the Michigan based band Plague Years (as an example).

There's much else to say about 'Saints Dispelled', mainly the better recording quality than the rest! I think that that's what's also needed to be said here is if you listen to their older LP's, you'll find a flaw in not the compositions, but the overall sound of each instrument! The guitars/bass & drums are well mixed on here plus the riffs don't overpower the rest of the songs! Check out 'Saints Dispelled' if you want to hear a great release of fresh, invigorating metal in 2024!

Master has always been a musical definition of anachronism for me. No matter which trend was hip, Paul Speckmann stretched off his middle-finger to that and did his usual mixture between death and thrash. Sometimes it was more successful and sounded a little bit better and sometimes it was just okay but he didn't care about other people opinions and stayed focused on what he could do best. And now, in 2024, he is going to release his 15th (!) full-length album Saints Dispelled out via the Dutch Hammerheart Records which contains eight regular songs and two bonus tracks.

So what's new on Saints Dispelled? Nothing! But that is good and the musical quality of the music fell nicely on my half-deaf ears. What the listener can expect is a mixture of old-fashioned death-thrash with a lot of punk vibes which got stirred up together and out came a very tasty mixture of old-school metal. A song like 'Walk In The Footsteps Of Doom' makes so much fun listening to (and don't let yourself get led astray, the track has nothing to do with doom) because the breaks and the musical arrangements are pretty crazy and so much back to the 80s when punk and metal still were closer to each other. Fuck, I wanna go do some pogo right now! With 'The Wiseman' they even bring some oriental flair to the album. Introducing some slight Arabic motifs (and something that sounds like an old Nintendo game in the background) the song becomes a cool punkish-laden Autopsy-like track with a lot of doomy parts between speeding from bridge to bridge. The boundary between death and thrash is often very blurred so that the songs don't sound that one-dimensional. In 'Find Your Life' there is this low-tuned basic riff that clearly has its roots in death metal but the guitar solo is very much Slayer-inspired and the drums especially are galloping and pacing and quite different from death metal. What you can clearly state is that in each of the songs there is this very special rock n'roll attitude that sounds very entertaining. Check 'Marred And Diseased' – this is the Motörhead meets UFO song Master wrote. The song lives up from some really goddamn casual solo and a fantastic fuck off attitude. Damn, this solo – Doctor, Doctor!!!!

In my introduction I said that Master means anachronism form me – this doesn't only concern the music but also the production. You don't find any modern sounds here and it also feels like a throwback into the 80s / early 90s. The sound is a little bit muffled but it all feels pretty natural like nothing got readjusted during the recording process. This is a pretty good 15th album and shouldn't disappoint any Master fans. Maybe some more Speckmann disciples can be caught with that.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Originally written for metalbite.com