Death Master

In terms of songwriting and general musical progression, this is definitely an EP that Toxic Holocaust fans should listen to.

Rising from his first full length record 'Evil Never Dies', Joel Grind set out to write more expansive extreme metal tunes rather than his previous efforts that focused more on black metal. Essentially, I would say that Death Master is a testament to this statement. Side A holds the title track 'Deathmaster' which immediately sets up the straightforward thrash metal style with its shredding intro and powerful riffing. Joel also uses drumming to his advantage more so as they add to the epicness of the track. Joel still acquires his black metal vocal style however it feels significantly downgraded on this EP. This was probably so that Joel could create much more of a thrash metal focused EP. Overall, Deathmaster is a good kick in the teeth as an opener for the EP.

The next track (and the closing track) is Metal Attack. I feel that this track was influenced by the popularity of War Is Hell from Evil Never Dies, a track which keeps its speed and black metal influences, but still rises as much more of an epic track in comparison to the rest of the LP. This is because Metal Attack is much more of an epic in comparison to Deathmaster. Instead of basic shredding, the track opens with a foot stomping riff which eventually leads into the chorus. I felt that Joel's guitar work was much more active on Metal Attack, as it holds multiple riffs and even a pretty good breakdown at 2:27. The drums are another thing that add to the track, as they hold the same power and punch throughout. However I must say that Joel's vocals are really what let this track down. I felt that his focus on basic thrash metal had led him to do a cross between basic black metal vocals and an impersonation of Sy Keeler on Onslaught's 'The Force' record (no offence to Sy Keeler though, that guy kicks fucking ass!). At that, I felt that Joel's vocals didn't really hold up enough to keep the track going, so it's a good thing that he changed up his style on Hell on Earth.

After that, my only other gripes with the EP is that it's a bit generic. The title 'Deathmaster' has always just sounded lame and uninteresting to me as any thrash metal band could come up with it. Also the track 'Metal Attack' can add to the pile of tracks that are about fighting for metal, let's not even get started on the pile of tracks about fighting for rock.....

Overall I don't want to leave on a bad note, the real question is, should you listen to it? Well, if you're into this band or are just getting into this style of music then I would definitely recommend it. However if you're a seasoned thrasher or just don't like thrash metal, then this EP is going to seem boring or complete shit to you. Some may also say that there is no point in picking this record up as the tracks can be purchased through a re release of Evil Never Dies or a collection album called 'From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction'. Whilst this is true, and is a more efficient way of purchasing these tracks, the original 7" record is still something that TH collectors should pick up, as I did and ended up getting the purple version... nice!