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The Fateful Dark (2014) is the fourth full-length album by UK thrash metal act Savage Messiah. It is the first release to feature new drummer Andrea Gorio. Versions of the album are available that feature bonus cover tracks of the artists Iron Maiden, Diamond Head and Motörhead. At this point in their career though Savage Messiah have moved on from being a purely thrash metal based act. The music on The Fateful Dark also draws extensively on power metal, which coupled from the vocals of Dave Silver has resulted in a much more melodic record than the typical thrash metal act offers. The truth is on The Fateful Dark Savage Messiah have a little bit more to do with power metal than they do thrash, but they still deliver plenty of thrash metal riffs, particularly during the second half of the album, ending up with a melodic power-thrash sound.
The Fateful Dark has proved an interesting change of pace as far as power-thrash goes. I've listened to a few such albums recently and enjoyed them but also found them wanting in a certain respect, that being the vocals. While harsh and aggressive vocals are all well and good for thrash metal they don't work so well with power metal and albums like Exmortus' Slave to the Sword (2014) and Shadow Host's Apocalyptic Symphony (2013) both suffered from this to different degrees. Savage Messiah on the other hand do not thanks to Dave Silver's classic metal voice. Admittedly the two albums I just mentioned are of the more thrash orientated power-thrash sound, however it's the case with these hybrids that vocals you'd expect to hear on a power metal record still work with thrash music, which is really what makes all the difference and The Fateful Dark such an enjoyable power-thrash experience.
Of course the excellent musicianship helps a lot. Savage Messiah doesn't have as complex a sound as acts like Exmortus or Dark Design (A USPM/Thrash/Progressive cross) so they are I think a bit more accessible. They've produced a no less satisfactory album in The Fateful Dark because of that; the guitar melodies are very good, at times even having an Iron Maiden vibe. The riffs may seem a bit over polished production wise by thrash metal standards so I'd definitely recommend this one to power metal fans first and foremost, but there's certainly some great thrash work here too such as in Hammered Down while Live as One Already Dead represents one of the most effective ballads I've heard in a while, featuring some really epic moments and emotive lead guitar.
The Fateful Dark has been my first full experience of Savage Messiah but they've definitely made a fan out of with this one. It's simply a classic metal sound done really well. Since their older works are much more thrash metal orientated it may come as a surprise to existing fans, but hopefully a positive one. 4.5 Stars are easily deserved in my book.
89/100
(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/savage-messiah-the-fateful-dark-t3407.html)