Hall of the Mountain King

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Hall of the Mountain King is an album by the Progressive Metal group Savatage, released in 1987 under the direction of Paul O'Neill.

This album shows the beginning of their progressive tendencies as they explore new forms of expression in their music. Many fans consider this album the original turning point in their musical identity, distinguishing between the old and new Savatage.

It is their first album produced by Paul O'Neill, who was assigned to the band after their previous tour. As their first concept album, it has a constant tone (of darkness, in this case) and is more complex than their previous albums, with some entirely instrumental tracks that go beyond simple guitar riffs and solos, notably "Prelude to Madness" and "Last Dawn."

"Prelude to Madness" is an arrangement of Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King from the Peer Gynt suite. Oddly, Grieg is not credited for this song, but for the following title track.

Through Paul O'Neill's connections, he brought in Ray Gillen, of Badlands fame to perform a vocal duet at the end of "Strange Wings".

This was the first album to feature the album cover drawn by artist Gary Smith, who was responsible for lead guitarist Criss Oliva's airbrushed guitars at the time.

Track listing

"24 Hours Ago" (4:56)
"Beyond The Doors Of The Dark" (5:07)
"Legions" (4:57)
"Strange Wings" (3:45)
"Prelude To Madness" (3:13)
"Hall Of The Mountain King" (5:55)
"The Price You Pay" (3:51)
"White Witch" (3:31)
"Last Dawn" (1:07)
"Devastation" (3:37)

Bonus-track on the European Edel re-release

11. Stay (2:48)

Bonus-track on the European SPV re-release

11. Hall Of The Mountain King (live) (6:00)

12. Devastation (live) (3:36)

Lineup

At this point, Savatage remained essentially intact from their original group. Interesting to note is that they gave themselves roles instead of listing their instruments.

Lead Vocals, Keyboards: Jon Oliva - "The Grit"
Guitars: Criss Oliva - "The Crunch"
Guitars: Chris Caffery (assumed the Criss Oliva role on his return to the band in 1995) [touring member only]
Bass Guitar: Johnny Lee Middleton - "The Thunder"
Drums: Steve "Doc" Wacholz - "The Cannons"

Robert Kinkel, who would later become more involved with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, played additional keyboards.

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