С петлёй на шее

This is the sophomore effort for Мастер, but in one sense it can be considered their true debut, since it is arguable that before this they still considered themselves as the legitimate heirs of Ария, as their self-titled album featured Ария songs ‘Воля и Разум’ and ‘Встань, Страх Преодолей’, and hadn’t really found a consistent style to adopt as its own. С Петлёй на Шее is a pure, solid arse-whupping of classic thrash in the vein of early Anthrax and Nuke – and indeed, it belongs alongside Among the Living and Survive in terms of sheer quality. Raw, hard-hitting riffage dominates this album, punctuated by relentless, unfailingly sniper-precise snare and bass hits and topped off by Mikhail Seryshev’s righteous screaming fury. This is a focussed, well-orchestrated old-school thrash assault that lets up only for a few of the deceptively-calm interludes and intros to each track, before launching into the next surprise attack. ‘Не Хотим!’, ‘Палачи’, ‘Мы не Рабы?’, ‘Боже, Храни Нашу Злость’, ‘Наплевать!’… the high-quality output simply doesn’t let up throughout the entire album, and even the interludes (‘Когда Я Умру…’, ‘Амстердам’) never get boring! The whole album just rides relentlessly forward on its own explosive power, from the opening march of ‘Не Хотим!’ all the way through the forty seconds of all-out berserker frenzy that is ‘С Петлёй на Шее’.

Perhaps I am just imagining it, but it strikes me that a number of these songs, though very identifiably thrash and very identifiably following the American style, have a distinctly Russian cadence and flavour – particularly ‘Палачи’, ‘Мы не Рабы?’ and ‘Иуда’. ‘Палачи’ in particular follows an almost folkish, dance-like rhythm, and the gang shouts really only serve to add to that impression. Parts of ‘Иуда’, as well (particularly the background chanting), sound practically Central Asian or even Middle Eastern, which may have been to the purpose considering the Biblically-oriented lyrics. These twists certainly add to the appeal of the album as a whole, whilst distancing it to a certain degree from some of its closer inspirations. The intros to each song, never consistent (sometimes melodic, sometimes consisting of silence or various degrees of sound effects), even though they would later become a somewhat annoying feature on albums like Maniac Party, here are unobtrusive, natural progressions.

Also, that Мастер could successfully incorporate a lot of melodic structure into their music without subtracting either from the speed or the sheer aggression further highlights the creativity of the band. ‘Боже, Храни Нашу Злость’ and ‘Наплевать!’ (as well as, on occasion, ‘Иуда’) demonstrate this ability admirably. The difficulty is that these elements become slightly unbalanced: ‘Иуда’ can sound downright comical when the haunting, discordant segments are juxtaposed with an irreverent, almost upbeat and happy riff in the rest of the song. And the brooding, slow ‘Семь Кругов Ада’ is perhaps the album’s sole Achilles’ heel. In spite of the continued power and presence of all the needed elements and the fact that it is a good song in its own right, its mournful tone doesn’t seem to fit the rest of the album; in the end it is saved by the fact that it is wedged in-between the crossover number ‘Война’ and the angry-as-hornets final blow of ‘С Петлёй на Шее’.

This seems as good a point as any to discuss the lyrics, which are irate, denunciatory, rebellious and anti-establishment, though at the same time (strangely for a rock group in Soviet Russia) clearly leaning toward the left-wing side of the political spectrum, to the point where the half-satirical hacker site Луркоморье describes their lyrics as ‘Komsomol-progressive’. As a whole, the lyrics are solidly anti-war and concerned with human rights, wrongful executions and working conditions for common Russians, but they don’t necessarily point Westward for an immediate answer (as the dark, minimalistic instrumental brooding and fiddling of Alik Granovsky’s bass on ‘Амстердам’ might obliquely suggest).

The mixing is gritty and basic – suitably enough for a thrash album of this age from a band which was really only just setting out on its own. But when all is said and done, this remains an amazing album, indeed a must-have for fans of classic speed and thrash metal. Приветствуйте Мастера!

19 / 20

After a promising, but somewhat ordinary power/speed metal debut, Russia's Master held nothing back for its second release, which, coming out in 1988, took Russian metal fans by storm. With classic thrash sound of bands like Anthrax, Testament, Megadeth, and Slayer still gaining popularity worldwide, it was only a question of time before a Russian band came about that could be considered a part of the same scene, at least musically, and Master is just that one band.

In "With the Noose Around the Neck" we have a fine thrash metal record that proved that Russia could mount a very effective answer to Bay Area thrash of the time. Bit faster than their contemporaries on the average, Master still knew how to incorporate effective melody into their songs, and background keyboards gave them a distinct edge, further augmented by the excellent range and variety of vocal styles of singer Mikhail Seryshev.

The songs range from classic mid-tempo thrash of opener "We Don't Want" to all-out speed/thrash mania of the title track (1 1/2 minutes of all-out frenzy), "We Are Not Slaves" and "Don't Care" ("Naplevat'"), finding middle ground on tracks like "God Bless Our Malice" of "2000 Years (Judas)". The lyrics, too, deserve a mention, especially considering the time and the place. Had "We Are Not Slaves" been released only a couple of years earlier, its anti-Soviet rhetoric would have likely warranted a visit from KGB or an equivalent. Even then, in 1988, it was still pushing the envelope of what you could and could not say in the Soviet Union.

Unfortunately, few tracks do detract from the overall intensity. The bass solo "Amsterdam", while a nice showcase of Alik Granovsky's skill, is not really necessary, and "Executioners" is somewhat ho-hum - however, the rest of the songs more than make up for that. For classic thrash purists, "With the Noose Around the Neck" is essential listening, if you don't mind the lyrics being sang in Russian only.

Sadly, the classic Master lineup responsible for their first two efforts had subsequently dissolved, with the rest of the band's releases trying to recapture that previous magic with various degrees of success, and never matching it since. Still, this is one of Russia's best, and longest-running metal bands, and "With the Noose Around the Neck" is a definite highlight in Master's back catalogue.