Search - Savatage :: Wake of Magellan

The Wake Of Perfection

Sampson Simpson | Canada | 01/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On this, Savatage's final album with Zachary Stevens on vocals and Al Pitrelli on guitar, the band has taken their operatic metal sound to an absolute pinnacle. The previous album, Dead Winter Dead, was their comercial breakthrough, and The Wake Of Magellan builds on that music to a satisfying climax.The band took their experiments with counterpoint vocals, layering multiple lyrics and melodies over top each other, to the ultimate level. On the title track, Stevens is singing no less than 6 distinct vocal parts, overlapping. Such is the wonderful production (as always by Paul O'Neill) that you can hear each one, with a little bit of effort. Not only this, but Stevens also successfully tackle's O'Neill's patented "rapid fire lyrics", singing them in a blur, but distinctly, all within the same song!Band members Johnny Lee Middleton, Al Pitrelli, and Chris Caffery all provide co-songwriting credits on this album. This is somewhat rare for a Savatage record, as the last several were usually written by keyboardist/vocalist/founder Jon Oliva, and Paul O'Neill. The result is that this is a more varied record than Dead Winter Dead, and more riff oriented. Dead Winter Dead was written on keyboards, this album was written on guitar, and the difference is evident.This reissue, for the most part, makes a good thing even better! The liner notes are fantastic. They are enlightening, in depth, and feature insights from many band members. They are long enough that they take almost as long to read as the album does to listen to. The bonus tracks on this CD have been heard before, but are hard to find. "This Is Where You Should Be" was previously available on a greatest hits album, and chronologically does not fit in with The Wake Of Magellan. It was recorded 10 years beforehand by a completely different version of the band. "Desiree" was available on a Japanese import, and is much more rare. It doesn't exactly fit in with this album either, but at least now it's easier to get. Finally, the cover art for the album has been (unintentionally?) altered for this reissue. The original was bright and clear, this version is dark and muddy. Although this is dissapointing, the wonderful liner notes here make this my preferred version of the album.Any Savatage fan, from any era of the band, would do well to pick up this version of The Wake Of Magellan. Musically it offers something for all of us, and added value of bonus tracks is always a plus."