Audio CD review:
Savatage - Dungeons Are Calling

Savatage - Dungeons Are Calling

Band: Savatage Title: Dungeons Are Calling Rating: Release Date: 22 November, 1994 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: The Dungeons Are Calling 2: By The Grace Of The Witch 3: Visions 4: Midas Knight 5: City Beneath The Surface 6: The Whip 7: Fighting For Your Love 8: Sirens (Live)

Customer Reviews And they called this an EP?? Four star metal Given it only had six tracks in it's original state I can sort of see the point but the fact is that the tracks aren't exactly short and in terms of style, it's the sort of EP that makes you feel you've got a lot more for your money in the same way that Anthrax' Attack of the Killer B's EP does. In some circles this has been called an EP. The version I have in my greasy paw at present is the version digitally remastered by Eddy Schreyer and includes two bonus tracks which in this instance really does cement that this should be viewed as more of an album than anything else. In terms of the tracks that came with the release originally there are a number of belters and my personal fave raves would have to be The Dungeons Are Calling and City Beneath the Surface, both of which have featured on later live and best of compilations such are their quality. Taken as a whole the fairly traditional heavy metal style of the bands earlier releases is continued and lyrically the concerns are pretty much always somewhat vaguely fantastical and gothic. The fairly trad metal skull cover of the original artwork also gives fair warning to the prospective listener as to what sort of metal attack they are letting themselves in for. The production on this remastered version (sorry, ain't heard the original) is good in that it doesn't update things too much and try to put too much of a sheen onto proceedings. The musicianship as ever with Savatage is good and the overall feel is right. Fans of their first two full length albums can buy this secure in the knowledge that the overall standard of this offering is on par with the first two facemelters, albeit the fewer tracks probably mean you should buy those first two albums first. The two bonus tracks are Fighting For Your Love and Sirens - these being live renditions. They are useful nuggets and do fit in quite well with the rest of the tunes though it must be admitted that they are bonus tracks, they don't really add anything to the offering. Overall I can heartily recommend this release to any Savatage fan. Particularly fans of their first couple of full length discs. It continues in the same vein as those first two albums and expands on the lyrical and musical themes on them. . Classic Early Savatage I used to crank Dungeons while mowing lawns in my neighborhood. I still have fond memories of buying this album shortly after getting the excellent Power Of The Night. Probably not good on the ears but it made the job more enjoyable! This album contains three of my all-time favorite Savatage songs: the title track, By The Grace Of The Witch, and Midas Knight! All of them are heavy rockers that should be played at full volume. Criss' playing smokes throughout this album. His tone is great and I always loved his use of octaves to double a guitar line. Of the other three songs from the original album, Visions and City Beneath The Surface are pretty good but I never really cared for The Whip. One re-issue of this album has a good live version of Sirens. A later re-issue has a classic song called Before I Hang that I never knew about! If you are new to Savatage you probably know their later albums. Their early stuff up to Hall Of The Mountain King is heavier and more straightforward rock without any piano or strings, except for the occasional ballad. . the perfect american metal album in a time when metal was dominated by thrash(metallica,megadeth,slayer,anthrax,testament) on one side, then pop metal on the other, you had bands like savatage that didn't follow movments or genre's but created there own style,dngeons are calling" was one of the heavest 80's metal albums, so what if it's not thrash? this is better then anything by slayer,megadeth or metallica (acctauly, equaled w/ ride the lightning) or any other thrash band. savatage was one of the few american metal bands that wasn't thrash, just strait up traditional heavy metal in the same vain as iron maiden or judas preist. just heavy (. . . ) metal, no speed this,thrash that,death what ever, chriss oliva was my favorite american guitarist, his playing was better then any other at that time, in any kind of metal, mustaine,alex scholnic,hammet,hetfeild,king and hennamen were all great but chriss was better then all of them. . You can see a complete list of all Savatage discography, or go back to the Savatage tabs