Coming out of nowhere (Kentucky, really, but close enough), US sword-bearers Savage Master are one of the most exciting voices in old school traditional metal right now, brandishing a sound that is part Warlock, part Manilla Road, and if you’ve yet to hear them, there is no better place to start than with album number five, the monstrous ‘Dark & Dangerous’, which will be released on March 28th via Shadow Kingdom Records.
Formed in 2013 by vocalist Stacey Savage and guitarist Adam Neal, Savage Master are all about old school 80s metal with pounding riffs and wailing yet gritty vocals, all wrapped around strange, fantastical lyrics that were the domain of classic USPM bands like Omen and Warlord. Albums like 2019’s ‘Myth, Magic, And Steel’ and 2022’s ‘Those Who Hunt At Night’ cemented their place in modern US metal history, but ‘Dark & Dangerous’ takes them to another level, sounding like something the mighty Chastain might have dropped in the late 80s.
“Savage Master exists in a fantasy,” states frontwoman Stacey. “Some say reality is stranger than our world of darkness. The lyrics for ‘Dark & Dangerous ‘dance between the two dimensions. We took our personal struggles into that realm. For the listener to escape this universe and apply our message into their life, that’s the intent. Whether it be praising Our Dark Lord or hearing the warrior’s call, we want the listener to feel the never-ending fire inside themselves – to be strong, like a chain that never breaks.”
Keep your eye out for new music, in the mean time here’s a taste of their classic stuff: