Savatage "Hall Of The Mountain King (1992 Japan Reissue, AMCY-389, MMG, Inc.)"

Hall of the Mountain King is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1987 under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill. It is their first album produced by O'Neill, who was assigned to the band after the tour in support of Fight for the Rock. O'Neill's influence pushed Savatage to adopt a conceptual progressive metal style beginning with this album.

"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 - which is an original song. The intro of "Prelude to Madness" features keyboards and guitar playing "Mars, the Bringer of War" from Gustav Holst's suite, The Planets. The song would be re-recorded by Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2009 under the title of "The Mountain", appearing on that group's fifth studio album, Night Castle.

"This Is Where You Should Be", recorded during the studio sessions for this album, was not included; years later it was released on compilations and album reissues.

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. Hall of the Mountain King reached position No. 116 in the US Billboard 200 albums chart.

In 2017 and 2019, respectively, Loudwire and Metal Hammer ranked it as the 22nd and 8th best power metal album of all time.

Tracklist:

1. 24 Hrs. Ago 04:56  
2. Beyond the Doors of the Dark 05:09   
3. Legions 04:51  
4. Strange Wings 03:46   
5. Prelude to Madness 03:14   
6. Hall of the Mountain King 05:33  
7. The Price You Pay 03:52  
8. White Witch 03:22   
9. Last Dawn 01:07  
10. Devastation 03:38   

Time:   39:28  

Recording information:

Co-produced by Savatage.

Recorded and mixed at Record Plant Studios, New York City, New York

Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York City, New York.

Paul O'Neill – producer, arrangements

Savatage – co-producer, arrangements

Roy Cicala, Nick Schiralli – recording, mixing at Record Plant, New York

James A. Ball – engineer

Joe Henahan – assistant engineer

Jack Skinner – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York

Gary Smith – Illustration

Savatage, Bob Defrin – art direction

Robert Zemsky – direction

R. Z. management Inc. – management