SAVAGE MASTER - Those Who Hunt At Night (CD)

One of the most exciting and electrifying bands in today's occult heavy metal scene, during the first six years, SAVAGE MASTER swiftly built an impressive canon of work over the course of two cult albums, one EP, one single, and especially their over-the-top live shows. The band was founded in 2013 by guitarist Adam Neal and vocalist Stacey Savage, so inspired by their love of heavy metal and horror. Soon enough, a mysterious spectacle was created, and it bore the name SAVAGE MASTER. From there, the band began their assured ascent through the underground, touring non-stop across North America and Europe, playing such festivals such as Keep It True, Hell Over Hammaburg, Legions of Metal, Frost and Fire, Ragnarokkr, Hells Heroes and many more, and then landing themselves an album deal with longtime fans SHADOW KINGDOM.

The first fruit borne was 2019's massively critically acclaimed Myth, Magic and Steel, which brought the band to many new listeners as well as solidified their position atop the throne of true heavy metal might. Now SAVAGE MASTER stands taller than ever and surveys those they leave in the dust with their fourth full-length, Those Who Hunt at Night. All too perfectly titled, Those Who Hunt at Night sees SAVAGE MASTER going in for the kill, keeping their unyielding-as-steel sound whilst sharpening it yet further with their clearest and most powerful production to date. In fact, that palpable professionalism profoundly impacts that sound - timeless electricity, eternal glory, boundless energy, authentically ancient but no tired "retro" retread, with the immediately recognizable vocals of Stacey Savage leading the charge - so much so, one could put the album alongside such early/mid '80s stunners as Judas Priest's Point of Entry (moody and dynamic) or Jag Panzer's Ample Destruction (locomotion and drama). Which is to say nothing of the subtle-but-crucial placement of vintage synths across the 36-minute album, giving all nine songs a unique twist that altogether make the record a unified experience. Still, from the impeccably constructed hooks to the broader range of tempos they explore, SAVAGE MASTER's creativity here seems to know no bounds whilst keeping their core intact.

Speed metallers, occult rockers, thrashers, NWOBHM fanatics, everyone in between and especially beyond - all have been entranced by SAVAGE MASTER's mysteries of steel. Now, the wider world will feel the blade of Those Who Hunt at Night!