The previous commercial effort 'The Fight for Rock', had hurt 'Savatage's' reputation no end, and to prove they had not sold out, they knew they had to "pull out all the stops" on this one. Fortunately they got it bang on with 'Hall of the Mountain King' and a lot of this is down to the addition of manager, producer and lyricist 'Paul O'Neil'. Who not only let them have a free reign in the studio, unlike with the previous release, but contributed to the song writing as well, a position he would further develop, later on in the groups career. So returning to the brooding sounds of 'Sirens' and 'Dungeons are Calling', the 'Oliva' boys conjure up a number of memorable nasty rockers of old.

The thundering '24 HRS. Ago' kicks us off, a rhythm heavy thumper full of ripping vocals and excellent guitaring from the underrated 'Chris Oliva', also checkout 'Middleton's' crunching rideout- great stuff. Following on is 'Beyond the Doors of the Dark' a dark brooding masterpiece that after a slow build-up, develops into a mesmerising, riff filled head-banger. 'Jon Oliva's' range work is just superb on this vocally challenging track, his short intermittent screeches really adds to the doom, and this is definitely not one for the kiddies!. 'Legions' follows in similar ilk, but fuelled by a great bass riff, again lyrically dark and brooding and the whole song carriers a terrific moody atmosphere. 'Strange Wings' is a more commercial effort with a less aggressive feel, the superb harmonised choruses feature the late, great 'Ray Gillen', for a melodic, but crunching treat. 'Prelude to Madness' is a precursor to the title track and is heavily based on a classical piece 'The Peer Gynt Suite', it works nicely and is a superbly played gothic based instrumental. This is the first time the band experimented with symphonic work, but on later albums would almost become a trademark. 'Hall of the Mountain King', just rips from start to finish, an aggressive thumper full of belting vocals, glorious guitaring and brilliant sing-a-long lyrics- the strongest pick of the album. The lyrics for 'The Price you Pay', were the first written by 'Paul O'Neil' for 'Savatage' and a admirable job he does to, although not one of the strongest tracks, its loaded with great guitar licks and features 'Jon Oliva' tearing through this lyric heavy number. The basic ripper 'White Witch', warns of the dangers of cocaine, a problem 'Jon Oliva' was going through at the time, a simple but great gutsy rocker, sung straight from the heart. The short melodic instrumental 'Last dawn' leaves you subtly off balance for the apocalyptic 'Devastation' a great doom laden number, full of aggression, but perhaps borrow a riff or two from 'Black Sabbath's' 'Children of the Grave'.

Bonus tracks included on the re-released CDs include thumping live versions of 'Hall of the Mountain King' and 'Devastation'.

A great return to form, that gave the fans what they wanted after the disappointing 'Fight for the Rock'. This album marks the end of their raw uncompromising 'Power Metal' sound as they delve into a more operatic inspired 'Progressive Metal'.