UMUR "Masters Of Evil" is the debut full-length studio album by multinational heavy metal act Denner / Shermann. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in June 2016. Denner / Shermann was formed in 2014 by original Mercyful Fate guitarists Michael Denner and Hank Shermann. They are joined here by Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Therion) on drums, Marc Grabowski (Demonica) on bass, and Sean Peck (Cage, Death Dealer) on vocals. It´s the same lineup who recorded the "Satan's Tomb" EP from October 2015. "Masters Of Evil" features all new original written material, and no tracks from the "Satan's Tomb (2015)" EP.

Stylistically the material on the 8 track, 41:42 minutes long album pretty much continues the hard edged heavy metal style of "Satan's Tomb (2015)". Lead vocalist Sean Peck is a versatile singer with the skills to sing both high pitched screams and more raw and butch US power metal styled vocals. The rhythm section is tight and well playing too, and the guitar tag team of Michael Denner and Hank Shermann are of course legendary. They conjure up one hard edged heavy metal riff, harmony lead theme, and blistering melodic guitar solo after another. While there is a lot of great guitar playing featured on "Masters Of Evil", it´s not a "guitar" album though, and especially the vocals are given every bit as much room in the soundscape as the two string instruments. The drums are also pretty active while the bass is a bit less audible in the mix.

The material is well written and relatively catchy. The lyrics on the album are of the occult kind, which song titles like "Angels Blood", "Son Of Satan", "Pentagram And The Cross", and "Escape From Hell" also bear witness to. That of course can´t help to create associations to the two guitarist´s former act Mercyful Fate. A connection which is further strengthened by looking at the front cover artwork to the album, which has many similarities to the front cover artwork of "Don't Break the Oath (1984)" by Mercyful Fate. And while Sean Peck is generally a very different sounding vocalist to King Diamond, the music on "Masters Of Evil" also features many similarities to Mercyful Fate.

"Masters Of Evil" is overall a well produced album, although the snare drum has a cardboard sound to it, that could have prospered from a more organic tone. All in all it´s a high quality release by Denner / Shermann and the promise which was present on the "Satan's Tomb (2015)" EP is fulfilled here. Fans of both hard edged heavy metal and US power metal should find lots of enjoy here. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Nightfly Michael Denner and Hank Shermann are best known for their time in legendary 80’s metal band Mercyful Fate with King Diamond and Denner later as a member of King Diamond’s band. Although there have been other projects they’ve been somewhat keeping a low profile of late. That is until the duo reunited and recruited drummer Snowy Shaw (who also played with King Diamond and a later incarnation of Merciful Fate), Bassist Marc Grabowski (Demonica) and vocalist Sean Peck (Death Dealer) and released the promising Satan’s Tomb E.P. last year.

Masters Of Evil is the band’s first full length album and I’m pleased to say it’s brilliant! Not surprisingly there’s plenty of parallels to Merciful Fate with the eight songs having a strong trad metal vibe with that dark MF sound aided by a sympathetic production that’s organic and powerful too. Even the cover, perhaps deliberately, bears an uncanny resemblance to Don’t Break The Oath as if to say were back doing what we do best. As you’d expect it’s the dual guitar work of Denner and Shermann that instantly draw you in, both playing some of the most inspired work of their career. These guys are masters of their art and know how to create a dark brooding riff without needing to bludgeon the listener into submission. That’s not to say this isn’t a heavy album – it is metal after all but there’s also a healthy dose of melody and best of all it’s an album that’s consistently strong from start to end. Picking favourites is futile such is the quality but opener Angel’s Blood is a grand statement of intent and Pentagram And The Cross is another favourite of mine. The pace is measured, the band wisely opting to not try and compete with the obsessions of many current bands who feel the need to be flat out all the time and benefits greatly from it, though they can go up a few gears when required like on Escape From Hell. The rest of the band plays well and vocalist Sean Peck is a fine singer and can hit a few King Diamond high notes when required though there the parallels end.

Masters of Evil is a great success and a masterclass in how great metal albums used to be made but fresh enough to attract younger listeners who weren’t even born when these guys were having their 15 minutes of fame. Hopefully there’s more to come in the future as it would be a real shame if this turned out to be a one off.