Review by Felix on June 3, 2019.

Frankly speaking, Master belong to a pretty miserable species of bands. They have more albums than good riffs. I realized it too late, that's why I even bought their third album. I hoped that this would be their first pretty good work after their performance increase on the second full-length. Well, optimism sucks. The yellow vinyl was a bargain, nevertheless, it was too expensive. The idiotic artwork serves as a bad omen and the second hit below the belt is not long in coming. The sound of Collection of Souls celebrates dullness in its full splendor. Regardless of the original vehemence of the compositions, the album does not develop the smallest degree of penetrating power. The mishmash of guitars, drums and vocals without bass guitar destroys the competitiveness of the record sustainably.

Aggravating the situation, a rather slow-paced track like "Hidden Stories" has absolutely nothing that makes me prick up my ears. It's just a waste of time. More songs enter one ear and exit the other without leaving a lasting impact. The level of complexity does not surpass that of a usual At War composition, but the combative trio from Virginia can rely on its good instinct for effective riffs. This is exactly where Master fail. Their run-of-the-mill guitar work is not totally annoying, but faceless and vapid. Even worse, the songs do not evoke any emotions and the non-charismatic voice of Speckmann fits the mediocre picture. No high-pitched tones, no low-pitched tones, just one monotonous tone. A song like "Blinded Faith" would have deserved a better production and an expressive vocalist, but both is not in sight.

The album clocks in at less than 35 minutes, but even this rather short playtime is too long. The Thin Lizzy cover appears as a foreign body and does not make any sense, tracks like "Justice or Fate" do not reach a more than decent level, because any kind of catchy, exciting or blazing elements is completely missing. No doubt, there exist worse albums that pollute the planet. Compared with Atrocity's "Werk 80", Collector of Souls appears as a magical moment in the history of harsh music. But in comparison with hundreds of other metal works, Master's third full-length is shrinking to its actual size. The closer "Silver Spoon" conveys a slight idea that Master have more potential than they have shown on the first eight tracks. Well, too little, too late.

At the end of the day, I respect the stamina of Speckmann and I am sure that he is a man of conviction. But he is no great songwriter, his generic ideas do not present any kind of unique selling propositions and he overestimates his vocal artistry. It is an ironic twist of fate that one of his sidekicks is listed as "Brian (Einstein) Brady", because this vinyl is light years away from ingenuity. I cannot give a recommendation to anyone and this is a little bit sad in view of Speckmann's integrity, but we do not need more bands than fans. More or less amateurishly designed death metal leaves me cold and therefore Master and me parted ways after this work. I am sure, neither Master nor I had feelings of loss.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 3, 2019.

Frankly speaking, Master belong to a pretty miserable species of bands. They have more albums than good riffs. I realized it too late, that's why I even bought their third album. I hoped that this would be their first pretty good work after their performance increase on the second full-length. Well, optimism sucks. The yellow vinyl was a bargain, nevertheless, it was too expensive. The idiotic artwork serves as a bad omen and the second hit below the belt is not long in coming. The sound of Collection of Souls celebrates dullness in its full splendor. Regardless of the original vehemence of the compositions, the album does not develop the smallest degree of penetrating power. The mishmash of guitars, drums and vocals without bass guitar destroys the competitiveness of the record sustainably.

Aggravating the situation, a rather slow-paced track like "Hidden Stories" has absolutely nothing that makes me prick up my ears. It's just a waste of time. More songs enter one ear and exit the other without leaving a lasting impact. The level of complexity does not surpass that of a usual At War composition, but the combative trio from Virginia can rely on its good instinct for effective riffs. This is exactly where Master fail. Their run-of-the-mill guitar work is not totally annoying, but faceless and vapid. Even worse, the songs do not evoke any emotions and the non-charismatic voice of Speckmann fits the mediocre picture. No high-pitched tones, no low-pitched tones, just one monotonous tone. A song like "Blinded Faith" would have deserved a better production and an expressive vocalist, but both is not in sight.

The album clocks in at less than 35 minutes, but even this rather short playtime is too long. The Thin Lizzy cover appears as a foreign body and does not make any sense, tracks like "Justice or Fate" do not reach a more than decent level, because any kind of catchy, exciting or blazing elements is completely missing. No doubt, there exist worse albums that pollute the planet. Compared with Atrocity's "Werk 80", Collector of Souls appears as a magical moment in the history of harsh music. But in comparison with hundreds of other metal works, Master's third full-length is shrinking to its actual size. The closer "Silver Spoon" conveys a slight idea that Master have more potential than they have shown on the first eight tracks. Well, too little, too late.

At the end of the day, I respect the stamina of Speckmann and I am sure that he is a man of conviction. But he is no great songwriter, his generic ideas do not present any kind of unique selling propositions and he overestimates his vocal artistry. It is an ironic twist of fate that one of his sidekicks is listed as "Brian (Einstein) Brady", because this vinyl is light years away from ingenuity. I cannot give a recommendation to anyone and this is a little bit sad in view of Speckmann's integrity, but we do not need more bands than fans. More or less amateurishly designed death metal leaves me cold and therefore Master and me parted ways after this work. I am sure, neither Master nor I had feelings of loss.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on January 10, 2023.

Are you old enough to remember the good old days of video games? Have you ever experienced a childhood of Sega Genesis and played classics such as Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Shinobi, Sonic, Streets of Rage, Vectorman, Earthworm Jim etc.? Have you been there to see the evolution of video games in graphics, consoles and in culture? If not, I truly feel sorry for you pal, because video games and metal music made the world a better place. If you were to tell me that there is an actual metal band out there that creates concept albums based on oldschool and modern video games they played and make actual songs about them, I would totally think you were joking. Believe it or not, one of those bands actually exists, and their name is Super Monster Party! So far, they have released four albums, with most of their albums being metal except their last album Up Up Down Die! (16-bit Remix Expansion Pack) which is the only album with 16-bit music of classic titles. The topic of today’s review is their third album Game Genie, which is the 3rd album from their Permadeath saga. Are you ready to finally press “PLAY”, take on this journey and face the danger that stands before you traveler? Ready, set, go!

Super Monster Party specializes in various ideas of metal combined with electronic music, but it’s mostly elements of progressive power metal consisted of epic riffs, neoclassical solos and keyboards, drums that switch between breakdowns, double-bass and fast thrash metal drumming, clean singing vocals with some screams and death metal growls as well. Besides metal, Game Genie has funny narrative interludes with voice acting, sound effects and “video game music” that serve as “cutscenes” on this album, with each song hopping from one game story to another. You will come across lyrics about Bioshock, Legend of Zelda, God of War, Dead Space, Witcher, Metal Gear Solid, Destroy All Humans and some movie references as well, all of which may please the gamer inside you. Apart from the interludes, every metal track has its own unique songwriting which separates them from each other, both in concept and in style. Although the real treat is their music and the video game lyrical themes, the other highlights would be the genius narrations, the epic sound production, and the uniqueness of each song. Some of the strongest tracks would definitely be 'Cursed Be The Witcher', 'Destroy All Humans' and 'Combo Breaker', which definitely kick the most ass on this album.

Although it’s more likely to come across YouTubers that make metal songs based on video games, it is awesome to see that there is an actual band having fun, jumping from one game franchise to another with creative and goofy ideas. Although this may not be for everybody, especially not if you’re just here for the metal and not for the games, but in case you are a gaming soul with a love for metal, I think that you might actually like Super Monster Party and their music. It’s quite a refreshing take on metal music and probably a very unusual form of entertainment, but nonetheless I do have a hunch that this story is far from over, and that it will last with its “worthiest of heroes” and their loyal ever-growing fanbase. I had fun with this one and I am sure you will too, unless you were chicken and decided to press “Exit Game” mid listening or never even pressed “PLAY”. Check out Super Monster Party! 

Rating: 8.4 out of 10