Mastestroke
Broken
Dynamic Arts Records
2013
Among the various promos that we receive each & every day, there are some bands that catch our attention at once, while others need a few spins so as to get them. I do not think that a good album must necessarily get your attention from the very first listen neither that it must always require lots of spins. Good albums are among all the categories no matter what. This time it was the newest, fourth, full length album by Masterstroke that struck me from the moment I played it.
Mastestroke have been in existence for almost a decade and even though they come from Finland, their sound is mostly influenced by the US metal scene. Were I to describe the band’s music, I would call it heavy metal with several 90s heavy-thrash influences from Metallica, Megadeth, Testament etc., a contemporary sound and numerous melodic parts. Or if you prefer, just imagine a crossover between Sparzanza & Mercenary, without the extreme features and all the above-mentioned elements. I would never call this heavy/power metal as some do. Nothing to do with it at all. The heavy production along with the band’s sharp-killer riffs & melodic refrains are enough to make you play it as loud as you can. Watch out for your speakers/headphones though. It’s true that this album was created to be played on ten!
According to the press release the guys decided to drop half of the songs they had before going to the studio, so as to make the album as tight as possible. I think they managed to do that, whereas I would prefer it to have a few more songs. You see almost 35 minutes of music makes the album kinda short for my liking… needless to say that I’m “forced” to press “play” again and again. All in all, the band seem to have found their way with this album and if you do like their previous works you can’t go wrong with this one.
Mastestroke have been in existence for almost a decade and even though they come from Finland, their sound is mostly influenced by the US metal scene. Were I to describe the band’s music, I would call it heavy metal with several 90s heavy-thrash influences from Metallica, Megadeth, Testament etc., a contemporary sound and numerous melodic parts. Or if you prefer, just imagine a crossover between Sparzanza & Mercenary, without the extreme features and all the above-mentioned elements. I would never call this heavy/power metal as some do. Nothing to do with it at all. The heavy production along with the band’s sharp-killer riffs & melodic refrains are enough to make you play it as loud as you can. Watch out for your speakers/headphones though. It’s true that this album was created to be played on ten!
According to the press release the guys decided to drop half of the songs they had before going to the studio, so as to make the album as tight as possible. I think they managed to do that, whereas I would prefer it to have a few more songs. You see almost 35 minutes of music makes the album kinda short for my liking… needless to say that I’m “forced” to press “play” again and again. All in all, the band seem to have found their way with this album and if you do like their previous works you can’t go wrong with this one.