Album Review: Savage Messiah - Hands Of Fate

They have been simmering nicely under the surface for a while now. Slots at Birmingham’s Hellfest at the NEC, Hammerfest and Bloodstock have been complimented by support for the likes of Trivium and Amon Amarth.

But this album, they hope, will put them on the top pedestal. It has the ingredients. Those sometimes high, sometimes croaky vocals of Dave Silver, those thrashed riffs that vary in pace and menace. Silver himself says that 2017 is the year they reach their ‘moment of optimal, unifying power’. And it is difficult to disagree – at times.

Let’s be honest from the off, it’s not perfect. At times the changeovers can be a little messy and they swing from the cartoon vibes of Iron Maiden to the slamfests associated with Metallica a little too often.

But on the whole, this is ace. The walls of sound created by the foursome are epic in scale and the nods to Metallica et al in particular are nectar for the eardrums.

Those riffs, then. That wall-climbing thrash throughout Solar Corona is great fun, while the hanging melody of The Crucible is haunting by every stretch of the imagination. This is their closest flirtation with a metal ballad and the stomping nature of everything thrown into the verse is compelling before it bursts into that fist-raising chorus.

The combinations at work, too, in Fearless are, er, fearless. It lives up to its name, and sits proudly as the jewel in the crown – in fact, much of their best work here comes in the final third of the record. The central interlude of this track oozes aggressive tendencies, like that passive row with a loved one that suddenly boils over into all-out screeching. For your beautiful voice of rage, read the swooshing string work of Silver that bleeds into the emotional ending.

We even see the periods of metal blended with some numbers harking back to the sounds of yesteryear. Put that bandanna on, Wing And A Prayer is going to make your air guitar fingers move.

As said, it gets better as it goes on. Keep hanging around for those closing tracks for a true glimpse of just how Savage-ly these Messiahs can play.

Rating: 7/10

Savage Messiah play this Saturday, November 4, in support of Cradle Of Filth at Birmingham’s O2 Institute 2.