Master

Formed in Chicago in 1983 around bassist and vocalist Paul Speckmann, Master was among the first groups to give clear form to American death metal, with a direct, rough sound strongly marked by thrash and hardcore punk. After several lineup changes and a long underground demo circuit in the mid-1980s, Master finally released its first self-titled album in 1990, followed by On the Seventh Day God Created... Master in 1991 and Collection of Souls in 1993, three records that establish the foundations of its style, between martial tempos, dry riffs and a deep, no-nonsense vocal. Over the years, Paul Speckmann kept Master active despite periods of instability, first in the United States then in Europe after settling in the Czech Republic. This relocation opened a new phase for Master, with albums such as Faith Is in Season (1998), Let’s Start a War (2002), The Spirit of the West (2004), Four More Years of Terror (2005), Slaves to Society (2007), The Human Machine (2010), The New Elite (2012), The Witchhunt (2013), An Epiphany of Hate (2016), Vindictive Miscreant (2018) and Saints Dispelled (2024). Since the 2000s, Master has mostly operated as a trio, with Alex Nejezchleba on guitar and Zdeněk Pradlovský on drums, in a tightened formula that extends an old-school aesthetic, dry, fast and without superfluous effects.