Customer Reviews

Hall Of The Mountain King

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If Savatage felt that they had something to prove after the lackluster 1986 album Fight for the Rock, they certainly achieved that goal with 1987's triumphant Hall of the Mountain King.

With Hall of the Mountain King, Savatage unleashes a power metal assault that picks up right where Power of the Night left off, allowing fans to forget about the corporate rock experiment that was Fight for the Rock. Hall of the Mountain King is pure metal from start to finish, and is as powerful an album as Savatage has released. Standout tracks? Try all of them. Seriously, if you like the early Savatage sound, Hall of the Mountain King is the best of that era.

Hall of the Mountain King is also noteworthy because it marks the first Savatage album with producer Paul O'Neill at the helm. Beginning with follow-up album Gutter Ballet, the O'Neill/Oliva team would go on to totally redevelop Savatage's sound, and would pave the way for the smash hit Trans-Siberian Orchestra. You get a little preview of what is to come in the instrumental track "Prelude to Madness."

Hall of the Mountain King remains an essential Savatage album, and belongs in the collection of anyone who claims to be a fan of the `80s heavy metal sound.

Edition Notes: SPV's 2002 reissue of Hall of the Mountain King has not been remastered, but it does have a few extras that might make you consider replacing your older version. It features two bonus tracks - live versions of the "Hall of the Mountain King" and "Devastation," but the real bonus is that the liner notes have been expanded to include several pages of very detailed information about the band during this particular stage of their career. When added to the chapters from the other SPV Savatage reissues, you'll get the real story behind one of the best (and most underrated) metal bands of all time.

I'm not really familiar with the technical aspect of producing an album, but I do know what I like. And I love
Savatage! They are, in my opinion, the most underrated band in the world. They deserved far, far more recognition
than they ever got. Their songs are excellent, and Jon Oliva's vocals are unsurpassed. His voice is deep and
smoky and memorable.
When today's bands just growl into the microphone and call that singing, I long for the time when singers could
actually sing, and had real talent...like Savatage. Hall of the Mountain King is their best, but also worth
checking out is Gutter Ballet and Dead Winter Dead. All excellent! It's well worth the price to find such an
unknown gem of a band.

Old school metal at it's best. Personally this is my favorite of Savatage's albums. It retains a raw, slightly less-produced feel which I prefer, while laying down a ton of great guitar riffs. And of course, Jon Oliva's vocals are completely unique. This was Savatage at the height of their powers -- young, hungry to prove Fight for the Rock wasn't the end, and quite capable of laying waste to your ears and your parents' nerves. If you missed this one, or just misplaced your copy, pick it up.

A raging return to form after the some lesser delight of Fight for the Rock this album offers up a full blown metal experience, bone crushing riffage glued to a stripped back rhythm attack that leaves plenty of space in the mix for Jon Oliva and his maturing voice. Hall of the Mountain King is pretty much state of the art metal for it's time of release (1987) and still holds up years later because of it's heads down attack overflowing with commitment and passion.

In terms of specifics this album has a bevy of battering metal numbers such as the barnstorming opener 24 Hrs Ago which is 4.56 minutes of vicious metal to wake up the neighbours with. The album continues with the somewhat more atmospheric, less direct lyrically Beyond the Doors of the Dark which is no less heavy for it's (slightly) more restrained vocal assault from the Mountain King himself, Mr Jon Oliva. In a similar bent is the third track Legions which slows things down a touch from the openers barreling pace and the band here show themselves masters of the slow burn metal number.

The overall effect of this album is the present the listener with great moments in a variety of styles of metal anchored as always in the bands skills and ability to pen a memorably riff/melody combination. Oliva at this time had a smoother vocal delivery than that he used on some later albums such as Wake of Magellan though his pipes have always had an element of sandpaper to them, if you take my meaning. Numbers such as the repetitious and almost plaintive Strange Wings provide a useful diversion from some of the more aggressive songs such as The Price You Pay and White Witch, both of which combine cautionary tales with roaring heavy metal assaults.

Of course pride of place on this album is the title track. Backed up by the instrumental intro Prelude to Madness (play this for a mate who is into classical music and wait for the reaction), this title number became much more than just the best known song of the album, it became a calling card for the band in the same way Sirens from their debut did, a tune the band pretty much had to play live at every gig or risk being lynched by their own fanbase. Swooping out of the ether this song varies in pace and metallic nature yet always feels like it belongs together while the lyrics court tragedy and defiance in one fell swoop.

And that's about it really, if it's a traditional heavy metal attack delivered with skill and conviction that your after there really aren't that many albums quite like this. Production that has perhaps dated somewhat could be an issue for some listeners but to me it actually adds to the atmosphere of this decidedly old school audio assault on the senses. Overall I must unreservedly recommend this album for lovers of metal as the album stands on it's own as a collection of fully formed lyrical and musical ideas and if half the power metallers of the 90's and 00's were honest, most of them would admit to digging this nugget. Alas for Savatage most of them seem to have taped it off a friend rather than fork out for their own copy....

Savatage return to their headbanging crunch after the relatively sissified "Fight For The Rock". This disc lays the groundwork for the string of awesome efforts by this gang of monster rockers. Every song is a winner. Enjoy!