Louisville, KY Occult Metal outfit Savage Master has returned with its fourth full-length album, Those Who Hunt at Night. Since first hearing and seeing them open for Christian Mistress in 2014, Savage Master became a band I kept my sights on. So when Savage Master followed up their debut with the stellar With Whips and Chains album, the band was at the top of their game, and at this point, they had crafted their live show, making them a force to be reckoned with.
Savage Master once again stepped it up with Myth, Magic, and Steel, and I was blown away by the level of growth at this point. Savage Master struck me as a band that could carry the torch for Heavy Metal in the wake of the metal forefathers once they began to bow out. Things looked promising for Savage Master, but this promising status came to a grinding halt with their latest album, Those Who Hunt at Night.
The first indication of the disappointment ahead was the cover art, or lack thereof. The previous releases all featured fantasy, occult-inspired artwork that drew me in yet also paved the way for what I would be taking in musically. However, this time around, a drab band photo in front of a red background with what I assume is supposed to be four tiny people ghosts (actually, friends cloaked in white sheets that you can see their faces through) would set the tone for what was to be presented musically.
Opening with âHunt At Night,â right away, I said to myself, âThis is âHeading Out to the Highwayâ by Judas Priest. It is borderline plagiarism, which was a huge turn-off for me right away. For a band that I always admired for putting their twist on classic heavy metal, it seems as though Savage Master didnât even try. They just full-on lifted the classic Judas Priest riff. Not a great start.
As the album progressed, it was a rollercoaster of quality. Songs like âEyes Behind the Stars,â the Manowar-Esque âA Warriorâs Returnâ which had a great groove that was a pleasant surprise, and âVaster Empiresâ just may be one of Savage Masterâs best songs to date. Itâs just a bummer that these great songs are lumped in with a handful of uninteresting, unimaginative songs cloaked in a thin-sounding production. This album rivals Metallicaâs ⌠and Justice for All for lack of bass guitar present on a recording.
In a nutshell, Those Who Hunt at Night is a disappointing, forgettable collection of songs by a band that sounds like itâs struggling with expectations and identity. While the album doesnât suck, I found most of the material uninteresting, predictable, and unimaginative. Savage Master is a band that I have loved since first hearing them and they are a band with a lot of potential to be something special. With Those Who Hunt at Night, it sounds like theyâre running out of ideas and heading into predictable territories. Hopefully, they will develop some new ones and try to forge their own identity outside of the shadows of those who did it long before them and better.
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