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Slovakia, like some other eastern European countries, has a promising and vivid underground Metal scene. Before the Internet, it was hard to come by new underground Metal acts from these countries but times have changed and one is able to make new and interesting discoveries all the time.

I discovered Majster Kat in the depths of the Internet recently and felt an instant attraction to their music. This Slovakian quintet plays a relatively technical form of Thrash Metal and uses lots of melodies within their songs, which definitely adds more sweet frosting to the top of their cake. The main musical influence Majster Kat takes is from the Bay Area without actually copying it, just adding a Slavonic twist to it. They use their native language to spread the joy of well-crafted Thrash Metal and that's cool with me once I got used to Slymák's vocals. Speaking of his vocal skills, he really isn't one of the most gifted or impressive singers out there but I still find his vocal lines rather tolerable. However, it's Majster Kat's well-executed Thrash Metal itself that gets under peoples' skin. Majster Kat offer nine songs of riff-orientated, melodic Thrash Metal on their second album Memento... that impressed me so much that I will be keeping my eye out for their future releases.

Extra credit must be given to the band for making a very eye-catching and limited "home-made" wooden edition of this album (hand-numbered to 333 copies only) that looks like a true piece of art. If you act fast, you may still have the chance to purchase one of them yourself. ;o)