The Dungeons Are Calling

The Dungeons Are Calling is a six-song EP that Par Records issued on cassette (PAR1051M) in 1984; the band's old official site dates it 22 March 1984. The songs come from the same Morrisound session as the debut Sirens, again produced by Dan "The Kid" Johnson with Jim Morris engineering. According to Jon Oliva, Par put the EP out to complete the band's contract before releasing them to sign with Atlantic. In 1985 it appeared on 12-inch vinyl through Combat Records in the United States and Music for Nations in Britain. AllMusic calls it a much heavier record than Sirens, though it was cut at the same sessions. The old official FAQ says the title song, often taken to be about hell or torture, is really about the horrors of drug use, and that the sleeve, a skull with a homemade syringe, refers to it. "City Beneath the Surface" is a new recording of a song the band had released as a single on Par while they were still called Avatar. The Japanese edition came out on 16 January 1995 (PHCR-16152) with eight songs, adding "Fighting for Your Love" and a live "Sirens" as the 1994 Metal Blade CD had done. The earMUSIC vinyl edition of 2021 reached number 15 in Germany. Under the band's current count it is not one of their studio albums. The running order here is the original's as printed.