By Andrew Bansal
Death metal pioneers Master released their eleventh studio album ‘The Witchhunt’ on September 27th via FDA Rekotz records and have embarked on the ‘Slaughterfest 2013’ European tour with Onslaught, M-Pire Of Evil and Tantara. Formed in Chicago in 1983 by bassist/vocalist Paul Speckmann, giving rise to the band Death Strike in 1985 and later being renamed to its original incarnation, Master was one of the earliest death bands to pursue the death metal genre, influenced a ton of younger bands, and are still going strong with solid albums like ‘Slaves To Society’, ‘The Human Machine’ and ‘The New Elite’ released in the recent past. With ‘The Witchhunt’, Paul Speckmann continues the legacy of the band and gives death metal fans exactly what they want. Shortly before the release of the album, I spoke to him about the making of the album, among other things. Check out the conversation below, along with a music video for a song off of ‘The Witchhunt’.
Paul, it’s good to have you again on Metal Assault. Your new album has come together pretty quickly, with the previous album ‘The New Elite’ released only last year. Talk to me about how you managed to get it together so quickly.
Well, it’s a pretty normal situation for me. I mean, a lot of times we wait two years to do an album but this time around the guys needed money (laughs) and I had a little bit of time off so I said OK, we’ve got a couple of months off and we’ll record a new album and I’ll pay you guys. Of course they were happy, you know. I’m just being honest for you. The writing process is always the same. I record myself playing the acoustic guitar on a little micro-cassette recorder, riffs all year every year, just when I feel like it. I just kind of pick up the guitar from time to time and write down riffs. When it’s time to record, I listen back and 90 per cent of them are crap (laughs). But I find a handful of riffs and put together songs. The difference on this album is, on the last album Alex the guitar player wrote 3 songs. This time he was working, so he only did one track and I wrote 10 of them. So it’s really my album as opposed to the last one. So it’s kind of like my direction, like the early days, you know. But he brought in one good song and in the music for ‘Waiting To Die’ I helped him arrange a couple of parts but he wrote a great song, so I’m not complaining.
I guess this is a good way of doing it, because you’ve put out two albums in two years and now when you tour you’ll have a lot of material to choose from, rather than touring for an album and waiting a couple of years.
Yeah, the nice thing is that for the last probably seven years, we’ve been doing at least a hundred shows a year, sometimes 120. We’re really busy and it makes me happy. Obviously the band gets tighter the more you play out and when you go into the studio. With ten years of the same lineup, we’re really tight so things go really quickly.
In terms of the music itself, you’ve been around for so long that people obviously have an expectation. How do you approach it? Do you just try to fulfill their expectations or is it something to do to satisfy yourself as well?
You know, I really don’t think about it. To be honest with you, when I’m writing songs I’m not thinking it should sound like this or that. The riffs just come naturally, and it’s the same thing with the lyrics. I usually write a whole album of lyrics in two days. They are really quick. I read a lot of books and I watch the news and stuff, and things come together really quickly, you know. Some people say that all of the albums are the same (laughs), but I don’t think so. I hear differences in the songs, and if they were all the same I would know it too, right? I mean, come on!
Right! But do you ever feel limited as a musician in having to stick to a particular sub-genre? Does that feeling ever come across to you?
No, I don’t feel limited at all. For example, I just recently did an album called ‘Sulphur Skies’ with the Johansson & Speckmann project and it sounds nothing like Master. There was no limitation. He wrote the music, we both wrote the lyrics. And the point of it is, it’s completely different, at least in my opinion.
So you’re open to doing other projects but with Master you’re sticking to what the band has stood for over the years.
Yeah, just straightforward simple metal, you know. A lot of these bands that are in the genre today are playing completely different music. But when I started with Master and Death Strike, for me it was all about just simple metal and it’s still the same. Things are a little faster and there are more changes today, but it’s still the same feeling for me. I write the music for myself, so if I like something, I put it across for people to hear, and if they don’t like it, I go record another album. I don’t give a rat’s ass, you know (laughs).
When you play shows nowadays and play the older material, are you yourself satisfied with how you are playing them now? Are you able to bring the same energy with which they were written back then?
Well, for me it seems to be that way, but you’ll have to ask the audience (laughs). Songs like ‘Master’, ‘Pay To Die’ and let’s say ‘Unknown Soldier’, they are the same as they always were. I’m forced to play a lot of the old songs so I do it, and I try to sneak it some of the new songs. Most of the concerts when we do a headline show, we’re playing 90 minutes to 2 hours. For example, on this Onslaught tour we have a 40-minute set, as Onslaught is the headliner and we’re lower down on the bill. So for me, this is a joke and it’s going to be a cakewalk. When you play 90 minutes every day, 35 or 40 minutes is a walk in the park, you know.
That should be a great tour as well, and I’m glad you guys are on it.
I really like Onslaught and M-Pire Of Evil. They are really good bands, they are old, they are classic. It’s like they are all older guys so it’s easy for me to get along wit them. I know what to expect. They’ve got experience, you know, versus going on the road with four young bands who just want to get drunk every day (laughs).
That’s true, plus Onslaught also have a killer new album out. It’s always good to tour with bands that have good new music.
Yeah exactly, it’s perfect! We both have good new records out and we’re going on the road together.
You tour mostly in Europe. How’s the response to your band over there these days? Are you happy with the kind of fan base you have?
Yeah, but even the fan base in the USA is fantastic again now. I just toured the USA last year and a few years before, and the shows are great every time. People are coming out even during the week! And that’s the same thing here too. So yeah, the fan base is fine for me. I mean, obviously Europe has a better following for every band to be honest for you, except for the bigshots like Iron Maiden and stuff. It’s different for them, but with the kind of music that we’re playing, underground or death metal or thrash metal or whatever you want to say, the scene over here has always been better. That’s the reason why I moved to Europe, you know. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate America. I love America (laughs). But the scene has never been as strong for me and for many bands I know as it is here.
So what’s the plan for the next US tour and when can we expect you here?
Well, we’ve been invited back to the USA in April of next year. So it’s going to be 21 dates in the USA in April, and we’ve got a lot of shit coming up. The Onslaught European tour, 22 shows in South America, 10 days in the Balkans, we’re going to Japan as well. We’re busy and it’s a wonderful thing actually, in this day and age. I’m happy to be busy.
Paul, I think that’s about it from me for this interview. If there’s anything else you’d like to mention, go ahead!
Oh, that was pretty quick, but good questions! All I want to say to the people reading this is, just go out and buy the album. I was so frustrated yesterday morning when I got up and went to YouTube and our new album is already available on YouTube, even before the release. It’s pretty lame, you know. Obviously people are buying the record and ordering it from me and in advance from the label, but I’m wondering who put that on there, may be somebody who bought an advance copy from me.
Since you mentioned that, I’m going to ask you about it. I don’t understand what people gain out of doing that? May be they do it to get more YouTube subscribers or hits?
I don’t understand it either. The albums come out before you release them! It’s not metal, you know. That’s all I would say. Metal is about supporting each other. I go to Germany and the USA and I buy over a hundred CDs a year. I’m still supporting, and I’m in a band.
And it’s not necessarily because people can’t afford to buy records, because they spend plenty of money on other things. It’s just that they don’t want to buy records and would rather have it for free.
Yeah, it’s scary. I don’t know what we’re going to do about it. We just have to deal with it, you know (laughs).
Visit Master on the web at:
master-speckmetal.net
facebook.com/pages/Master/18521536017