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Hi and thanks for reading. I went and saw MASTER last night here in town. I was on the fence cos I don’t like going to metal shows. I don’t really even like metal; I think it’s corny shit. Of course, I love SEPULTURA. I also think SUFFOCATION’s Human Waste EP is a masterpiece. And, I do like every DARKTHRONE record I have ever heard. My friend got me into MASTER sometime during the pandemic. Their 1990 LP is excellent, if you ask me. I hoped they would play some tracks from it, and they sure did. Recently I discovered their unreleased demo from 1985, and that shit rips as well. The show was thirty bucks, another reason I didn’t wanna go. I lucked out and walked in with the right person though, cos the door guy let me in for free. So sick. At first, I thought the band was a bit too cheesy. The drummer would stand up often after songs. The guitarist would point the neck of his guitar at the crowd with his legs spread. He and the guitarist both would stick their tongues out and make mean metal faces. But after some time, I could see they were just having a good time. In between a few songs near the end, they would jam out on some silly riffs, and I could see their band dynamic was wholesome and not super serious. This was pleasant to see. The crowd was stiff. But still, I had to throw some beer cans at the band. I wasn’t sure how they’d take it, but who cares. The drummer gave me a tongue of affirmation though, hahah. One can landed on his little splash cymbal, and he loved it. After the gig was over, I saw what I thought were two people approaching the bassist/vocalist separately and asking him for the set list on his amp. He would just shake his head and turn his back to them. I waited a few minutes and then asked him if those guys had asked for the set list. He confirmed that happened, and then I asked him why he wouldn’t give it up. He said he didn’t wanna have to write a new one, haha. Well, I still asked him for the set list, politely. He turned me down at first, but I said I would even write him a new set list if I could keep the original. Not sure if it was the punishing or the charisma, but he surrendered it to me in the end. Score, hehe.
Alright, onward to my staff pick - LAMA!!! This record is essential for any record collection, easily. The Svart description nailed it perfectly, and you can read that in the product description on our website. I did a bit of LAMA nerding a few months ago when I wrote about the LAMA box set that Svart also did, so I really don’t have a lot to say today about their LP. If you still haven’t picked one of those box sets up for some odd reason, you seriously need one. Their LP was originally released on Johanna, just like all their EPs. The LP was released in 1982, after they did three of the four 7”s. It kinda sucks I can’t find the LP online anywhere streaming, but there is some sick live footage of them playing a track from the LP. If you haven’t heard this LP, just trust me that it’s good as I say and you need a copy, haha. This is the second time Svart has pressed it; the first time was back in 2011. Those actually became kinda hard to come by, so it’s great that Svart put it back in print! Oh yeah, if you don’t have that double-disc compilation that Stupido did a few years ago, maybe you haven’t heard these demo recordings from 1980! It’s mostly just the Totuus Löytyy Kaurapuurosta EP, however there is a song that I don’t think they ever recorded again, and it only appeared in that demo session. I saw the same youtube channel has a live recording of LAMA from 1981, and they play a good chunk of the LP songs. I know live recordings that are just audio with no video can be boring for some, but I think it was still cool listen—check it out! Alright, I think that’s all I have for today. Cheers and thanks for reading, and thanks for your support!