SAVATAGE — Handful Of Rain (review)

SAVATAGE — Handful Of Rain album cover Album · 1994 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
martindavey87
Released in 1994, 'Handful of Rain' was Savatage's first studio recording after the tragic death of guitarist and founding member Criss Oliva. Replaced by Alex Skolnick of Testament fame, this album catches the essence of Savatage's sound, but being released in the mid-90's, a time when most metal bands were desperately trying to adapt to suit the more grunge-inspired sound of the day, while still maintaining their own identity, it's easy to hear Savatage shift their own sound to a more groove-laden, grungy style. Imagine Alice in Chains mixed with Queen, and you're halfway there.

With heavy, crunchy guitar riffs, massive orchestrations and the trademark vocal counterpoint sections, 'Handful of Rain' incorporates a lot of the "epic" elements that the band would go on to use in later releases and with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra project. Standout performance goes to vocalist Zak Stevens, who's powerful voice truly carries the music on this album.

While things do tend to lag at times, 'Handful of Rain' is generally a solid release, and contains some of the bands most memorable songs. For example 'Chance', 'Taunting Cobras', 'Castles Burning', 'Watching You Fall' and the title track are all Savatage classics.

Whether it was the mid-90's lulling metal scene in general, or the band still mourning the loss of their brother, or maybe just a transitional period as they made tweaks to their sound, in comparison to the rest of Savatage's discography, 'Handful of Rain' comes across as mostly forgettable and irrelevant, and just sits between their power metal days and their more progressive, rock opera days.

Ultimately, it's a three-star album with five-star songs.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed