František "Franta" Štorm (born 3 July 1966) is a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
musician, photographer,
typographer
Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...
, writer, teacher, artist, illustrator and
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
, famous for being the vocalist and a founding member of the
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 tr ...
band
Master's Hammer
Master's Hammer was a Czech black metal band formed in Prague in 1983. They were active, with several lineup changes, until 1995, and again from 2009 until 2020. They have released eight studio albums, five demos, one EP, two split albums, two ...
.
Biography
Å torm was born in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, in what was then
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''ÄŒesko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, on 3 July 1966; he is the son of painter
Dana Puchnarová, and grandson of architect and
heraldist
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...
Břetislav Štorm. From 1981 to 1985 he studied at the Secondary School of Arts in Prague, and later went to the
AAAD, where he graduated in 1991 under the guidance of
Milan Hegar and
Jan Solpera. After serving as Solpera's assistant for some years, from 2003 to 2008 Å torm was the headmaster of the AAAD's Department of Typography. In 1993 Å torm founded his own
type foundry
A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting, and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and ...
, which has, so far, produced more than sixty
font families.
In 2005 Å torm won the
Revolver Revue prize, and in 2009 he published his first book, ''Eseje o typografii'' (''Essays on Typography''), which was nominated to the
Magnesia Litera
Magnesia Litera is an annual literary award, book award held in the Czech Republic since 2002. The prize covers all literary genres in eight genre categories: prose, poetry, children's literature, children's book (since 2004), non-fiction, essay/jo ...
award in the "Journalism" category but eventually lost to
Radka Denemarková
Radka Denemarková (born 14 March 1968 in Kutná Hora) is a Czech novelist, dramatist, TV screenplay writer, translator, essayist.
Denemarková is the only Czech writer who has received Magnesia Litera Award four times (in different categories ...
's ''Smrt, nebudeÅ¡ se báti aneb PÅ™ÃbÄ›h Petra Lébla''.
Å torm is, outside the area of typography, probably best known as the singer/guitarist of the legendary
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 tr ...
band
Master's Hammer
Master's Hammer was a Czech black metal band formed in Prague in 1983. They were active, with several lineup changes, until 1995, and again from 2009 until 2020. They have released eight studio albums, five demos, one EP, two split albums, two ...
, which was founded by him alongside two of his AAAD classmates, Milan Fibiger and Ferenc Feco, in 1987. Their debut album, ''
Ritual.'', was released in 1991 and sold over 25,000 copies in the Czech Republic.
After releasing their third album, ''
Šlágry'', in 1995, they broke up, but eventually reunited in 2009. In 2013, Štorm and his bandmates Honza "Silenthell" Přibyl and Tomáš "Necrocock" Kohout founded the record label Jihosound Records, which would release all subsequent Master's Hammer's albums. The band's most recent release was 2018's ''
Fascinator
A fascinator is a formal wear, formal headpiece, a style of Hatmaking, millinery. Since the 1990s, the term has referred to a type of formal headwear worn as an alternative to the hat; it is usually a large decorative design attached to a band ...
''. Štorm was also the vocalist of the band Airbrusher, founded after Master's Hammer's first demise; following the release of a self-titled album in 2007, their second album, ''Dirndl to Go'', came out in 2021. Their third album, ''Latentnà obrazy'', came out in 2022. In 2015 he founded the side project Mortal Cabinet, which released an album, ''Necrotica'', in the same year.
Å torm was responsible for the cover arts of
Root
In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...
's and
Törr
Törr is a Czech metal band founded in Prague in 1977. They are considered one of the first Czech black metal bands. To date, they have released ten studio albums, two live albums, and two compilations.
History Early years: 1977–1986
Törr, n ...
's 1990 debut albums ''
ZjevenÃ'' and ''Armageddon'' respectively, of Master's Hammer's albums since ''Vracejte konve na mÃsto.'', and of Necrocock's solo albums ''Hudba z psychiatrických pavilonů'' and ''HoubaÅ™ské album''. He also illustrated an anthology of
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Born in Provi ...
's complete works, in 5 volumes, published in the Czech Republic by Nakladatelstvà Plus between 2011 and 2013.
Sebrané spisy H. P. Lovecrafta BOX
An enthusiast of the Indian culture
Indian culture is the heritage of social norms and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse nation of India, pertaining to the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and the Republic of India post-1947. ...
, Å torm usually spends his time between his residence in South Bohemia
The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part of the South Bohemian Reg ...
and in the city of Margao
Margao (, ) is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on the banks of the river Sal. It is the district headquarters of South Goa, and administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district. It is Goa's second largest ci ...
, Goa
Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, where he finds inspiration to most of his lyrical and musical themes.
Discography
With Master's Hammer
: ''For a more comprehensive list, see Master's Hammer#Discography
With Airbrusher
With Mortal Cabinet
References
External links
Official website for original artwork
*
Official Master's Hammer website
Official Storm Type Foundry website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storm, Frantisek
1966 births
Living people
Czech typographers and type designers
20th-century Czech male singers
Heavy metal guitarists
Czech drummers
Male drummers
Czech guitarists
Czech male guitarists
Czech lyricists
Czech artists
Photographers from Prague
20th-century Czech illustrators
Czech record producers
Musicians from Prague
Black metal singers
Czech album-cover and concert-poster artists
21st-century Czech male singers
Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague alumni