Fascinator (album)

Last updated
Fascinator
Master's Hammer Fascinator.jpg
Studio album by
Released10 February 2018
Recorded2017
StudioHellsound Studio
Genre Black metal, avant-garde metal
Length50:07
Label Jihosound Records
Producer Franta Štorm
Master's Hammer chronology
Formulæ
(2016)
Fascinator
(2018)

Fascinator is the eighth studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer. [1] It was released on 10 February 2018 through their own label, Jihosound Records, and is available in vinyl, CD and cassette formats.

Contents

It is their first release since Vracejte konve na místo. to count with the participation of guitarist Petr "Blackie" Hošek (a former member of another important Czech black metal band, Root) as an official member, their first one since Mantras with former timpani player Honza "Silenthell" Přibyl, and the first one overall with new bassist Petr "Rámus" Mecák. [2]

Two tracks of the album, "Ve věži ticha" and "Estetika ďábla", were uploaded to vocalist Franta Štorm's official YouTube channel as teasers on 11 September and 22 November 2017, respectively. [3] [4]

Štorm claims on the album's liner notes that most of its writing process were inspired by trips he took to Goa, India (a common destination for him), and Norway (Master's Hammer performed at a festival in Bergen in 2017). "Linkola" is a tribute to the Finnish philosopher Pentti Linkola.

Track 11's title is in Portuguese.

Critical reception

The album was positively reviewed upon its release. MetalReviews.com, giving it a grade of 85/100, praised its "eerie atmosphere", calling it a "weird and theatrical" album and comparing it favorably to the sonority of Japanese band Sigh. [5] Metal Invader rated it with a 4.5 out of 6, comparing Master's Hammer to American band Psychotic Waltz and saying the album was a huge improvement over the "rather mediocre" Formulæ . [6] Decibel Magazine noticed its "more atmospheric sound", praising its "great riffs and a punishing rhythm section". [1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Franta Štorm

No.TitleEnglish titleLength
1."Fascinator" 3:37
2."Psychoparasit"Psychoparasite4:19
3."Ve věži ticha"In the Tower of Silence4:14
4."Linkola" 3:18
5."Satanská nekrofilní porna"Satanic Necrophiliac Porn4:18
6."Estetika ďábla"Aesthetics of the Devil3:59
7."Krokodil" 3:47
8."Astrální dvojníci"Astral Doppelgangers4:04
9."Kletba"Curse3:26
10."Odliv mozků"Brain Drain2:36
11."Espíritos Criativos"Creative Spirits3:33
12."Exhumace"Exhumation3:42
13."Lost in Fjords" (instrumental) 4:02

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Bilocate is a dark Oriental metal band from Amman, Jordan, founded in 2002 by Ramzi Essayed, Waseem Essayed and Hani Al Abbadi. The band's style combines doom metal, death metal and black metal with Oriental elements.

<i>Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk</i> 1997 studio album by Emperor

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk is the second studio album by Norwegian black metal band Emperor. It was released on 19 May 1997 through Candlelight Records and Century Black.

<i>Concrete</i> (Fear Factory album) 2002 studio album (demo) by Fear Factory

Concrete is the first recording by Fear Factory. The first album to be produced by Ross Robinson, it was intended to be Fear Factory's first release, however the album was shelved after the band declined a record contract presented to the band by Robinson. Subsequently, the album was shelved, with Robinson retaining the master tapes and the band retaining the song rights; half of which were re-recorded a year later and released on their debut album Soul of a New Machine. In 2002, Robinson sold the master tapes to Roadrunner, who subsequently released the album on July 30, 2002, though the band members have had divided opinions on its release.

<i>Dance of December Souls</i> 1993 studio album by Katatonia

Dance of December Souls is the debut studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Katatonia. It was released on CD in 1993 by No Fashion Records and LP by Helion Records, released in the US in 1999 by Century Black. In 2004, record label Black Lodge reissued the album with all new artwork, but the band has stated on its website that it does not support this release for personal reasons. In 2007, the album was reissued, this time under Peaceville UK with a blue version of the original cover and all five songs from the Jhva Elohim Meth... The Revival EP appended as bonus tracks. In 2010, Svart Records released a double vinyl version, which also included all songs from the EP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Master's Hammer</span> Czech black metal band

Master's Hammer are a Czech black metal band formed in Prague in 1983. They were active, with several lineup changes, until 1995, and again from 2009 onward. As of 2024, they have released eight studio albums, five demos, one EP, two split albums, one live album, and several compilations.

<i>Jilemnický okultista</i> 1992 studio album by Masters Hammer

Jilemnický okultista is the second studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, self-released on December 1992 and distributed by Osmose Productions in the following year. Described by the band as "the world's first black metal operetta" and largely inspired by King Diamond's rock operas, it is their first of two concept albums, the second being Vagus Vetus, released in 2014. On several early Osmose pressings, Jilemnice is misspelled as "Filemnice", which was corrected on later pressings. Despite the track listing being in English, all the lyrics are in Czech; the original release contained Czech titles.

<i>Ritual.</i> (Masters Hammer album) 1991 studio album by Masters Hammer

Ritual. is the debut album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, initially released through independent label Monitor in 1991. It was later distributed elsewhere and re-released in CD format by Osmose Productions in 1994; Osmose's version contains two bonus tracks. Many tracks of the album were re-recorded from their 1990 demo tape The Fall of Idol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root (band)</span> Czech black metal band

Root is a Czech black metal band.

<i>Kärgeräs</i> 1996 studio album by Root

Kärgeräs is the fourth studio album by Czech black metal band Root, released in 1996 through Black Hole Records. Beginning with this album, Root began to drift away from their traditional black metal-inflected sonority, seeing them advancing towards the hybridization of black and heavy metal they are currently famous for.

Petr Hošek, also known by the stage names Blackie and Blackosh, is one of the founding members of Czech black metal group Root. He left Root after the recording of Madness of the Graves (2003). He also has some other musical side projects such as Cales and Blackosh. As of 2017 he is also a member of Master's Hammer, having previously collaborated with the band as a session member on their 2012 album Vracejte konve na místo.. His first album as an official member of the band, Fascinator, came out on 10 February 2018. As of early 2019, he is also a member of Nifelheim as their guitarist.

<i>The Book</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Root

The Book is the fifth studio album by Czech black/heavy metal band Root, released on 24 June 1999 through Redblack Productions. It was the band's first album with guitarists Marek "Ashok" Šmerda and Aleš "Alesh A.D." Dostál, and their second of four albums to be recorded at the Shaark Studio in South Moravia, the others being Kärgeräs, its sequel Kärgeräs – Return from Oblivion and Black Seal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Marthus Škaroupka</span> Czech extreme metal drummer (born 1981)

Martin "Marthus" Škaroupka is a Czech extreme metal drummer. He is a member and songwriter in the British extreme metal band Cradle of Filth.

<i>Šlágry</i> 1995 studio album by Masters Hammer

Šlágry is the third studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, released in 1995 by a now-defunct subsidiary of Osmose Productions, Kron-H, specialized in more experimental outputs than Osmose itself. Greatly contrasting with the sonority of the band's previous releases, Šlágry sees them "virtually abandon[ing] the operatic black metal of previous releases in favor of modernist electronic music", and "shar[ing] publishing credits with Carl Czerny, Otto Katz and Giuseppe Verdi, mixing bits of metal, folk and musique concrète into a style based on the classical avant-garde", as they put it in the album's liner notes. In fact, "Hlava modernistova" is the only black metal-oriented track of the entire album.

<i>Mantras</i> (Masters Hammer album) 2009 studio album by Masters Hammer

Mantras is the fourth studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, independently-released on 3 December 2009. It is the band's first album of new material since Šlágry on 1995, and sees them returning to the black metal style of their first two albums, but blending it with the experimental sound demonstrated on Šlágry. It was released both in CD and vinyl format; the vinyl version contains less tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">František Štorm</span> Czech musician, artist and typographer (born 1966(

František "Franta" Štorm is a Czech musician, photographer, typographer, writer, teacher, artist, illustrator and record producer, famous for being the vocalist and a founding member of the black metal band Master's Hammer.

<i>Vracejte konve na místo.</i> 2012 studio album by Masters Hammer

Vracejte konve na místo. is the fifth studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, independently released on 8 February 2012. It was released both on vinyl and CD format; the vinyl version contains two bonus tracks.

<i>Vagus Vetus</i> 2014 studio album by Masters Hammer

Vagus Vetus is the sixth studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, released on 18 May 2014 through the band's own record label, Jihosound Records, founded the year prior. It is the group's second concept album so far, the first one being Jilemnický okultista, released in 1992.

<i>Formulæ</i> (album) 2016 studio album by Masters Hammer

Formulæ is the seventh studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, released on 30 May 2016 through the band's own record label, Jihosound Records, founded in 2013. The album was composed by Franta Štorm in India and South Bohemia in winter 2015–2016, and recorded between January and March 2016 at Biotech Studio in Prague, Czech Republic.

<i>Zjevení</i> 1990 studio album by Root

Zjevení is the debut album by Czech black metal band Root, released in December 1990 through now-defunct record label Zeras. It is noticeably the only full-length album by the band to feature songs with lyrics in Czech, and is regarded for shaping the sonority of the early Czech black metal scene of the late 1980s/early to mid-1990s.

<i>The Temple in the Underworld</i> Album by Czech black metal band Root

The Temple in the Underworld is the third studio album by Czech black metal band Root, released in December 1992 through Monitor. This marked the end of their early raw black metal sound, and was also their last release with guitarist Daniel "Mr. D.A.N." Janáček. It was re-issued under CD format by Monitor with two bonus tracks.

References

  1. 1 2 J. Andrew Zalucky (February 16, 2018). "Master's Hammer Lands a Big Sound on "Fascinator"". Decibel Magazine.
  2. Fascinator - Master's Hammer (Bandcamp)
  3. Master's Hammer - Ve věži ticha / In The Tower Of Silence
  4. Master's Hammer - Estetika ďábla / Aesthetics Of The Devil (album mix)
  5. "Master's Hammer - Fascinator". MetalReviews.com. February 13, 2018.
  6. "Master's Hammer - Fascinator". Metal Invader. March 31, 2018.