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Master - The Master Speaks
There are few brutal bands that have been around as long as Paul Speckmann´s MASTER. Without second thoughts or ever slowing down, Paul and a variety of members have been at it since late 1983! There are few people with better knowledge of brutal metal, and the hard facts of life as an ongoing band. But I will not waste anymore of your time, here is the master himself, Paul Speckmann, to answer some of my questions
Paul, How would you describe the development of Master?
- Master has been continuing to write, record and crush the competition in terms of style and aggression. If you just put on the records of the so-called heavyweights of the genre, you can clearly here that many have lost focus as well as style and energy. The new CD called The Human Machine still kills and was written with the same feeling I have always had since the start. Development is a tricky word actually. Developing into a commercial viable band will never happen with Master. We will always be an underground entity. Of course there are clever hooks in the songs, and the songs have become more aggressive in some ways, but society dictates the songwriting for me. the world is a turbulent place and this energy is brought to the Human Machine.
Why was it necessary to re-establish the band in Eastern Europe?
- It wasn't necessary actually, it was my choice. I wrote and recorded as well as toured with a band called Krabathor in the early nineties and never left Europe. After discovering that I could tour constantly as well as play festivals year after year I realized this was the best choice I made in my life, as well as the fact that I found less governmental control over here.
Was it not possible to express your political views in the States?
- Actually the Human Machines of the world will put a stop to this eventually, but no, at the moment there is still freedom of speech to be found and expressed everywhere, but this will soon become a thing of the past. It used to be power to the people and now it is power over the people.
How would you describe the new album?
- This is an album of total aggression stemmimg from the rise in power and complete governmental control starting to envelop society in all facets. This is veery dangerous and the young people need to make some changes before it's too late. The youth will get in line and be led to the slaughter. People are becoming Human Machines working for the power of the greater governments and fre thinking is becoming a thing of the past. Only weapons are important in organized societies today.
Where would you rank it in comparison with your past albums, and why?
- This is a pretty ignorant question. All albums have been written with the same heart and realism as the albums previously. Sometimes budgets are bigger, sometimes promotion is better etc. Sometimes I have had better players. But, the point is that all albums are written with the same spirit. The Human Machine is the best album of my career at this point of course. Every musician is gonna pipe his horn about the new album, am I right?
You have released a lot of albums, but as of late there have been a number of rereleases as well as new material, how come this rise in popularity?
- The band Master has never changed or left the scene. It's never gonna be a reunion tour, because I never left the scene. I have always just refused to sell out like most of my contemporaries. A rise in popularity is a strong statement and certainyl doesn't pay the bill, touring does.
How extensive will the Human Machine be? Any dates in Scandinavia? I know you have been here before, with local heroes Nominon in tow.
- We will play only two dates in Denmark with Six Feet Under and IllDisposed. Master just finished 6 weeks in Brazil and 5 weeks in Europe. The interest in Scandinavia for Master is weak at best, but the Master influence on the scene was always there as well from the beginning. Just ask bands like Dismember, Dissection, or any of the other heavyweights if they ever heard of Master. Actually we just completed a weekend of dates in Finland with a killer band called Nifelheim and we had a blast. As for Nominon, these guys are also a killer group of people.
What´s it like to be signed to Pulverised? (In these days of upheaval in the record business PR is more important than ever, and they use SureShotWorx, which will be handy in Europe)?
- Things are looking good at the moment and I hope we have a long future together, time will tell. For the moment Pulverised is doing great work and I hope this will continue. As for SureShot we used them for the Faith is in Season album and they did killer work then as well, but this doesn't guarantee sales.
What can we expect from Master in the Future?
- We wil be supporting Mayhem in the USA in October as well as playing several festival dates with Six Feet Under over the next several months.
Business as usual for Paul Speckmann, best of luck with everything and cheers for your time!
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