Review: Savage Master – Dark & Dangerous

February 21, 2025

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Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Savage Master from Louisville, Kentucky have been one of many names in the modern traditional heavy metal underground scene to deliver their own fun take on the genre. Throughout their career of 4 albums and two EPs, they’ve found their own comfort zone with their sound without any drastic changes. The band is helmed by a vocalist—fittingly named Stacey Savage—who is like the ringmaster of the group that has charisma and injects her own charm into the music. She is backed up by the rest of the band wearing masked outfits, similar in a way to the nameless ghouls in Ghost. They’re now on their 5th album in Dark & Dangerous.

Dark & Dangerous starts up with a dual lead-fueled rise from the dead with “Three Red Candles.” This is a nice build-up intro that transitions to the opening track, “Warrior’s Call,” which is a decent galloping tune. However, for an opening track it doesn’t set the world on fire and hook you into the album. The next track, “Black Rider,” amps things up, showing the charisma of Stacey Savage’s vocals as well as some more buzz in the guitars which the opener lacked.

The album’s momentum continues to soar with a storm of a tune in “The Edge of Evil.” This is where I noticed there’s more of an occult rock vibe in their sound with also a hint of Pat Benatar mixed into their cauldron. “Devil’s Child” shows off more of Stacey Savage’s range with some nice shredding near the end. More fun guitar riffage is displayed in “Screams from the Cellar” that makes for a track you can bop and dance to. Drums and bass fire off “Never Ending Fire” with a stormer of an intro, showing off a slightly faster pace that Savage Master thrives in , making for one of the best tracks on the album.

Savage Master’s anthemic side is on full display in “Devil Rock” which will take you in with very catchy hooks and a big chorus. The guitars once again go wild in their versatility in this track with the solos they shred out. Hints of Pat Benatar as I mentioned beforehand are shown off more when listening to “I Never Wanna Fall in Love.” This track feels like Savage Master made an ’80s hard rock track with their own twist.

While the band’s pace is usually mid-tempo which can get samey to the point that it can drag for some people, they do a good job in changing things up at various points to keep things fresh. This is shown with “When the Twilight Meets the Dawn” which is probably the most aggressive track on the album and it’s such a belter of a tune. Dark & Dangerous closes off with a 6-minute ballad in “Cold Hearted Death” that again shows the depth that Stacey Savage has in her vocal delivery. The song ends with a triumphant guitar solo that closes the album out in style.

While Dark & Dangerous didn’t really storm out of the gates at the start, the album builds up momentum as it moves along. The occult rock/’80s hard rock hints this album gave helped give their 5th effort its own personality, especially as their mid-tempo sound has been their bread and butter throughout their discography. Stacey Savage absolutely thrives as the front-woman of the band as well as the guitarists that have done a great job, especially with their soloing. Overall, I had a very fun time listening to Dark & Dangerous; while it doesn’t do anything unique or earth-shattering for the genre, you know that you’re gonna have a good time.