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31 июл 2025
CHRIS CAFFERY: SAVATAGE's Music Is 'As Timeless As The BLACK SABBATH And JUDAS PRIEST And IRON MAIDEN Stuff'
Added Chris: "I mean, you have a guitar player that is right there, in my opinion and in a lot of people's opinion, right there with somebody like a Dimebag and Eddie Van Halen, with Criss [Oliva, late SAVATAGE guitarist]. And I think that the music that the Oliva brothers [Criss and Jon] had written [for SAVATAGE] is as timeless as the [BLACK] SABBATH and the [JUDAS] PRIEST and [IRON] MAIDEN stuff. So it hits as a complete package, especially in the heavy metal world. You have a record like '[Hall Of The] Mountain King', which is, I think, on a lot of people's lists, if not the top 10, at least the top 20 classic metal records ever. And you have a riff like 'Hall Of The Mountain King'. So [as] Jeff said, [a big factor is] the really human-to-human element of Paul's lyrics, kind of the same way that [QUEEN's] Freddie Mercury could sing to 70,000 people and it seemed like one. That one-on-one element exists in those lyrics and with that music, and it just managed to survive the test of time. And that's something that, for us, we're seeing it's not just the fans that liked us then, it's new fans. It's picking up a whole new audience. So it's really exciting to know that we're not just bringing back the music to the people who wanted to see it. We're bringing that music to a whole new audience."
Jeff continued: "And musically, the band sounds like no one. Even back in the four-piece metal days, with the original four, so to speak, nobody sounded like that lineup. And then over the years. Chris came aboard during 'Gutter Ballet' and the band just kept progressing in sound. It never sounded like anybody. And I don't think there's a band out there that really sounds like SAVATAGE. So that originality, along with the lyrics, has kind of kept the band just cutting through all the different genres in the different phases that have happened over music throughout the years. I mean, when grunge came along in the early '90s, it just about killed off a lot of bands, put a lot of people out of work. SAVATAGE kind of maintained its course. And one thing that Paul O'Neill taught me by just watching him was, like, you, you stick to what you do. You believe in what you're creating and you stick to it. And here we all these years later, and we are this legacy act that hasn't played in 23 years. So there's a newness to what we're doing all over again. But add to that just how unique the band is and how it sounds — the lyrics, the stories around it — it's a complete package. And going back to earlier what Chris said about the maturity, we're not kids anymore. We approach this a little bit differently than we had 25, 30 years ago, where it was so much fun to just go out there and play and rock. Now we're on stage doing that, but we're really paying attention to every single thing that we're doing up there. And the response has been tremendous — it really has. And we are so happy with the response, but also just working together on stage and how good this whole thing sounds and feels. It's awesome — it really is."
Joining Chris and Jeff in SAVATAGE's 2025 touring lineup are Al Pitrelli on guitar, Johnny Lee Middleton on bass and Zak Stevens on lead vocals.
SAVATAGE played four shows in South America in April and kicked off a 10-date European tour on June 13 at the Into The Grave festival in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
SAVATAGE played its first non-festival headlining concert in more than 20 years on April 21 at the Espaço Unimed in São Paulo, Brazil. The show took place two days after SAVATAGE performed at the Monsters Of Rock festival at Allianz Parque in São Paulo.
Appearing with Middleton, Caffery, Pitrelli, Plate and Stevens are SAVATAGE's two new touring keyboardists, Paulo Cuevas and Shawn McNair.
Zak joined SAVATAGE in 1992 as the replacement for Jon Oliva. Zak sang on four albums with the band — "Edge Of Thorns" (1993),"Handful Of Rain" (1994),"Dead Winter Dead" (1995) and "The Wake Of Magellan" (1997) — before departing in 2000, allowing Jon to return. Both Jon and Zak took part in SAVATAGE's 2015 performance at Wacken Open Air, which marked the band's first appearance on stage since they went on hiatus back in 2002.
SAVATAGE's last album release, "Poets And Madmen", in 2001 was highlighted by Jon's return as lead vocalist, replacing Zak, who left the band citing family reasons, and the departure of guitarist Al Pitrelli, who accepted an offer to join MEGADETH in 2000. Pitrelli did record solos for some songs prior to his departure. Another very limited U.S. tour followed, supported by FATES WARNING in the early shows, and then NEVERMORE for the remainder. Around this time, Jon chose Zak's replacement in the form of Damond Jiniya (DIET OF WORMS). Damond performed Zak's parts on tour, with Jon having an increased vocal role in proceedings.
In addition to his work with SAVATAGE, Jon Oliva is well known for co-creating the classical music-meets-prog rock and pyro act TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA alongside O'Neill. Oliva has reportedly remained involved in TSO's activities even after O'Neill's April 2017 death of an accidental drug overdose.
Jon's brother Criss, who was one of the founding members of SAVATAGE, was killed in October 1993 by a drunk driver when he and his wife Dawn were en route to the Livestock festival in Zephyrhills, Florida. The driver of the other car was found to have a drunk driving record of seven prior DUIs and having a blood alcohol content of .294 percent.
Photo credit: Josh Ruzansky
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