Review by Chris Pratl on June 27, 2018.

It’s sort of hard to believe that Master has been around for 20-years now. I remember seeing these guys at nearly every club in Chicago back in the day, and front-man Paul Speckman and crew seldom disappointed. The discography is an impressive collective of honest, brutal death metal that is straight from the book of said genre. From 2000 to 2005 Master has produced a solid release every single year, so they’ve never gone away and have only gotten more brutal with age. 

The latest effort, The Human Machine, is a mild kick in the chest void of subtlety or reserve. It’s well-produced, fast-paced death metal that has a technical side emanating from it, quite polished I might add. Maturity through death metal often means a band either waters down its style and subject matter in accordance to some imaginary borders or they manage to progress from the roots and grow from within. Master has managed to grow without letting up. Chuck Schuldiner’s Death comes to mind if pressed for a viable comparison. From Scream Bloody Gore in 1987 to Sounds of Perseverance in 1998 is an amazing example of how maturity in death metal doesn’t mean dumbing-down the music or selling out the ideal. In fact, Master’s The Human Machine could stand up well against death album from the past year or so. It’s both viable and stirs the senses.

The songs are typically Master: free-thought-promoting, sensible dirges, and violent reactions to all things inane or unjust. In the long lineage that is Master’s discography, the ever constant theme is subjugation, be it internal, mental or governmental. “Supress Free Thinking” from the CD is a full-on bitch-fest about losing the ability to think for one’s self. Speckman’s vocals are so reminiscent to Tom G. Warrior from Celtic Frost it’s haunting. His influences show throughout the CD, as does the proficiency of the band he’s assembled with Alex Nejezchleba on guitars and Zdenek Pradlovsky drumming. The trio is amazingly talented and produces through a mere trio what some bands can’t accomplish with five members. 

Heavy metal has always prided itself on being cerebral, thought-provoking music, insisting that one thinks outside the proverbial box and finds answers not always conducive to popular collective thought. Master accomplishes this through the barrage of heaviness that could crush a Sherman tank. Especially evident on the track “A Replica of Invention,” the headbang-inducing track gets under your skin and provides an additional outlet for suppressed rage and strife that might be lingering inside somewhere. 

From start to finish, The Human Machine is a death metal lesson in coloring outside the lines. This is the way death metal should be presented: fast, thought-provoking and legible. Another fine release from a vastly underrated band is ready for ingestion.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

(Originally written for http://www.metalpsalter.com)

Review by Felix on December 28, 2021.

Today it is exactly a year ago that Lemmy left us in order to look what's going on in heaven. In view of this date, I want to pay tribute to the one who became an icon of heavy metal. Of course, he does not need to be honoured by an ordinary metalhead from Germany, but I'll just have to do it for my inner hygiene. Iron Fist was my first album of the band and the second metal album I ever bought. (The first was "Let There Be Rock" and I still think that AC/DC deserve a place on this site. However, here is not the place to discuss this.) To be honest, 'Iron Fist', the song as well as the entire album, is nothing else but the afterburner of 'Ace Of Spades', but come on, who gives a f**k about that? Even more than 34 years after its publication, the full-length has its charm, both the music and the lyrics ("You feel much better when you take these little pills / I'm gonna give you 60 bottles, I believe in overkill... I'm the doctor"). What I like the most about Motörhead is the way how they established two things in heavy metal: the dark, sometimes cynical humour and the dirty, coarse element that formed the basis for their compositions. Of course, their sixth album presents these features.

There are some things that all tracks of Iron Fist have in common. They rely on conventional patterns and they are short without redundant parts. Ballads are not included. Back in 1982, an emotional lament like '1916' would not have been possible. Nevertheless, the best songs of the album, which are placed at its beginning, do not only celebrate the triumph of intensity and brutality. In addition to these traits, they welcome the listener with surprisingly catchy elements. Fast Eddie pulls the strings for the last times and the succinct yet concise melodies indicate that Motörhead had more to deliver than absolutely simple tunes, although their rather primitive image spoke another language at the beginning of the eighties. The title track with its alarming chorus ("You know me, evil eye, you know me, prepare to die") alone is worth the money, but the unfriendly 'Go To Hell', the fatalistic 'Loser' and the patronising 'Heart Of Stone' leave some deep cuts as well. They all have this aforementioned iota of catchiness that separates great songs from ordinary noise. In addition, I must mention 'I'm The Doctor' one more time, because its casual approach adds this sarcastic element which reflected Lemmy's personality very well (as far as I, who never met him, know).

Yet besides all these advantages of Iron Fist, one cannot hide the fact that the trio runs out of ideas during the second half of the album. Somewhere I have read an honest statement of Lemmy who said that three of the twelve songs were actually not finished at the time of their recording and this lack of inspiration shimmers through titles such as '(Don't Let 'Em) Grind Ya Down'. If the truth be told, I never have put the album on my turntable in order to listen to the pretty average tracks of the B side. Songs like 'America' or 'Speedfreak' do not score with the same amount of liveliness and belligerence that ennobles the outstanding title track or the further highlights.

One might be of the opinion that the guitar sound is too loud and polished, but I beg to differ. Lemmy's roughshod vocals ensure the necessary degree of ugliness and the album conveys this specific outlaw feeling that made, in combination with the thundering guitars, early heavy metal so unique. Thus, I cannot say that Iron Fist belongs to the most appreciated items of my collection, but it documents the metallic spirit of the early eighties very well. With regard to the better and more famous Ace Of Spades, Iron Fist is the outsider in the community of outsiders and, to a certain extent, the same applied for Lemmy, Philthy Animal and Fast Eddie back in 1982. Even in the metal society, they had a shady reputation. However, Lemmy, we all know it very well, made his way and reached the terminal station on the 28 December 2015. Rest in peace, Mr. Kilmister, and celebrate a good time with Philthy Animal and all the other guys in the celestial (or hellish?) sanctuary. Have a drink on us, unforgotten comrade, and rest assured; those you have left are trying to keep the flame burning.

Rating: 7.4 out of 10

Review by Felix on December 28, 2021.

Today it is exactly a year ago that Lemmy left us in order to look what's going on in heaven. In view of this date, I want to pay tribute to the one who became an icon of heavy metal. Of course, he does not need to be honoured by an ordinary metalhead from Germany, but I'll just have to do it for my inner hygiene. Iron Fist was my first album of the band and the second metal album I ever bought. (The first was "Let There Be Rock" and I still think that AC/DC deserve a place on this site. However, here is not the place to discuss this.) To be honest, 'Iron Fist', the song as well as the entire album, is nothing else but the afterburner of 'Ace Of Spades', but come on, who gives a f**k about that? Even more than 34 years after its publication, the full-length has its charm, both the music and the lyrics ("You feel much better when you take these little pills / I'm gonna give you 60 bottles, I believe in overkill... I'm the doctor"). What I like the most about Motörhead is the way how they established two things in heavy metal: the dark, sometimes cynical humour and the dirty, coarse element that formed the basis for their compositions. Of course, their sixth album presents these features.

There are some things that all tracks of Iron Fist have in common. They rely on conventional patterns and they are short without redundant parts. Ballads are not included. Back in 1982, an emotional lament like '1916' would not have been possible. Nevertheless, the best songs of the album, which are placed at its beginning, do not only celebrate the triumph of intensity and brutality. In addition to these traits, they welcome the listener with surprisingly catchy elements. Fast Eddie pulls the strings for the last times and the succinct yet concise melodies indicate that Motörhead had more to deliver than absolutely simple tunes, although their rather primitive image spoke another language at the beginning of the eighties. The title track with its alarming chorus ("You know me, evil eye, you know me, prepare to die") alone is worth the money, but the unfriendly 'Go To Hell', the fatalistic 'Loser' and the patronising 'Heart Of Stone' leave some deep cuts as well. They all have this aforementioned iota of catchiness that separates great songs from ordinary noise. In addition, I must mention 'I'm The Doctor' one more time, because its casual approach adds this sarcastic element which reflected Lemmy's personality very well (as far as I, who never met him, know).

Yet besides all these advantages of Iron Fist, one cannot hide the fact that the trio runs out of ideas during the second half of the album. Somewhere I have read an honest statement of Lemmy who said that three of the twelve songs were actually not finished at the time of their recording and this lack of inspiration shimmers through titles such as '(Don't Let 'Em) Grind Ya Down'. If the truth be told, I never have put the album on my turntable in order to listen to the pretty average tracks of the B side. Songs like 'America' or 'Speedfreak' do not score with the same amount of liveliness and belligerence that ennobles the outstanding title track or the further highlights.

One might be of the opinion that the guitar sound is too loud and polished, but I beg to differ. Lemmy's roughshod vocals ensure the necessary degree of ugliness and the album conveys this specific outlaw feeling that made, in combination with the thundering guitars, early heavy metal so unique. Thus, I cannot say that Iron Fist belongs to the most appreciated items of my collection, but it documents the metallic spirit of the early eighties very well. With regard to the better and more famous Ace Of Spades, Iron Fist is the outsider in the community of outsiders and, to a certain extent, the same applied for Lemmy, Philthy Animal and Fast Eddie back in 1982. Even in the metal society, they had a shady reputation. However, Lemmy, we all know it very well, made his way and reached the terminal station on the 28 December 2015. Rest in peace, Mr. Kilmister, and celebrate a good time with Philthy Animal and all the other guys in the celestial (or hellish?) sanctuary. Have a drink on us, unforgotten comrade, and rest assured; those you have left are trying to keep the flame burning.

Rating: 7.4 out of 10