Officially licensed by Century Media. Limited to 250 copies
First tape reissue since 1996
The legendary debut album from New York wrecking crew Merauder, pitting the intensity of NYHC and the riffs and attitude of bands such as Cro-Mags and Slayer into one lethal package.
"Master Killer" took me a looong time to appreciate. Few records have caused me such a delayed reaction, but fucking hell, this is amazing. I’ve owned a CD copy of this for almost three decades, having bought it back in the late nineties (a year or so after it came out). This was a period when I devoured hardcore records of all kinds and from any direction. I was particularly interested in the emerging metal-adjacent hardcore of bands like All Out War and Integrity. Merauder fits a similar dark and ugly hardcore niche, albeit with some of the NYC swagger borrowed from Cro-Mags and Leeway. There was a ready-made audience for this album and I should have been part of that cohort.
But for some reason it didn't click for me. Perhaps I craved something rawer, faster and more righteous. In doing so, I overlooked everything that makes this album special. This is lean, hard music built on amazing songwriting and impeccable execution. It is the best example of nineties ‘post thrash’ ever made. Everything is crafted to perfection. There are no cheap thrills, no beatdown riffs, no blastbeats, no “oooh shit!” gang shouts. Merauder doesn’t need anything like that to sound tough and threatening. The mosh is locked into the DNA of these songs. The riffing keeps a near-constant mid-paced rhythm that never strays from its intent. The bass playing is amazing, the drummer oozes groove, the solos are purposeful and tasteful, the lyrics are memorable. Everything just feels right.
The frontman Jorge Rosado has a much deeper and more powerful voice than his predecessor on the band's demos. It isn’t a death metal growl, more of a low-register howl that emanates power and nihilism. Eight of the ten songs are from those demos. All of them are incredible. "Life is Pain" qualifies as the band’s signature song and has the toughest breakdown riff of all (following the first chorus). The thrash riffs infest every song, such as the Slayer and Kreator inspired mashup of "Besiege the Masses", or the Demolition Hammer meets pre-album Nocturnus vibe of "Fear of Sin". My favourite song might be "Dead End Path", one of two new ones that did not appear on the demos. This one epitomises the bat-swinging aggression mixed with existential hopelessness, embodying both the band and their entire genre.
The fact that this album came out on Century Media gave it more exposure than other equivalent hardcore bands from the era (I remember it being marketed as a heavier Biohazard, which makes little sense in retrospect). It also means that the production is better than most of the band’s contemporaries. Everything is in perfect balance, and I love the bass tone in particular. It goes without saying that this is Merauder's finest moment and they never came close to it again. The benefit of hindsight reveals this album as a missing link between the classic thrash of the eighties and the chuggier thrashy crossover-ish sound of bands like Power Trip and Judiciary. “Master Killer” is therefore essential, and will probably grow more influential with every passing year. A classic.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=EcogbE8eng4
Official promo video: youtube.com/watch?v=wxU4_Qy9E90
