Customer Reviews

Dungeons Are Calling

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Originally released in 1985, Dungeons are Calling was the second release from Florida-based heavy metal band Savatage. If you're only familiar with the band from their later, more progressive rock operas, an album as raw as this one may come as a bit of a shock. This is old school Savatage, when they were all about razor-sharp riffs, headbanging rhythms and occult/dark fantasy-based lyrics. Yes, it's cheesy and yes, it's dated. It's also completely awesome if you happen to love the early `80s heavy metal sound.

With classic songs like "City Beneath the Surface" and "The Dungeons are Calling," this EP is a must-have for any serious Savatage fan, as well as anyone who loves old school heavy metal.

Edition Notes: Dungeons are Calling was reissued on CD in 1994. The reissue featured digitally remastered sound and a pair of bonus tracks - "Fighting for Your Love" and a live version of "Sirens.

Edition Notes 2: So what sets the Silver Anniversary Edition of Dungeons Are Calling apart from the earlier reissue? This version also features digitally remastered sound, and includes four bonus tracks: "Metalhead," "Before I Hang," "Stranger in the Dark" and an untitled track. The untitled track is a weird little drums and vocals number, but the others are vintage Savatage, and totally fit the mood of the rest of the album. As an added bonus, the Silver Anniversary Edition features extensive liner notes on the band's early years written by original drummer Steve "Dr. Killdrums" Wacholz. To get the full story you'll have to get the reissue of Sirens as well, but I figure die-hard Savatage fans would plan on buying that one anyway. Unfortunately the Silver Anniversary Edition does not contain the two bonus tracks from the earlier version.

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. 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. 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.

I still have fond memories of buying this album shortly after getting the excellent Power Of The Night. I used to crank Dungeons while mowing lawns in my neighborhood. 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.

This a good album but it is just a basic straight forward metal release. I find Sirens to be much better. This is solid but for a band like Savatage it was a little dissapointing. Listening to there later stuff you realize they are capabale of alot more. If you like basic straight forward rock/metal than this album is for you, but if you really want to hear the brilliance of Savatage then you should check out there concept albums and rock opera's. The songwriting, the music, and the lyrics all surpass albums like this. That is what made Savatage a much better band then everyone else, the fact that they became unique. I would recommend, Streets, Handfull Of Rain, Dead Winter Dead, Edge of Thorns, Wake Of Magellen all over this album. This is still good though because Savatage rules.

"The Dungeons Are Calling" is, quite simply, Savatage's best album ever. Every track blisters with heavy metal power courtesy of Criss Oliva, one of the greatest guitar players to ever burn the strings. Coupled with John Oliva's patented Savatage howl, this has got to be one of the best metal albums I've ever listened to. The live "Sirens" is unbelievably awesome and showcases the unquestionable power that Savatage exhibits during their live performances. For those of you who like Metallica, give this album a try... it's a hundred times better than the trash that metal-wannabe-band puts out! HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!

In some circles this has been called an EP. 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.

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.

For those of you unfamiliar with Savatage's tragic history, this is the album that woke America. After the moderately successful release of the "Sirens" EP came this blistering sonic onslaught. The opening cut, "Dungeons are Calling", is by all accounts the definitive Savatage sound: raw, crunchy guitars accompanied by Jon Oliva's soaring vocals. In "Grace of the Witch" we find a more rhythmic number in a style popularized by later 80's acts, but check out the compelling guitar work and ethereal chorus on "Midas Knight". By turns artistic and thundering, this second album from the brothers Oliva placed them squarely in the hearts of metalheads the world over. Although this CD shows them at their heaviest, keep in mind that over the years Savatage evolved into more of an art/prog-metal that some fans found hard to digest. While I prefer the early material offered here, Savatage grew into something far more musical and thoughtful in later efforts. To me, this album is the true essence of 80's metal, that is to say, what we all listened to before Metallica became a household word. In my opinion, no true rock fan should be without this album.
God rest your soul Criss Oliva. You are not forgotten.

During the same recording sessions in early 1983, Savatage put down the material for both their debut LP `Sirens' and the EP `The Dungeons Are Calling' which was released a year later. It seems that the heavier material from these sessions ended up on `Dungeons' because every song packs a mighty wallop with little to no mellow respites. My one complaint for the remastered copy that I have is that two tracks are melded together, "City Beneath the Surface" and "The Whip" and then "The Whip" is repeated in its entirety as track six. Also there are those eighty nine five second tracks which end with the silly rap at the end, very annoying. Now that I got that off my chest, "Dungeons" is worth these little trifles as the six originals plus the three outtakes give you prime early Savatage, a classic sounding American metal band that was neither thrash nor hair but a Yankee version of the venerable NWOBHM artists that Savatage saw as direct influences especially Priest and Maiden. The EP seems to be about the tortures of drug addiction, most obviously in the title track but also in several of the other sons as damnation by any other name would be silly compared to the real life purgatory of sorry individuals with the proverbial monkey on their backs (a situation that Jon Oliva himself would deal with firsthand). Favorites would include the first three songs which I guess would have encompassed the first side of the original extended play release. Although I don't get the death metal comparisons (if Savatage is death metal then what is Carcass?) but they definitely weren't subtle for 1984. A major record label waiting in the wings and although the band would be forced to compromise their fairly uncompromising onslaught somewhat their commitment to real quality metal remained fairly consistent throughout the rest of the `80's (except for one major misstep in 1986).

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. 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. just heavy f***ing 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.

Excellant Metal album. I have been a Savatage fan for years and I must say that this album is kicks [rear]. If you are a into Motley, WASP, Megadeth etc., this release will please. Chris Oliva is a guitar god hands down.