''Šlágry'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

title: '' Schlager'') is the third studio album by Czech

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band

Master's Hammer Master's Hammer are a black metal band from the Czech Republic. The band has remained active with several lineup changes between 1987 and 1995, with a reunion from 2009 to the present. It is considered one of the most representative groups of i ...

, released in 1995 by a now-defunct subsidiary of

Osmose Productions Osmose Productions is a French independent record label created in 1991 by Hervé Herbaut, after he had spent three years running a small mail order company. They specialize mainly in death and black metal bands. Many of the groups who began wit ...

, Kron-H, specialized in more experimental outputs than Osmose itself. Greatly contrasting with the sonority of the band's previous releases, ''Šlágry'' sees them "virtually abandon ngthe operatic black metal of previous releases in favor of modernist electronic music", and "shar ngpublishing credits with

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and ...

Otto Katz Otto Katz (27 May 1895 in Jistebnice – 3 December 1952 in Prague, also known as André Simone amongst other aliases, was a Czech agent. He was one of the most influential agents of the Soviet Union under Stalin in Western intellectual and artist ...

and

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

, mixing bits of metal, folk and ''

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...

'' into a style based on the classical avant-garde", as they put it in the album's liner notes. In fact, "Hlava modernistova" is the only black metal-oriented track of the entire album. Other Master's Hammer members Necrocock, Monster, Mirek Valenta and Silenthell are noticeably absent from the album; only vocalist Franta Štorm and keyboardist Vlasta Voral took part in its recording. On the album's liner notes the band also stated that they planned a follow-up to ''Šlágry'', entitled ''Šlágry II'', that would "rely more on professional opera singers and orchestra players";''Riffs''
In: ''CMJ New Music Monthly'', May 1996, p. 48. however, the band broke up a couple of months after the album came out, and only returned to active in 2009 with the release of ''

Mantras A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

''. It is currently unknown if the band still plans to work on ''Šlágry II''.

Lyrical and musical inspirations

The only tracks of the album written by the band itself are "Indiánská píseň hrůzy" (whose lyrics were inspired by a Czech folksong, according to Franta Štorm on the album's liner notes) and "Hlava modernistova"; all the remaining are covers of old-fashioned pieces. ; "Šavlový tanec" A cover of

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian ...

's famous suite "

Sabre Dance "Sabre Dance", ''Suserov par''; russian: Танец с саблями, ''Tanets s sablyami'' is a movement in the final act of Aram Khachaturian's ballet '' Gayane'' (1942), where the dancers display their skill with sabres. It is Khachaturian' ...

", originally present in his ballet '' Gayane''. ; "Ach, synku, synku" and "Půjdem spolu do Betléma" Covers of Czech folk songs. ; "Carl Czerny, Op. 849" As the title says, a short cover of

's Op. 849. ; "Rock and Roll Music" A cover of

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

's "

Rock and Roll Music Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

". Master's Hammer took Berry's vocals from the original version and greatly slowed their pitch, superimposing them over a new instrumental made by them. ; "Vzpomínám na zlaté časy" A poem of authorship unknown, popularized by

Jaroslav Hašek Jaroslav Hašek (; 1883–1923) was a Czech writer, humorist, satirist, journalist, bohemian and anarchist. He is best known for his novel '' The Fate of the Good Soldier Švejk during the World War'', an unfinished collection of farcical incide ...

's unfinished novel ''

The Good Soldier Švejk ''The Good Soldier Švejk'' () is an unfinished satirical dark comedy novel by Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek, published in 1921–1923, about a good-humored, simple-minded, middle-aged man who pretends to be enthusiastic to serve Austria-Hungary i ...

''. ; "Nabucco" An instrumental iteration of the " Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate" chorus from

's 1841 opera ''

Nabucco ''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, " Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, ...

''.

Track listing

Covers

Ukrainian black metal band

Drudkh Drudkh is a Ukrainian black metal band. It currently consists of (former member of Hate Forest and Dark Ages), Thurios (former member of Astrofaes), Krechet, and Vlad. All four also belonged to Blood of Kingu until it was disbanded. Their ly ...

covered "Indiánská píseň hrůzy" on their 2010 EP '' Slavonic Chronicles''.

Personnel

* František "Franta" Štorm – vocals, guitars, drums, production * Vlastimil "Vlasta" Voral – keyboards

Reception

Ian Christe Ian Christe (born 1970 in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland) is an author, disc jockey and the publisher of Bazillion Points Books. He attended Mynderse Academy, The Clarkson School's Bridging Year, and Indiana University Bloomington (1987-1990). Christe ...

wrote that "Master's Hammer ��have become witty ''musique moderne'' composers with ''Šlágry'', trading in distortion for traditional orchestral instrumentation while keeping oddball arrangements that make metal appealing". According to him, "the mixed-up metal influences were part of an exit strategy".Ian Christe
''Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal''
Allison & Busty 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slagry 1995 albums Master's Hammer albums