Year: 2025
Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
Rating: 8 / 10
The US-based SAVAGE MASTER album after album managed to win my heart and become one of my favorite modern Heavy Metal bands. Predatory and juicy vocalist Stacy Savage, hard square-form rhytms in the vein of ACCEPT and JUDAS PRIEST (Hunt at night!), an untidy, rollicking sound - what else do you need to be happy?
However, even in the megaconservative Heavy Metal genre, it is impossible to always stand still, and by the fifth album, SAVAGE MASTER decided to make small changes. The band has been working in the field of devilish aesthetics from the very beginning, and now the appropriate sound has caught up to it. In terms of "production", the new album has taken several steps forward at once. Volume and depth appeared in the sound and compositions, and now it's not just straightforward motorocker Heavy Metal, but something more serious and ambitious. There are fewer sharp angles and cockiness in the songs, but very advanced solos and even a certain grace are now present. In the lyrics, respectively, the riders of Satan clad in leather and steel, dismounted from their horses and indulged in dark romance. Now SAVAGE MASTER, believe it or not, can be compared to MERCYFUL FATE, although so far they are much closer to their little-known countrymen SATAN'S HALLOW / MIDNIGHT DICE.
The situation with songs is pretty decent on "Dark & Dangerous". You can see the main "single" above, and I wouldn't call it a super hit. However, the material as a whole is very strong: there is something in every song that is sure to catch on the ear or stick to the heart. Fucking hell, the album ends with a metal ballad where Stacy really sings. If my memory serves me well, the ballads performed by SAVAGE MASTER used to sound like a club-footed doom about rape of virgins on an altar or something like that. This once again underlines that the band is trying to raise the bar of their creativity. I can only wish them luck!
