Master’s Hammer – Ritual (1991)

June 4, 2023

There’s a lot of big brain takes about this album, its sound, its place in the history of metal and therefore and its influence, but I am not anywhere near qualified enough to comment on these matters so I’ll keep this much more down to earth. My Foundation Degree in Master’s Hammer permits me to speak soley about the music and its production, and not much else. Maybe once I get my Advanced Diploma + in Master’s Hammer I can return to this and offer a more panoramic take.

Anyway, I always thought Master’s Hammer were a doom metal band. I mean, with a name like that, I can be forgiven, right? But no, Master’s Hammer, are, of course, a black metal band. An unique one that are seemingly lodged somewhere between the first wave and second wave of black metal. I suppose you could compare it to the third/fourth album eras of Bathory, but Ritual is absolutely its own beast.

The entire album has this stunted, compressed sound, giving the record a “sound check” kind of feel. It’s almost as if the engineer had the entire band record their parts, and then realised he had no idea how to mix any of this shit, and just stared at the console for a few hours before declaring it a job well done. Despite this, Ritual does not sound particularly bad, in fact I think it sounds rather good and the oddness of its production instead lends to the unique atmosphere that the band conjures with this release.

This is not just one for the black metal historians. Do not think that. This is as great metal record for anyone who is interested in such a thing.