If there is one thing that is very clear about Czech's Metal Scene, it's the fact that it has obviously come a long way since the days of cult bands like the black metal legends Master's Hammer. Thanks to the magic, aggression and the spiritualism of bands such as them, Root, Törr, Crux and Fata Morgana to name a few, you can see how it drastically evolved from there and pretty much it never stopped going further with its evolution. Even if Master's Hammer has been officially split-up for a while now, the interest still remains strong, if not stronger than ever before. Since last year, the label Darkness Shall Rise Productions has re-released their classic demos and the Live Occult Rituals live album, with the high demand from fans who are there to remind us that the legacy of Master's Hammer lives on. Recently, I've decided to reach out to the band's vocalist and guitarist František "Franta" Štorm regarding the decision of re-releasing their demos on vinyl, but we've also discussed other subjects along the way such as the everlasting legacy of Master's Hammer, his other project Mortal Cabinet, as well as Franta's calligraphy and artwork which he still does to this day. I hope you will stay along for the ride and enjoy the interview with the great Franta Štorm.

Vladimir

Greetings Franta, welcome on behalf of Metalbite. How have you been doing lately?

Hello, thanks, today I'm painting and designing a book.

Lately I've seen new Master's Hammer physical releases from the Finished and The Mass demo re-releases last year and the Live Occult Rituals live album this year. What is the story behind the reissues of the demos and the live album on top of it? Were you reached out by the Darkness Shall Rise Productions label with the interest to put it out on vinyl?

Denny Wolfram / DSR convinced us to do it. I'm usually reluctant to dig into the past, but his attitude changed my mind. Some weird memories reached me when doing the interviews for the booklets, so fans can read about the circumstances at date of origin, they can smell the dirty rehearsal-room air with us. The feel is back without sentiment: I wonder if we had just a fraction of today's knowledge - and the opposite way - what if we had just a little bit of the young energy nowadays... That's the project's lesson for me.

I'm very happy with the Live album - not only is the sound great, but it combines old and newer stuff on stage. I'd like to mention some details that are not so obvious: all Ritual and Okultista songs are originally composed in E-tuning, whereas newer songs from Mantras are deeper in B, but Fascinator is all in D. For live version we had to unify all of them into D, which made them sound more consistent (and made the touring lighter with just one set set of guitars instead of three). When I first heard the rough live take, which is about 100 minutes of playing, I was surprised how well we played actually, but for me - so many mistakes in singing, but it's live, and that's the nature, and Honza Kapák did a great job on mixing. I was also happy that I could finally use my painting on the cover.

Since these old demos and compilations have been reissued on vinyl, was there high demand from the fanbase? Were there large sales of record copies involved?

To be precise, these are not compilations but faithful demos with just very little adjustments, just lots of recovered original archivals, memories and photos. Denny says there was a high demand from fans and the pre-order sales confirmed that. The "Live Occult Rituals" is another story - the concert is pressed as was played with just two or three songs swapped for technical reasons. No post- corrections, no over-dubbing in the studio, each mistake on stage is reproduced. Authentic professional and amateur photos and an interview. That's the way we like it.

It's been made clear that Master's Hammer disbanded officially four years ago, only a couple of years after the release of your last full-length album Fascinator, so what can you tell me about what happened that led to the demise of Master's Hammer? Was there anything that forced the band to cease activity in 2020?

We've been disbanded all the time, except for our 2018 world tour. We've been releasing albums regardless to personal line-up, e. g. Vagus Vetus, Formulae, or Vracejte konve na místo - we just met twice in a studio - once for taking live drums and second for mixing and photo together and afterwards we went back home to our businesses. I admit it's a special band. Live playing is a full-time job and I'm not a metalhead, loud noise is exhausting and boring.

After the band has stopped playing in 2020, the interest in the band still remains relatively strong and I've seen much more interest shifting towards metal bands from Eastern Europe, especially towards the pre-second wave black metal bands such as yourselves and Root. Do you feel the same way that the love and support towards Master's Hammer is still relevant or perhaps even stronger?

The fans' interest really surprises me, we're not typical "love product", some say that we're the only underground band still selling some archive stuff - it's true, but in quite little numbers, focused on nice limited editions. I wanted to do experimental black metal, but my band-mates used to hate synthesizers, so now I'm on my own way of composing. In this context the old-school sound is certainly nostalgia, and perhaps the reason why some young listeners go for it. The support also means I can get rid of those memories, to create new music.

I also want to talk about your other project Mortal Cabinet, which you formed with horrorcore singer Řezník and Sodoma Gomora Samir Hauser. What's the story behind the formation of this project? How did you guys manage to incorporate so many different elements from a handful of different genres?

In 2015 we decided to mix the most radical decadent sorts of rap, electro and metal together, people loved it, it was great timing to play apart from our other projects. The idea was that each of us will write one third of all songs and we'll sing some together, which we did. I like Marty's / Řezník (the Butcher) poetry - he is best rap songwriter and film producer in Czechia. Samir is an excellent manager, songwriter, and had great ideas on image, stage acting, and I did 90% of Mortal Cabinet music in my studio, John Fryer did the mix of the album. We had only 10 shows - all crowded, epic parties. We are great friends and still inspiring each other.

I see Mortal Cabinet as a nice blend of various musical ideas fused in with occult themes and philosophies that fuel its output, but are there any influences in particular outside of music like movies, poetry or literature?

We were crazy as animals, taking the worst ugliness for inspiration, deviation and madness. But Mortal Cabinet was mostly about fun. And so are horrors in general. We had a song about A. Crowley, very ironic, also about televangelism, about abuse, pain and despair taken from local legends, but taken with a lot of humor.

Mortal Cabinet's album Necrotica is nearing its 10 year anniversary, but since then there wasn't any news regarding a follow-up album. Are you guys planning to return to the studio and work on another album?

You're right, it would be nice to do something - at least one song in common...

Anyone who is familiar with you also knows that you work with calligraphy and artwork, which were an integral part of Master's Hammer discography, and I see you're still very active in that field. How and when did you start with calligraphy and artworks? Also, how did you manage to develop your own artstyle?

In fact, visual art is my current occupation. I'm a designer, illustrator, painter, typographer, among other activities. None of them is actually "primary". My inspiration is perhaps nature and present life, also travelling, but mostly my inner worlds, it's difficult to describe briefly here, I'm writing a whole book about it now.

How frequently do you follow the music scene nowadays? Have there been any new artists or bands that really got your attention?

I love modern classical music like Arvo Pärt - we have tickets for the next Prague Spring. Actually I like all kinds of music (except for folklore and jazz), and I love silence. Recently I've discovered a very special artist named "Omnion" - very focused and relaxing, with some spirituality and humor at the same time.

So far, what are your plans for the future? Can we expect anything new from you in regards to music or other contributions?

I do exhibitions with animations projected with beamers - on last Brutal Assault in Josefov for instance. It's always a special installation in dark space with canvas paintings, video and of course original music - I call this "sound design" - I don't do "songs" anymore. Next exhibition will be in December / January in Prague's Avoid gallery - come to see!

Thank you so much for this interview Franta. It's been such an honor having you here, especially as a longtime fan and follower of Master's Hammer and Mortal Cabinet as well. Best of luck to you in life and I hope our paths will cross in the future. Are there any final words?

Thank you for having me. You're right - our paths may cross anytime, so is with music and fans, we never know...