Heavy Thrash/Power from the Heart; Savage Messiah's third Full-Length - “The Fateful Dark“ is pure epic. 52 Minutes/10 Tracks with a classical rock power arrangement and tasty heavy and thrash riffs. It’s not easy to pinpoint a certain genre, but I would lump them together with bands such as Holy Grail or Iced Earth.
The whole atmosphere is dark and mysterious, while there are returning parts, which lead to grand moments that remind me of Judas Priest and even Manowar. I really appreciate the fact, Savage Messiah managed to make all the songs extremly epic, without using keys or strings – thanks to brilliant guitar work. The solos are technical, riffs are straight forward. “Hammered Down” and “Scavengers of Mercy” are the most aggressive and thrashy in my opinion; but still melodic.
Talking about melodic, this is the most nameable attribute of the album. The melodies are simply great! I can't get those vocal lines out of my head. The singer Dave Silver is doing a perfect job giving the album its majesty. “Minority of one”...damn – so awesome to sing along.
Songs like the opener “Iconocaust” or the title track start with wicked intros, before beat and rhythm guitar kicks in and grooves the hell out of you. Holy Diver! Sure you find some acoustic chapter as in Live “As One Already Dead” – the ballad of the album. Classic!
I have to mention; when I first listened to the tracks I really missed surprising moments. After listening twice or more I couldn't get enough. Finally I decided to give The Fateful Dark“ 8 of 10 points. Nearly perfect!
Exx Tom, HMS
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