Master

Few death metal acts have carried a single name through as many shifts of geography and line-up as Master. Built around the bass and voice of Paul Speckmann, the American band began life in Chicago before he settled in Uherské Hradiště in Czechia, a move that reshaped its roots. Speckmann's path runs back to 1983, when he founded Death Strike after his previous group, Warcry, had folded.

The band took its present name in 1985 and signed to Combat Records, but an album was recorded and then shelved amid label trouble; those sessions only surfaced in 2003 through Displeased Records. Nuclear Blast signed them in 1990, and their self-titled debut that year, though the label was unhappy with it, led to a re-recording issued as Speckmann Project in 1991. Further releases followed: On the Seventh Day God Created... Master in 1992, Collection of Souls in 1993, and, after a hiatus spent seeking a label, Faith Is in Season in 1998. Speckmann joined Czech band Krabathor in 1999, and Let's Start a War arrived on System Shock in 2002. Seven further albums have followed since 2007, the latest being Saints Dispelled in 2024.