Jilemnický okultista
| Jilemnický okultista | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Master's Hammer | ||||
| Released |
December 1992 (Czech Republic) 1993 (worldwide) | |||
| Recorded | 1992 | |||
| Genre | Black metal | |||
| Label |
Self-released (Czech Republic) Osmose Productions (worldwide) | |||
| Producer | Franta Štorm, Vlasta Voral | |||
| Master's Hammer chronology | ||||
| ||||
Jilemnický okultista (English title: The Jilemnice Occultist) is the second studio album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, self-released on December 1992 and distributed elsewhere by Osmose Productions in the following year. Self-described by the band as "the world's first black metal operetta", it is their first of two concept albums, the second being Vagus Vetus, released in 2014. On several early Osmose pressings "Jilemnice" is misspelled as "Filemnice", what would be corrected in later pressings.[1] Despite the track listing being in English, all the lyrics are in Czech. The original release contained the Czech titles.
In this album, Vlastimil Voral joined Master's Hammer as a full-time member (he had already played on the band's previous album, Ritual., but was credited as a guest musician only).
Plot
The album, which is meant to be read as an "operetta in three acts",[2] is set in Bohemia, in the year of 1913,[3] and tells the story of Atrament, a young wandering occultist who just arrives in the village of Jilemnice with the intent of furthering his studies on the occult arts there (since at the time the village was a major venue for occultists and Spiritist mediums). He settles at an inn ran by the rich landlord Spiritus, and falls in love at first sight with his beautiful daughter, Kalamaria (a witch), being requited. However, the village's hejtman (captain), Satrapold, also loves Kalamaria, and after injustly arresting Atrament, he kidnaps Kalamaria with the help of his groom Blether and takes her to his castle. Satrapold plans to escape to Cairo with her (betraying Blether in the process, who flees to the nearby town of Železný Brod in disgrace, never to be seen or heard from again), but before he is able to do so she uses her mystical powers to discover that he is actually the villainous Poebeldorf under disguise, and that the real Satrapold was also imprisoned by him. Formerly Satrapold's aide-de-camp, Poebeldorf rebelled against his master and planned all along to take his place as the village's captain, steal all its riches and Kalamaria's fortune, and flee to start a new life in a different land, but Kalamaria thwarts his evil plans thanks to her powers; subsequently, both Atrament and Satrapold are freed from prison, Poebeldorf is arrested, and everyone lives happily ever after.[4]
The only track unrelated to the album's story is "Suchardův dům (V Nové Pace)". Suchardův dům, or "Sucharda's house" in English, was the residence of the noble Sucharda family of woodcarvers and sculptors from Nová Paka, originally built in 1896. Since 1908 the City Museum of Nová Paka functions in the house.[5] Notable members of the Sucharda family include brothers Stanislav and Vojtěch Sucharda.
Covers
German gothic metal band The Vision Bleak made an English-language adaptation of "Já mizérií osudu jsem pronásledován..." (under the title "By the Misery of Fate He Was Haunted"), present in the digipak re-release of their 2010 album Set Sail to Mystery.
Critical reception
Götz Kühnemund from German Rock Hard magazine compared Jilemnický okultista to King Diamond, though Master's Hammer's style was described as "considerably more uncompromising". The vocals were described as "like a mixture of deep King Diamond voices and Quorthon's guttural grunts". Kühnemund lauded the band's unusual style and the album's "[u]nexpectedly good" production that "never lets faster chipping passages degenerate into awful chaos". He called Jilemnický okultista "one of the most extraordinary death metal albums of the year".[6]
In 2017, the album was featured in Loudwire's list of the Top 30 Black Metal Albums of All Time, in 27th place.[7]
Track listing
All lyrics written by Franta Štorm; all music composed by Master's Hammer (Štorm, Necrocock, Monster, Mirek Valenta, Silenthell and Vlasta Voral).
| No. | Title | English title (as per the 1993 Osmose release) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ouverture" (instrumental) | Overture | 1:42 |
| 2. | "Mezi kopci cesta je klikatá..." | Among the Hills a Winding Way... | 5:12 |
| 3. | "Já nechci mnoho trápiti..." | I Don't Want, Sirs, to Pester... | 6:05 |
| 4. | "Kol prostírá se temný les..." | A Dark Forest Spreads All Around... | 5:12 |
| 5. | "Ten dvanácterák zmizel v houští..." | That Magnificent Deer Has Vanished... | 3:32 |
| 6. | "Můj hejtmane..." | My Captain... | 5:30 |
| 7. | "Já mizérií osudu jsem pronásledován..." | By the Misery of Fate I'm Haunted... | 4:47 |
| 8. | "Ach, pane vzácný..." | Oh, My Precious Sir... | 3:54 |
| 9. | "Že vše je podle mého přání..." | Everything That Just on My Whim... | 4:26 |
| 10. | "Sláva, sláva, pane hejtmane..." | Glory, Herr Hauptmann... | 4:47 |
| 11. | "Suchardův dům (V Nové Pace)" | Sucharda's Home | 5:53 |
Personnel
- František "Franta" Štorm – vocals, guitars, photography, cover art, production
- Tomáš "Necrocock" Kohout – guitars
- Tomáš "Monster" Vendl – bass
- Miroslav "Mirek" Valenta – drums
- Honza "Silenthell" Přibyl – timpani
- Vlastimil "Vlasta" Voral – keyboards, production, engineering, mixing
References
- ↑ Master's Hammer – Jilemnický okultista at Discogs
- ↑ Barrett, Lee (March 1993). "The Black Metal Directory". Kerrang!. 27 (436): 46.
- ↑ Štorm, František (1992). Jilemnický okultista (Media notes). Master's Hammer.
- ↑ The Heretic's Torch: Master's Hammer English Language Translations
- ↑ MĚSTSKÉ MUZEUM NOVÁ PAKA – SUCHARDŮV DŮM (in Czech)
- ↑ Kühnemund, Götz. "Master's Hammer. The Jilemnice Occultist". Rock Hard (73). Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ↑ Joe DiVita (2017-08-09). "Top 30 Black Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved 2017-08-09.