Master's Hammer

Last updated

Master's Hammer
Master's Hammer Logo ohne Wappen.jpg
Band logo
Background information
Origin Prague, Czechia
Genres Black metal, experimental metal
Years active1983–1995, 2009–present
Labels
  • Kron-H
  • Osmose
  • Jihosound Records
Members
Past members
  • Karel Zástěra
  • František Fečo
  • Milan Fibiger
  • Oldřich Liška
  • Tomáš Vendl
  • Míla Křovina
  • Mirek Valenta
  • Vlastimil Voral
Master's Hammer performing in 2018 Master's Hammer Party.San Metal Open Air 2018 05.jpg
Master's Hammer performing in 2018

Master's Hammer are a Czech black metal band formed in Prague in 1983. [1] 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.

Contents

History

Master's Hammer was founded in 1983 and produced five demos, before releasing their debut album, Ritual. , in 1991. The Polish extreme metal band Behemoth covered the song "Jáma pekel" on their 2008 EP, Ezkaton . A year later, Master's Hammer issued their sophomore record, Jilemnický okultista . [2]

Their third album, Šlágry , which came out in 1995, was a shift away from their previous work and incorporated a variety of styles outside the metal genre. At the time, the band announced that Šlágry II and a forthcoming CD-ROM would rely more on professional opera singers and orchestra musicians, [3] although neither materialized, and the band broke up the same year. Ukrainian black metal band Drudkh covered the track "Indiánská píseň hrůzy" on their 2010 EP, Slavonic Chronicles , [4] and included it on their 2014 compilation album, Eastern Frontier in Flames. [5]

In 2009, Master's Hammer reformed and released Mantras , their first record in 14 years. [6] In late 2012, a fifth album, called Vracejte konve na místo. , was released. It was awarded Best Hard and Heavy Album at that year's Anděl Awards [7] and Best Album at the Břitva Awards. [8]

In July 2013, Master's Hammer formed their own record label, called Jihosound Records, under which they released their sixth studio album in 2014, titled Vagus Vetus . [9] On 30 May 2016, they published their seventh studio album, Formulæ , [10] which again won the Best Hard and Heavy Album prize at the Anděl Awards. [11] [12]

On 8 December 2016, the band announced on their Facebook page that they were scheduled to play at the Brutal Assault festival in August 2017, their first live performance in 25 years. [13]

In February 2018, Master's Hammer released their eighth studio album, Fascinator . [14]

Musical style

Kerrang! magazine described the band's style as "fusing thrash with classical themes", and Jilemnický okultista was called "an operetta in three acts". [15]

When asked about Ritual, Fenriz, the drummer of Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone, joked that the album "is actually the first Norwegian black metal album, even though they are from Czechoslovakia". [16]

On 1995's Šlágry, the band "virtually abandoned the operatic black metal of previous releases in favor of modernist electronic music" and "shares 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". [3] 14 years later, Master's Hammer returned to their previous black metal style on Mantras.

Band members

Current

Past

Timeline

Master's Hammer

Discography

Demos

EPs

Studio albums

YearAlbum
1991 Ritual.
1992 Jilemnický okultista
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Vinyl, CD
1995 Šlágry
  • Label: Kron-H
  • Format: Vinyl, CD
2009 Mantras
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Vinyl, CD
2012 Vracejte konve na místo.
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Vinyl, CD
2014 Vagus Vetus
  • Label: Jihosound Records
  • Format: Vinyl, CD
2016 Formulæ
  • Label: Jihosound Records
  • Format: Vinyl, CD
2018 Fascinator
  • Label: Jihosound Records
  • Format: Vinyl, CD

Split albums

Compilations

Live albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darkthrone</span> Norwegian black metal band

Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leading bands in the Norwegian black metal scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silent Stream of Godless Elegy</span> Czech folk metal band

Silent Stream of Godless Elegy is a Moravian folk metal band from Czechia, formed in 1995. As of 2020, they have released six studio albums and one EP.

<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.

<i>Hell Symphony</i> 1991 studio album by Root

Hell Symphony is the second full-length album by Czech black metal band Root. It was originally released in 1991.

<i>Gipsy.cz</i> Czech Romani hip hop group

Gipsy.cz is a Czech Romani hip hop group. They performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007 and represented their country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, with the song "Aven Romale". The band plays a combination of hip hop and traditional Romani music, sung primarily in the Romani language, with some lyrics in Czech and English. As of 2013, they have released four studio albums.

<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>Slavonic Chronicles</i> 2010 EP by Drudkh

Slavonic Chronicles is an EP released by Ukrainian black metal band Drudkh on September 20, 2010, on the French label Season of Mist. It was released in two formats: as a 10" LP and as a mini CD. The last one is available only as a part of a deluxe leather book edition of Drudkh's 2010 full-length album, Handful of Stars, strictly limited to 600 copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natálie Kocábová</span> Czech poet, writer, and musician

Natálie Kocábová, also known as Natalie Kocab is a Czech poet, writer, and musician. She is the daughter of singer and political activist Michael Kocáb. She has released three solo studio albums, one extended play, four music videos, and featured on a number of other projects.

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

Hypnos is a Czech death metal band from Staré Město, formed in 1999. The group consists of Bronislav Kovařík, Peter Hlaváč (drums), Vlastimil Urbanec (guitar), and Martin Klinkera (guitar). As of 2020, they have released six studio albums, two EPs, and one compilation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kryštof (band)</span> Czech pop rock band

Kryštof is a Czech pop rock band founded in 1994 in Havířov by Richard Krajčo, Nikolaj Arichtev, Jaroslav Blahut, Biser Arichtev, and Pavel Studník. As of 2023, they have released nine studio albums, one EP, three live albums, one remix album, and two compilations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malignant Tumour</span> Czech metal band

Malignant Tumour is a Czech metal band formed in 1991 in Ostrava. The group's lineup has changed many times over the years, with only vocalist and founding member Martin Bílek remaining to this day. The rest of the band consists of bassist Robert Šimek, guitarist Martin Vyorálek, and drummer Petr Bohda. As of 2024, they have released six studio albums, two EPs, and numerous split albums with other musicians. The band has won several Břitva music polls, and in 2010, they received an Anděl Award in the Hard & Heavy category.

<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>Fascinator</i> (album) 2018 studio album by Masters Hammer

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenny (singer)</span> Czech musician

Lenka Filipová, known professionally as Lenny, is a Czech singer, songwriter, composer, lyricist, and pianist.

References

  1. Christe, Ian (2004). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Meta. It Books. pp. 253–254, 353. ISBN   0380811278.
  2. "Bohemia's forests are lovely, black and deep: Master's Hammer – The Jilemnice Occultist (Osmose Prod., 1992)". pervertedplaylist.wordpress.com. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Riffs". CMJ New Music Monthly. May 1996. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  4. ""Indiánská píseň hrůzy" (Master's Hammer cover)". pitchfork.com. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  5. "Eastern Frontiers in Flames". metal-archives.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  6. "Master's Hammer". deafsparrow.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  7. "Výsledky ročníků cen Anděl" [Anděl Awards yearly results]. andelceny.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  8. "Výsledky 2012" [2012 results]. cenybritva.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  9. "Interview: Master's Hammer (November 2014)". Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  10. "Master's Hammer – Formulae – Metal Storm". Metalstorm.net. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  11. "Výsledky ročníků cen Anděl" [Anděl Awards yearly results]. andelceny.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  12. "V žánrových Andělech uspěla Lenny, projekt dné nebo kapela Pio Squad" [Lenny, the project dné, and the band Pio Squad win Anděl genre awards]. idnes.cz (in Czech). 17 May 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  13. "Master's Hammer". Facebook.com. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  14. "Master's Hammer". Facebook.com. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  15. Lee Barrett: The Black Metal Directory. In: Kerrang! , no. 436, 27. March 1993, p. 46.
  16. "Darkthrone Biography and Video Clips von Darkthrone bei Myspace". Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2013.