Edguy - The Savage Poetry (2000 remake)

All new Edguy!! Well not quite. "The Savage Poetry" is a 'remake' of their debut album, which has recieved somewhat of a cult status after the release of "Vain Glory Opera" in 1998 as fans of the band clamored to hear the disc where it all started, but found that acquiring that particular cd would be a goal nearly unattainable due to the rarity (and limited printing) of it. So the band considered re-releasing "Savage Poetry" but found that many of the songs were not quite to their liking, they had progressed considerably since their humble beginnings, and instead of doing the easy thing, Edguy decided upon the harder road not taken and reassembled the music, often times completely rewrote it, and of course, rerecorded the disc with all the frills they had wanted to use at the point of its original release.

In comparision to "SP", "THE Savage Poetry" is simply AMAZING. Being all-too familiar with "SP" (which I will touch upon later), this remake blew me away for more than one reason. There is a chasm of difference between the two. Where the original does represent Edguy in their infancy, young and hungry, suffering from inexperience and poor production (the "we recorded this in a tin-can syndrome"), sparks of what would soon be fanned into flames of brilliance winking in the odd catchy riff, a chorus with a nice hook, a few vocal twists... the new version is positively explosive. Where there had once been promise, it has been twisted, embellished upon, overblown and repolished into surging epic numbers that echo with every bit as much bombastic intensity as summoned on their past two masterpieces. Tracks that once sounded like mangled patchworking of earliest Leatherwolf (yes, the FIRST self titled release), "Painkiller"-era Judas Priest, the German speed influence of "Keeper" Helloween or Running Wild and a smattering of epic trappings from "Noble Savage" Virgin Steele (back when their music was noble yet savage before its modern day refinements), now have been stamped with the distinctive markings of Edguy. The expansive choirs brought in to bring a booming boost to the choruses also usher in a sweeping epic feel that the original recordings lacked completely. It leeches the raw and untamed vibes that drove "Savage Poetry", but unlike a vampire after a long necked maiden, does not suck the songs dry of their lifeblood, but infuses them with the trappings we've come to know and love from the band. Performances are spectacular all-around, with a special nod to Tobias Sammet for vastly improving his pipes over the past five years. The change is miraculous, from a rather brittle meshing of Halford and a hiccupy mid 80s David DeFeis to a spectacular range with a decidedly German feel with hints of Kiske and Bruce Dickinson. Smooth and unwavering, bold and unyielding, vocals that are rock solid and performed with the very basics of emotion intact. With two guitarists one would expect axe slinging heroics and they deliver in spades, letting their axes take on the intricacies of the elements. Riffs that churn like bubbling lava, solos which slice like a glacier splitting and falling into the deep blue sea, the dual ferocity of hurricane winds, it all can be found within, and of course heads and tails improved over the often generic sounding stuff that populated "SP".

Before confusion sets in, it must be clearly stated that the main attraction of "The Savage Poetry" is not so much the songs themselves, but the gigantic difference between Edguy of the past, and the Edguy of the present. Instead of the baby steps most bands take, this one hurled forward by leaps and bounds, and no clearer picture can be presented to show this miraculous progression than having a direct comparitive link between past and present, which remaking their debut gives us. It's the sheer differences between the songs that make the jaw drop and the eyes bulge, perhaps hearing an 'old' favorite from it in a new light (as was the case with me and "Roses For No One"). Make no mistake, the tracks themselves, despite their flashy new presentation, are still five years old, and thus represent the band in the dawn of their creative output.

1.] Hallowed - Admittedly the original recording of this one was a clever hard hitting track that took no prisoners, and instead the guitars declared war on everything else. Dark and aggressive riffs plunged into the pot of churning liquid metal providing a thick, scarring backbone for the crisp acoustic to tease on top of. The chugging chorus reminds one of the very best of Hammerfall before the band was even a passive thought in the mind of a metalhead. The vocals were very rough and hard edged for Sammet, with the desperate abrasive twang of Dave Mustaine. Fast forward five years, the opening is discordant, having been warped by studio tricks, giving off a hollow sound before it surges into full volume with a very effective boom. Yes kiddies, we aren't in the land of just "Savage Poetry" without the "The" anymore. This is the modern day Edguy we're having to endure here, and how sweet it is!! Remember those riffs? They are ten times larger, but thankfully their inner soul have survived the rearrangement. That Hammerfall-ish chorus is still there but instead feels much more like Edguy of "VGO" fame, fast and furious and laughs in the face of the couple of speed tracks from Helloween's new one, "The Dark Ride", and they were one of the originators of this brand of power metal! The guitar solo is positively breathtaking, dancing invitingly over the top of that main rhythm riff that has been haunting throughout the song since the curtain was pulled open. The closing is a very suitable companion to the way it all started. Very nice! If all the remakes are improved on this kind of level then we the listeners are certainly in for a treat.
2.] Misguiding Your Life - WOW screaming!! That wasn't in the original was it? Absolutely a double bass pounding treat, straightforward yes, but with guitars and drums that seem to be hyped up on speed. Luckily everything fuses together nicely which was not the case of the one on the debut, where the drums seemed to hang in their own world like a spectral being gazing down at the fuzzy guitars and vocals. Those once fuzzy guitars are now as hard as steel and faster than a cheetah streaking down the African plains in pursuit of its prey. The infectious solo is similiar to a folk melody and makes one want to burst out onto the dance floor and do a little jig. Overall, its been fairly unchanged, which is a good or bad thing depending on how much you enjoy the likes of Running Wild and their speedy power metal brethren.
3.] Key to My Fate - Instilling the largest impression was this track which was a favorite from "SP" with its headbangingly good Leatherwolf-ish vibes and inbed ivory tickling. The transformation from that hollow above average track to the splendid soaring medieval sounding feel of this grandiose, almost theatrical epic is just amazing. Luckily the gritty catchy riff has been left incorporated into this new version, and the drumming is now crisp as fresh carrots and spot on. Calling attention to the vocals is the warped psychedelic masking put on certain verses before the gigantic choir enhanced chorus bursts open. The solo skips along with razor blade sharpness and accuracy, paying tribute to the original, but much better. The keys have been replaced by some background synth sounds, but it comes across as being a combination of Iron Maiden and oddly enough, Rhapsody.
4.] Sands of Time - The first of two ballads, and I would be hard pressed to state which one is the superior. While everything in this new version might not scream epic like some of the other overdone (but in a good way) tracks present on this release, there is still no doubt that a few changes have been made to enhance the listening experience. Tobias is milking his vocal delivery for every ounce of drama possible, and the grandiose exit taken is completely different from the way the original just drifted like a sparrow to the wind, in closing. A simplistic ballad that will conjour memories of "Another Time", being mostly piano and vocal driven but of course with the new ending that was absent from the source material. However, I can't really say if this actually improves the song since the one on the debut was drenched in a sorrowful sadness, as if death was right around the corner, with the lyrics contemplating over the rememberence of the dead and the stance time takes where their life is concerned. This was all illustrated beautifully to begin with, and it's true that this fresh take does not swerve very much from the course originally taken, but there was just something wistful and heartfelt in the vocals of old in comparision that made the song truly burrow into the soul. Still its nice to hear the brilliant fresh production which enriches the tune more than any of the rearrangements have. "Time will come that you will forget, my name and all words that I said, my time will be over."
5.] Sacred Hell - Just furious! Huge choirs, all the overblown trappings you'd expect and more double bass drumming goodness, love it or hate it, that's what this song represents. The gritty DeFeis twists of vocal hatred that Sammet incorporated into the original are absent, but the song still clings to those cliched power structures with all its might. The solo has also been preserved almost exact. Not being too fond of balls-to-the-walls unrelenting speedy stuff with heavy Helloween influences with a bit of Stratovarius' more frantic moments thrown in for good measure, this one kind of sails by unnoticed, but fans of the style will be estatic.
6.] Eyes of the Tyrant - Originally an eight minute epic that switched time changes like a snake shedding its skin, displaying many different depths and colours. With humble acoustic and vocal beginnings that are quickly traded in favor of fevered drum pounding which suffers from the same kind of problems that plagued "Misguiding Your Life" and unyielding vocals with the slightest edge of grittiness and riffs larger than a freight train. It was another example of a marriage between Leatherwolf and Judas Priest with a bit of "Keeper" Helloween thrown in for good measure. Some sections were repetitive and irritating, while others soared with an uplifting, nearly spiritual quality, of the glory prior to a grand battle, and a period (although fleeting) that sounds like vintage AOR. Now to the new version: the eight minute epic has been expanded to a second over ten. That acoustic opening is more piano based, ethereal, the vocals overall much cleaner, deeper at their core, with additional theatrics. When the tempo is kicked up - oh about ten notches - into full heavy metal glory it is so effective, the background vocal flourishes turn what was once a pretty average chorus into an epic thunderclap, throbbing with power and majesty. The first of several guitar solos rips open with the essence of Yngwie Malmsteen lurking in its shadows, darting quick and accurately, warbling with vibrato and striking like wild cloud to cloud lightning. Speed plays no part as a sacrificial lamb and has been left intact. Remember that near AOR section from its first incarnation? That has been swelled into a triumphant melody dripped part with superb well placed screams, those screams will make a return in an Ian Parry-esque fashion towards the end. A haunting, whispered period has the dramatic flair associated with the likes of Virgin Steele, while the actual ending is an acoustic guitar instrumental lullaby, or perhaps an ode to the dead? "The chagrin of the damned, cries the tears of romance, Lord of uprighteness, take me now!"
7.] Frozen Candle - Machine gun riffage outline this "Painkiller" era Judas Priest sounding track. Extremely aggressive, perhaps the most blatantly aggressive song Edguy has ever recorded. The haunting doublebass drums could get very annoying, they are pounding and slamming everywhere. Again, much improved in almost everyway over the original, Tobias is a much greater vocalist than he once was, the Geoff Tate "The Warning" Queensryche screams piercing the chorus that could only be dreamed about before prove this once and for all. The solo from the past version was strangely melodic but here its been taken to the next level with lapping acoustic and lazily paced, almost Carribean beat backing it, which builds into a guitar frenzy fest, surprisingly blazing and grinding with crushing precision. These riffs are so fierce they knock the breath right out of you. Psychotic laughter and chattering could be from demons in hell or perhaps conversation from a funeral. Lyrically there's bits about funerals and what seems to be the dead (or the undead?) or the buried alive... "Celebrate my funeral, vultrues on my corpse, ashes to ashes - me to hell, want to bury me alive." The extravagant finale which seems to refuse to end judging by the length it drones on brings the tune to a close. Definitely not the best song on here, and flaunting darkened themes that I would attribute more to the likes of Lefay than Edguy, but still a worthy track even if its an odd one for Edguy..
8.] Roses to No One - Perhaps the only reworked tune I have reservations about, the first incarnation of this song was so wistfully lonesome, raw and uncompromised emotion, that even the remake feels a little colder in comparision. However, there's no doubt that Tobias' voice is much smoother than before, and the choirs in the chorus add to the fist-in-the-air, striking of the lighter fire feel that was lacking from the original but there's still something about that first performance that makes it endearing to my heart as well, although there's no doubt that technically and even in structure this is a vastly superior version. Instantly noticeable is the crispness of the acoustic over the hollow haunting from the one of the past and the little flourishes added in the beginning and the extra nuances to the voice of Tobias. The theme could be interpreted in many ways, most popularly being that of the touching tale of a poet who has been left alone to toil in his own writings, but it could be adopted as an ode to the lonesome, the cast aways or even the dead. It's forlorn, depressing atmosphere is lifted by the gorgeously written chorus which brings down crashing waves of melodic beauty. This one has been lifted onto the pedestal to be able to stand toe-to-toe with other Edguy ballad classics like "The Scarlet Rose".
9.] Power & Majesty - The galloping riffs that roll in like the hooves of war horses thundering upon a battlefield sound fantastic in their newly rerecorded shine. Once it was more reminiscent of early Iron Maiden and Manowar, now sounds like a modern true-metal song the likes of which Hammerfall wishes they could record. The chorus clobbers the listener over the head with a gigantic hook (which was also present from before, but now it sizzles with more electricity). The held together screeches before the thunderclap interlude are worthy of Eric Adams no doubt. The spoken section in the middle had been quite well, interesting, but now rings of being even stranger with the yodeling that surges back into the chorus. Now the song is as powerful and majestic as it was intended.