adg211288 The Savage and the Grace (2015) is the second full-length album by German speed metal act Masters of Disguise. The band has had their line-up cut down from five to four since the release of their debut Back with a Vengeance (2013) with the departure of guitarist Roger Dequis. They've also swapped drummer to Jens Gellner.

Masters of Disguise make no secret about what they are all about, they exist purely out of worship for the US band Savage Grace. The band's original line-up, minus vocalist Alexx Stahl of course, was the 2009 - 2010 touring band for Savage Grace whose own last known line-up consisted only of their vocalist Chris Logue. With Savage Grace seemingly defunct, Masters of Disguise was begun, with the apparent aim to be a worthy successor, taking their name from a Savage Grace album and alluding to them every chance they get, the latest example being the title of this second album, The Savage and the Grace. They have also covered one Savage Grace song on each release they're done so far, this time choosing Sins of the Damned from Savage Grace's Master of Disguise (1985) album.

Thing is with me and Masters of Disguise, I haven't ever actually listened to Savage Grace. Their debut certainly made me interested in their idols, but a year and a half has passed since Back with a Vengeance was released and I still haven't done so. But for the moment I'm actually glad about that, as it allows me to evaluate The Savage and the Grace based on Masters of Disguise as their own band, without worrying about how much Savage Grace worship is really going on. I was quite a big fan of their debut, a very fun and energetic speed metal record in my opinion, so obviously I was looking forward to hearing more from the band.

The Savage and the Grace simply fails to make the same sort of instant impact though that Back with a Vengeance did for me. Some tracks instantly stand out such as Knutson II: (Only A Mother's Love) Is Forever, The Enforcer and especially Conquering The World is a pretty killer song with great instrumental work. I'm also quickly reminded about how good a vocalist these guys have in Alexx Stahl, but the bulk of The Savage and the Grace seems a bit more forgettable than I was expecting. It is a very listenable record with strong vocals and musicianship and all of speed metal, traditional metal, and US power metal elements (maybe even a little bit of Euro style power metal too) covered and as such is such a record that has the potential to appeal to a lot of tastes. But at its conclusion the album simply leaves me feeling rather underwhelmed, which is obviously a greatly contrasting feeling after rating Back with a Vengeance within a 4.5 star rating back in 2013. The Sins of the Damned cover is another highlight though of course I can't compare it to the original. I can't imagine it's anything but faithful though.

The Savage and the Grace may not be everything I'd hoped it would be, but it isn't by any means a bad record. The key difference is that the debut kicked my arse and this doesn't, but there is some decent metal to be had all the same. I'm going to with 3.5 stars.

adg211288 Back With a Vengeance (2013) is the debut full-length album by German speed metal act Masters of Disguise. This album was proceeded by the EP Knutson's Return (2013), which I received very well. Both the original tracks from the EP are also featured on Back With a Vengeance. As I stated in my previous review for said EP, Masters of Disguise's instrumentalists stood in as live members for US act Savage Grace a couple of years back, and the group is named after the debut album of Savage Grace. There's some obvious worship going on here, in other words, even to those of us who, like me, have never actually heard Savage Grace, who released their two full-lengths before my time, in the mid-80s, and have only actually come to my attention because of Masters of Disguise.

The music on Back With a Vengeance is fun and energetic speed metal that, as can be expected given what Masters of Disguise appear to be about, sounds straight out of the 80s. This is perhaps the only convincing way to pull the speed metal genre off these days, given that the 80s was also the time that speed metal began to diverge into what are today at least the more known genres of thrash metal and power metal. From my experience of older speed metal it's my experience that Masters of Disguise take more cues towards the speed metal bands that ended up as power metal bands. I'm thinking Walls of Jericho era Helloween and Battalions of Fear era Blind Guardian. Indeed although it is very much a minority element there are some traces of actual power metal here although when the music does move away from speed metal, it'll be traditional heavy metal elements you'll hear the most.

Back With a Vengeance is packed full of excellent tracks, not least The Omen and For Now And All Time (Knutson's Return), the latter of which was also on the EP. The term 'bad track' is not in the vocabulary of Masters of Disguise as the band hurtle away at their speed metal topped off by the excellent vocals of Alexx Stahl. It, simply put, kicks arse in the way that only an intentionally old school album can. If anything, even though the EP was solid, it didn't really even begin to hint at how powerful this full-length was going to end up being. In my experience you don't hear a lot of speed metal these days, again most likely because of its evolution into thrash and power metal, but bands like Masters of Disguise show that there's life in this genre and always will be. A 4.5 star range rating is easily appropriate.

89/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/masters-of-disguise-back-with-a-vengeance-t3279.html)

adg211288 Knutson's Return (2013) is the debut EP by German speed metal act Masters Of Disguise. It's been released just shy of their debut full-length album Back with a Vengeance (2013), and contains three tracks. The two originals included on the EP also appear on the album while the third is a cover of the Savage Grace song Into the Fire, taken from their album Master of Disguise (1985), from which the band also took their name. Their connection to the other band is slightly more than influence and homage; all four instrumentalists performed as live musicians with Savage Grace between 2009 - 2010.

The music on Knutson's Return is energetic speed metal more or less although middle track Alliance has some strong nods towards traditional heavy metal while there are some light influences of power metal to be heard. Mostly Knutson's Return's is a thoroughly retro sounding affair, and the two original tracks are clearly written to emulate Savage Grace in every way possible if the cover version of Into the Fire is anything to go by.

They may their influences on their sleeves but Masters Of Disguise pulled off a good first EP here. As a brief introduction to what they're all about you can't go far wrong, but I'll be moving onto my promo copy of Back with a Vengeance right away on the basis of how fun Knutson's Return was to listen to. Given that the album is already out as of my writing this review (if this review hadn't been near done when I realised that I'd probably have just reviewed the album) and two thirds of Knutson's Return is included on it, that may be your best bet also. That said there's no reason not to give Knutson's Return a 'great' tier rating based on musical merits.

78/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/masters-of-disguise-knutson-s-return-t3270.html)