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Maniac Butcher is a name that many Black Metal fans know, regardless of how familiar they actually are with the band. One of the main draws to this group is their dedication to pledging to write Black Metal in the truest of forms, which they have done well throughout their career, even after a ten year split. Epitaph - The Final Onslaught of Maniac Butcher was the closing release from this group back in 2000, and here it is, ten years later, and the band resurfaces with a new full-length entitled Masakr. In a world where Black Metal is overrun with poor production quality, underground mentalities, keyboards, and "blasphemous" concepts to Black Metal in general, this group return to unleash some pure Black Metal havoc on the masses, and they do just that with ease. Masakr is composed of six songs, the titles of which are long and clearly in the native text of the Czech Republic, much like many of their other releases, as well as rather long and, in a sense, a bit deep and poetic judging by some titles of previous efforts translated to English. This effort, sadly, doesn't quite reach the thirty minute mark, but in the long run, it's the quality of the material that matters, and the quality of Masakr is up there with plenty of great traditional/true Black Metal acts. The recording quality on the album isn't necessarily a strong, clean digital recording, having a still somewhat muddied feel, but not deterring from having a somewhat digital, stylish feel to it that would compliment the band's using spikes and leather jackets well. The image of the band themselves seems enhanced by the somewhat rough quality of the album, but that's meerly a side notation, as the production also aids the atmosphere of the recording, and helps to keep it a release that is right in your face the entire time, grabbing hold of your throat and never letting go. The music itself is solid, and is played at a fast pace for almost all of the six tracks, leaving no room for any real shifts in musical speed or performance to willingly try to shift the atmosphere of the recording from the brutal intensity to another, such a slower dark and melancholic sound that many bands of the style seem to incorporate quite often today. Of course, the opening track "Desatero krutých zim prežitých v teple žhnoucí záre slávy minulé" does break that rule slightly due to the introductory sound effects that are used to create a cold, dark ambience and atmosphere for the recording, which is odd considering the atmosphere of the recording actually never hits that same cold level through the rest of the release outside the slower material that track opens with after the ambient introduction. After that, it's just what you would expect from Maniac Butcher, which is simply hard hitting, fast paced Black Metal from start to finish. But, that becomes the problem with this release. Much of the album winds up sounding the same after a while. The vocals are echoed heavily, so it becomes hard to understand anything being said, which isn't a bad thing really, but there's no real changes in the vocal style except perhaps a little extra effort to be louder, and even that only lasts a brief moment as it echoes out. The music all follows the same faster pace, with "Bezbožné rouhání zpovední pred tažení vojnového zapocetím" slowing things down to a mid-tempo track "Bezbožné rouhání zpovední pred tažení vojnového zapocetím", which manages to slow things down even more then that, but it doesn't really have any atmosphere going for it and just comes off as well done traditional second generation Black Metal until the music really slows down, which isn't bad, but does start to become boring and feel drawn out after a little while. Other then that, the music on Masakr does start to get a little repetitive. The guitars do offer a nice variety throughout the release, but the vocals sound about the same except for the words being said obviously, and the drumming on many of the song essentially sounds the same. While "Bezbožné rouhání zpovední pred tažení vojnového zapocetím" offers a good deal of variation, the only other song on here that has some genuine differences in the drumming is the closing track, "Zakoncení oudesné bezpoctum krutou jistotu slibující, však mne bezpocet slibných nejistot skýtajíci", which of course has variances in the actual pace of the faster music, as well as briefly drops down to a slower pace about two thirds of the way in, but isn't anything all that spectacular and actually feels more taked on with the flow of the song then anything. Other then that, Masakr is still a welcome release, and a much appreciated return of Maniac Butcher. The album does still offer up plenty of great, commanding Black Metal tracks that don't rely on gimmicks or additional instruments, only the sheer brutality that this band can easily pull off. While the music can become somewhat repetitive, it is just very well done, making this album one that, while at first may lose it's effect after a good number of spins, will be an album you can always come back to for a casual spin, or even a more serious experience later on down the line. If you have yet to hear a release by the Czech Republics biggest Black Metal export, then now is the best time to experience some true ravaging Black Metal at it's best. |
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