After six long years of lycanthropic reclusion, ONE MASTER are ready to unveil a new full-length recording: The Names of Power. Taking its title from the ancient occult idea that if one learns the true name of a deity, access to its power can be obtained, the theme of the album is on the power of language, with each song being focused on its use in a different context: religion, heresy, a cult, solitude, the universe, and modernity. Comprising six songs over 54 minutes of music, The Names of Power is the long-running band's first double LP. Active on the recording front since 2002, ONE MASTER is here keep to their well-worn path of traditional black metal, but more so make the album their most diverse release to date, incorporating more mid-tempo sections, atmospheric dirges, and even some acoustic guitar. It's both unmistakably ONE MASTER yet surprising all the same - and no compromise either way. The Names of Power is also the band's first full-length with their "Mark IV" lineup, with band founder Valder on guitar and vocals, long-running member Black Wolf on guitar and bass (who writes and plays all of the leads and solos), and the first full length with Eponymous on drums. Although he joined after the album was recorded, new bass player Grave Dog (having been long affiliated with the band, providing artwork since Reclusive Blasphemy) is part of the band's lineup moving forward. This being the band's first recording at Sonic Environments with Jeff Weed (with mastering still provided by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios), the album's production allows the band to shine more than any prior record. "Crystal clear and bloody raw" is perhaps a close approximation of that production. To mark this momentous occasion, the release of The Names of Power is set to coincide with ONE MASTER's second performance at the esteemed Messe des Morts festival in Montreal. Long the embodiment of New England black metal, ONE MASTER have returned to resume their throne.
