The first question I have to ask myself is why the hell I have NOT heard of SPILLAGE before. Because knowing my musical preferences by everyone who knows me, they must be very aware that I love the early (Jon Oliva singing) SAVATAGE era. And to cut a lot of corners short, these Americans from Chicago, Illinois, have just that same kind of sound as their peers had back then.

But, before I ramble on, let me tell you about the band. SPILLAGE have been around since 2002. It took them some thirteen years to go ahead and release their debut album called “Spillage”. Two years later they surprised the world by releasing the live bootleg “Bootleg Livewired” themselves. That was followed by “Blood Of Angels” in 2019 and “Electric Exorcist” in 2021, before releasing “Phase Four” on September 1^st 2023. I have looked around, and the consensus between the different reviews is that this latest effort is easily their best album to date. Well, I will have to take their word on it. In the meantime, I will form my own opinion, based on what I get to hear.

When it comes to the musicality of the matter, I can only conclude that “Phase Four” is nothing more than a masterpiece. They rival the best of early SAVATAGE in just about every song they have written and recorded for this album. SPILLAGE have the knack of making it all work like a charm. Whether they play slow, or of they go faster, it all is way above average. My biggest concern was/is the vocals. To be clear, not the lyrics, as they are outstanding as well, but the sound of the voice of Elvin Rodriguez. At first, I thought it to be too monotonous, to narrow in margins to fit the music. But as I kept on listening to the riveting music, I came to realise that actually, it does fit. It works quite well. The only thing missing is the theatrical range that Jon Oliva has, but that is only a small thing to worry about when you van only be swept away to the music.

On the other hand, Elvin Rodriguez does have the kind of voice that can conjure up dark thoughts, occult manners, which only adds to the rich darkness that SPILLAGE are showering us with on “Phase Four”. So, I have stopped wondering how they can improve, as they can’t, an have started to enjoy the feeling I had when I first experienced “Sirens”. Goose bumps, excitement, exhilaration, and the joy that comes with those feelings. What a bloody great album.