The Dungeons are Calling is Savatage's second effort, and is a blistering set of 6 traditional metal tunes. Easily Savatage's heaviest album, I would have to disagree this constitutes nothing more than leftovers. There are 3 absolute monster tracks here: 'City Beneath the Surface' sounds like Sabbath's Sabotage album taken to the 3rd power. The title track and 'By the Grace of the Witch' are crushingly heavy, but also melodic and memorable. Jon Oliva is really belting them out here with the best of them. And brother Criss' guitar sound is exactly it. Even the weaker tracks are no slouches. 'Visions' sounds like many a Mausoleum type European rumbler, while 'The Whip' could have been lifted straight from Judas Priest's Defenders of the Faith session.
Ownership: EP: 1984 Combat. Single sleeve. Purchased new upon release at Sound Warehouse in Dallas.
CD: 1994 Metal Blade; CD: 2002 Metal Blade (Silver Anniversary). Each of these have bonus tracks unique to the release, though it could be argued that none reach the highs of the EP proper. If forced to choose, I'd take the Silver Edition.
3//85; 12//04; 2/2/16 (new entry)
This is the best Savatage release for me and one that I wish it should have been a full length album. It's better than their very good "Sirens" debut; the awesome riffs are bulldozing even into proto-trhrash territory. They never achieved that greatness again. It's true that they reached close with the "Hall of the Mountain King" album but unfortunately they lost it again afterwards. Sadly, they were probably the most inconsistent band in metal history, as musical direction is concerned.
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