If you’ve wondered what RVA thrashaholic and metal vocalist extraordinaire Andy Horn has been up to since making his exit from Cannabis Corpse a couple years ago, well, wonder no more! Battlemaster, the band that originally brought Horn to the RVA metal scene’s attention, has returned, sneaking a new album onto Bandcamp while their foes were napping unawares. Battlehungry and Swordsworn is the first new Battlemaster release we’ve seen in half a decade, but these death metal warriors haven’t lost a single step during their time away.
These 10 songs, captured perfectly by Windhand’s Garrett Morris, are full of shredding lead guitars, speedy and skillful drum fills, and plenty of throat-rending screams. The traditional sense of deadpan humor that’s always been a big part of what made Battlemaster so much fun is still here as well, showing through on songs like “Cursed Boots Of Perpetual Dancing,” “Fearless Penetrator,” and “Displacer Feast.” Battlemaster’s music combines the best aspects of death metal, black metal, and thrash into a hybrid that should appeal to partisans of any of those genres, and their overall worldview makes them a perfect soundtrack for your next D&D campaign or afternoon of reading George R.R. Martin novels.
Stream Battlehungry And Swordsworn in full below, and grab your own digital copy of the album for $8 from Battlemaster’s Bandcamp page. The dudes are planning a vinyl release for this LP, but there’s no release date set at the moment, so don’t hesitate on grabbing the mp3s–your contributions now will help fund the vinyl later!
Battlemaster does not have any local shows planned in the next couple of months, but this is only because Andy Horn is currently handling vocal duties for the almighty Skeletonwitch on their European tour! However, if you can hold out until the end of May, Battlemaster will be joining Valkyrie and Inter Arma for a totally stacked bill of VA metal heroes at Strange Matter on May 30! For more info on that show, click here.
