Andrew Lee of Ripped to Shreds cancels Master for appearing with Arghoslent while releasing albums with members of Arghoslent


by Metal Hypocrites

The current chatter in the underground surrounds the controversial Metal Threat Festival, which took place in Chicago, October 2-5, with a slew of international underground acts. It drew plenty of attention for its dream lineup and the rash of cancellations that followed, as many bands were denied their US visas just weeks ahead of the show. The promoter doubled down on controversy a few weeks before the event by adding the American band Arghoslent as an initially unnamed headliner.

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Metal Threat 2025

One of our staffers is on location and liveblogging this epic and exhausting metal festival which stretches an onslaught of bands over three days. Best to bring your comfy chair and maybe a Kindle so you can sit through the poseur bands.

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Animate Records Re-Issues Master Let’s Start A War

Animate Records announced plans to re-release Master Let’s Start a War on a six-panel digipak. Attempting to mix the Master “sound” with a greater heavy metal and sludge sensibility, some of which appeared on Faith is In Season, Let’s start a War might best seen as a transition record for a band trying to find its voice but also portended what would become the later and tighter manifestation of Master.

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Funeral Bitch Re-Issues Old Demos With The 1980s Demos CD

From roughly 1984 to 1992, Paul Speckmann recruited different lineups to express the same idea through different band names such as Master, Deathstrike, Abomination, Funeral Bitch, and Speckmann Project. With similar basic sounds and shared songs, these bands differed mostly in personnel.

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Riff Analysis: Master – “What Kind of God”


Master on their seminal record On the Seventh Day God Created… Master operated on the principle of taking one idea and pounding it into the listener’s brain as much as possible without droning on and maintaining some form of forward movement. Paul Speckmann’s riffs are simple and straightforward but there was always something there that pushed them above the hordes of bands making minimalistic Hardcore influenced Death metal. The first actual riff of the first song “What Kind of God” is a perfect example of what made Master deceptively unique at the riff level.

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The Best Underground Metal Of 2018

The task before a reviewer varies widely. If you want to be a big shot, you need to write about what the labels want, since they are the only source of top-down money coming into the genre. They will then reward your publication with advertising, it will then reward you with a promotion, and eighteen months later, you can ditch it and move up to the big leagues.

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On the Seventh Day God Created… Master & Speckmann Project Reissue

Hammerheart Records is reissuing Master‘s second album, On the Seventh Day God Created… Master, on both CD and LP. Get the CD digipak as it contains the Speckmann Project as a bonus disc. Leave the vinyl with the same sound for the hipsters.

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