ALBUM REVIEW: Madness Reigns From The Gutter (1990) – Savatage
Few bands have successfully navigated multiple metamorphoses like Florida’s SAVATAGE. Beginning their career as a fairly vicious heavy metal outfit with a few flourishes of VAN HALEN, they capped their recording career under the SAVA-banner as a concept-driven progressive band. But for many, the peak came in 1990 with Gutter Ballet, where SAVATAGE found the perfect balance between their primeval metal stylings and the more grandiose influences of musical theatre and classical. Despite their increased musical vocabulary, the band remained an aggressive force live on the following Rulin’ Gutter tour, the band’s original founders resolutely at the helm – brothers Jon and Criss Oliva, a gruesome twosome of powerhouse vocals and virtuosic guitar playing. While a smattering of recordings from the tour were forever immortalised in 1995’s Ghost In The Ruins, Madness Reigns From The Gutter (1990) sees SAVATAGE pull a whole show out of the vault for our listening pleasure.
From the thundering chords and eerie synths that set the stage of opener City Beneath The Surface, one of the most striking things about Madness Reigns… is just how good it sounds. For a show recorded over three decades ago and seemingly intended for a radio broadcast, the tapes have clearly been given an expert mixing and mastering treatment to bring them up to 21st century standards. The beefy production perfectly captures just what a savage live act SAVATAGE were at the time, allowing the ferocity of razor-sharp cuts like White Witch and Of Rage And War to pulsate through the speakers. While some of the stage banter may have aged like milk, it’s safe to say the vast majority of the material here sounds as fresh and urgent as it did all those years ago (though the less said about She’s In Love, the better).
Much like Ghost In The Ruins before it, these live renditions of the band’s material are often heavier, faster and fuller sounding than their studio counterparts. That’s especially true of early cuts; The Dungeons Are Calling is nothing short of pummelling, Holocaust rattles with a venomous sway and Sirens is made all the more impactful thanks to the crowd participation. Even then-new material comes to life in a unique way on the stage, with dramatic numbers like Gutter Ballet and When The Crowds Are Gone simply dripping with emotion thanks to Jon Oliva’s arresting vocal performance. Of particular note is Mentally Yours, a twisted chug of a track from Gutter Ballet that becomes a chaotic thrasher in a live setting. Criss Oliva’s fretwork magic stands a cut above what’s on the studio version and makes the track a real highlight of the record.
It’s difficult not to compare Madness Reigns… to its predecessor Ghost In The Ruins and of course die-hard SAVA-fans will have noticed that the track listing of this new release covers very similar ground. Content-wise, this is almost like an expansion of Ghost In The Ruins, with a few deeper cuts rounding out the offering. The only real complaint that could be levied at it is an absence of material from the excellent Power Of The Night album which is represented by its title track only. Still, the set is brimming with classics all the same and in many cases, these are the definitive versions of those songs.
While it may not be the most unique proposition material-wise, it’s hard to deny that there is something special about getting to hear this line-up of SAVATAGE unfettered in all its glory. As another post-script on the final testament of the late Criss Oliva, Madness Reigns… is a stunning showcase of one of metal’s most underrated players. Moreover, with Jon Oliva out front, it’s a reminder of just how versatile a frontman he was at his peak, bouncing from screeching brutality to delicate emotion with ease (it’s also a pretty convincing case study of why he wouldn’t have been able to maintain that knife-edge vocal performance for much longer after, mind). Of course, Madness Reigns… isn’t just the Oliva show, and the whole thing clicks so well on the strength of the overall line-up. Criss’s protégé of sorts, Chris Caffery was more than able to keep up guitar wise, his furious riffing providing the weight to tracks like 24 Hrs. Ago and the rhythm section of bassist Johnny Lee Middleton and Steve “Doc Killdrums” Walchoz provided a brutal backbone to the heavy metal mania throughout. The result is a band wholly locked in to one another and firing on all cylinders. You can genuinely feel their energy crackle throughout the album as they tear through their set.
SAVATAGE would continue to grow, develop and eventually disappear in the decade following Gutter Ballet’s release, only recently reactivating in a form closer to their late ‘90s progressive guise. It’s fair to say then that Madness Reigns From The Gutter (1990) provides an authentic snapshot of a band that no longer exists. It’s SAVATAGE at their heavy metal peak; visceral, melodic and still hungrily reaching for a way to truly transcend the genre. While it may not quite usurp Ghost In The Ruins as band’s definitive live document (though it comes awfully close), it’s a genuine treat to be able to hear this version of SAVATAGE again, with all its sound and fury beautifully tidied up under a modern sheen.
Rating: 9/10
Madness Reigns From The Gutter is set for release on June 26th via earMUSIC.
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