Review Summary: A late exploration of extreme metal's roots
Although Paul Speckmann, front man and main creative force of Chicago's Death Metal bands Master, Death Strike and Abomination, had been present to influence the genre at its very inception, fans had to wait until 1990 before they would finally be able to listen Master's self-titled debut album. On their sophomore release from 1991,
On the Seventh Day God Created.... Master, the band is exploring possible trails that the Death Metal genre could have traveled, had the influence of hardcore punk been the main guiding force during its early days.
Over the course of its life time, Heavy Metal has adapted elements from a great variety of other musical styles. When it comes to extreme metal in particular, few other genres have left as many finger prints as the harcore punk from the early eighties. While time may have blurred many of these finger prints, as Death Metal's song architectures became more elaborate and musicianship more adept, they are still fully preserved on Master's body of work and left for the listener to examine, hinting at alternative trajectories for the developement of the genre. While not quite as prevalent as on Speckmann's earlier works, this impact of hardcore punk still clearly manifests itself here at multiple levels of analysis. From the lyrical content, that contains more sociocritical elements than is usual for Death Metal, and the drumming that is reduced to a mere supportive function, by providing a stable rhythmic background with little freedom to actively shape the music, to the guitars, that supply the basic building blocks for the songs in form of riffs, that usually consist of simple power chord arrangements or fast tremolo-picked passages. Occasionally, a harmonized melody or a guitar solo emerges from the chaos of raging riffs, that embellishes the music with a certain sense of grandeur, distinguishing it from its hardcore punk roots. The guitar-playing is provided by Paul Masvidal, who is more well known as Cynic's guitarist and for playing on Death's
Human. Despite the obvious differences between the aforementioned bands and Master, Masvidal fits right in and masterfully serves the music throughout the whole album.
This results in a release, that isn't nearly as sinister or terrifying as most Death Metal from the same era. It much rather appears to be inspired by a sense of primal rage with some epic sentiments thrown in. As such, it is much more akin to the Swedish style of Death Metal (which, by the way, also drew much more heavily from hardcore punk) than the American one.
However, some criticism is due regarding the inclusion of the silly 'America The Pitiful', a mockery of the traditional song 'America The Beautiful', which feels totally out of place. Sometimes, the vocals can also get tiresome, especially when they just keep stubbornly following the dominant guitar rhythm. All things considered, this is definitely a worthwhile release, though, even if it cannot be counted among the very best the genre has to offer. If you enjoy hardcore punk or would like to know what the genre might have ended up sounding like, had its influence remained more prevalent, then this is the Death Metal record you want to listen to.
