Early days (1979–1986) Criss Oliva and his brother
Jon formed their first band together, called Avatar, in 1979. Their former bands were Tower and Alien, respectively. In 1980, the duo met up with drummer
Steve "Doc" Wacholz and practiced in a small shack behind the Oliva home that was dubbed "The Pit" by the band. Wacholz originally tried out to be part of Jon's band, Alien, but when the first Savatage lineup was taking shape, Jon, who was originally on drum duties, was relieved of them by Wacholz. They also gave Wacholz a nickname that would follow him throughout his career: "Doctor Hardware Killdrums", often shortened to just "Doc" or "Doc Killdrums", which referred to his hard playing style. Criss, Jon and Wacholz played
Tampa (where they had moved with their family in the late 1970s) and
Clearwater area clubs for many years. In 1981, Keith Collins joined them to relieve Jon of bass guitar duties. In late 2006, footage was released onto the internet of an early performance by Avatar at a gig in a Clearwater parking lot and was prominent in featuring an early version of the song "Holocaust", which would later be released on Savatage's first album and a cover of
Van Halen's "
Eruption" and the latter's cover version of "
You Really Got Me". In 1982, Avatar took part in some heavy metal compilations, most notably
The YNF Pirate Tape, a promotion by Tampa rock radio station
95YNF for local Florida bands. Shortly after its release, Avatar was forced to change its name due to copyright issues. Combining the words "Savage" and "Avatar", the band decided on Savatage. Their first album,
Sirens (1983) and the following EP
The Dungeons Are Calling (1984), were released on Par Records, an independent label. In 1984, they signed a contract with
Atlantic Records and released their second full-length album
Power of the Night in May of the following year.
Power of the Night (produced by
Max Norman) showcased the band's unorthodox approach to metal, which included Jon's liberal use of keyboards on songs like "Fountain of Youth" and
Broadway-style song structures like the kind employed on "Warriors". It was well received by critics but fell short of sales expectations. Atlantic budgeted to provide funds to make a video for "Hard for Love", on the condition that it be retitled "Hot for Love" for broadcast purposes. The band refused to change the song and consequently the video was never released. In promotion of
Power of the Night, Savatage embarked on the Monsters of the Universe Tour with
Rogue Male and Illusion, and also played with
Mötley Crüe,
Quiet Riot,
Exodus,
Raven,
Overkill and
Armored Saint. In 1986, after the release of their third album,
Fight for the Rock, a failed attempt at a commercial approach imposed by the record company which the band themselves called
Fight for the Nightmare, Savatage toured with
Metallica,
Kiss and
Motörhead. The band was not happy with the album, with pressure from the label to include two cover versions. Jon Oliva had been retained to write material for other artists on the Atlantic label, such as
John Waite and other pop-rock artists. Later, the label demanded Savatage record the material themselves. In a choice they would later regret, the band agreed. Not only did it destroy them in the press, it nearly destroyed the band and sent Jon into his early alcohol and drug problems. Jon recently admitted however the album did have strong points, including the band's cover of
Badfinger's "
Day After Day". During this time, original bassist Keith Collins left the band, and
Johnny Lee Middleton joined the band. Since 1987, Middleton has been the only consistent member of Savatage, performing on every album (except
Handful of Rain).
Rise to popularity and death of Criss Oliva (1987–1993) The commercial failure of
Fight for the Rock resulted in Savatage nearly disbanding, during which Jon auditioned for
Black Sabbath and Criss had considered joining
Megadeth; however, Jon decided that he and Criss "didn't want to split up", and were encouraged by producer
Paul O'Neill to continue Savatage. In 1987, the band released their first commercially successful album, and first collaboration with O'Neill,
Hall of the Mountain King, which became the base for the band rising into a more mainstream arena. They recorded their first music video for the album's title song, which received extensive air play on
MTV's
Headbangers Ball, and was followed up by a video for the song "24 Hours Ago". A world tour in support of the album throughout 1987 and 1988 followed, playing with a variety of bands like
Dio,
Megadeth,
Testament,
Sanctuary,
Pandemonium,
Forbidden, has been considered the band's true turning point. This album saw the band adopt a more progressive style, writing longer songs with more complex melodies and differing vocal styles, rather than the more straightforward power metal style that was apparent in earlier works. The change to a more progressive,
operatic style was also precipitated by Jon, after seeing a performance of
Phantom of the Opera in Toronto. The songs "Gutter Ballet" and "When the Crowds Are Gone" are examples of this influence from that album, as was the next Savatage's release (which even included "Opera" in its title). Many additional songs already written, before the decision of this change of style, were unused and subsequently published as bonus tracks, in the
Sirens and
The Dungeons Are Calling 2002 reissues, some of them were also re-worked and published by
Jon Oliva's Pain.
Gutter Ballet proved to be another success for Savatage, with the title track and "When the Crowds Are Gone" receiving considerable airplay on
Headbangers Ball and album-oriented radio stations. The album was once again promoted with a grueling tour, which took place throughout most of 1990, touring North America with Testament and Nuclear Assault, and Europe with
King Diamond and
Candlemass. They also toured North America with
Trouble.
Chris Caffery, who had been playing with Savatage in the previous tour performing rhythm guitar and keyboards offstage, officially joined the band in 1989. He never played on the
Gutter Ballet album, even though he was credited with guitars and keyboards and was pictured in the album's booklet "both to prepare the fans for the lineup they'd see on tour and confirm his permanent member status". Despite this, Caffery left the band after the
Gutter Ballet tour for personal reasons, but kept writing music with Jon Oliva and would later return to Savatage during the second half of the 1990s. In 1991, the band created their first
rock opera,
Streets: A Rock Opera, featuring the story of a fallen rock star called DT Jesus who has hit hard times. The record did not sell as well as the band would have liked however, as it was released around the time that
grunge exploded into the mainstream music arena, but a video for "Jesus Saves" was recorded and again got airplay, drawing a new audience to appreciate the band. Over the years
Streets has become one of the most appreciated and a landmark album in Savatage's career. Originally, this record was intended to be a double album, but Atlantic Records did not like the idea, so it was trimmed down to 17 songs. The album was then going to have spoken tracks in-between all the songs but that was scrapped also. The final version scrapped the 17th song "Larry Elbows" and erased all the spoken tracks except for the intro to Jesus Saves. The cover had the story explained in it to make up for the lost spoken tracks. Atlantic somehow over the years managed to lose the master tapes to
Streets so the left over songs truly are lost. Many of the riffs from these songs showed up on the next album
Edge of Thorns. Another interesting detail about the album is that "Jesus Saves" was originally written as a midtempo song, not the rocker it became on the finished album. In 2013, a narrated version of the album was re-issued with the title:
Streets: A Rock Opera - Narrated Version. The world tour in support of
Streets began in October 1991 in Europe, with support from
Vicious Rumors. The next several months were spent touring relentlessly in North America, with the likes of
Armored Saint and
Fates Warning, followed by their first shows in Japan. After the
Streets tour ended in the spring of 1992, Jon Oliva left the band to concentrate on his side projects
Doctor Butcher and his
Broadway-bound musical
Romanov, as well as continuing co-writing Savatage material with his brother Criss and producer Paul O'Neill. However, as of 2013, only one instrumental track from the
Romanov project was released under the moniker
Trans-Siberian Orchestra on the
Dreams of Fireflies EP. After this EP, together with a Broadway version of
Streets named
Gutter Ballet (including mainly songs from both these albums), even
Romanov was planned as a future Trans-Siberian Orchestra album. On June 13, 1992, during Jon's "farewell show" at the Rock-It Club in Tampa, 28 songs were played to cover all the main highlights of the band. This show was not intended, recorded or filmed for any sort of live album. The new lead vocalist, former
Wicked Witch singer
Zachary Stevens, was discovered and introduced to the band by Criss' best friend and guitar technician Dan Campbell. The band recorded their follow-up to
Streets,
Edge of Thorns, in 1993. Drummer Steve Wacholz decided to record the album but he was not interested in touring, even though he stated he intended to return to the band in the future, and hand-picked his replacement as well in drummer Andy James. For the first time, Savatage began to enjoy mainstream recognition, including increased radio play and a world tour which gained international press as "the best Savatage has ever sounded live". However, tragedy struck when founder and lead guitarist
Criss Oliva was killed by a drunk driver on October 17, 1993. Jon chose to continue the band, although he has since admitted that the band was pretty much over after Criss' death, but only kept going because of his memory and to "keep his music alive".
Hiatus and side projects (2001–2013) '' touring lineup, 2001. From left to right: Jeff Plate, Chris Caffery, Jon Oliva, Damond Jiniya, Johnny Lee Middleton, Jack Frost. Savatage continued to focus on their
Trans-Siberian Orchestra project for a while, releasing
The Christmas Attic, but the release of
Poets and Madmen in 2001 was highlighted by Jon Oliva's return as lead vocalist in studio, replacing
Zak Stevens, who left the band citing family reasons, and the departure of
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 US tour followed, supported by
Fates Warning in the early shows, and then
Nevermore for the remainder. Around this time, Caffery chose Zak's replacement in the form of the singer Damond Jiniya (Diet of Worms), who was once again brought to the band from long-time friend and
Circle II Circle manager/co founder Dan Campbell. Damond sang the song "Edge of Thorns" as his audition song. Damond performed Zak's parts on tour, with Jon having an increased vocal role in proceedings.
Jack Frost auditioned for the role of rhythm guitar player, and got the gig. He played with the band for a majority of the tour, but was mysteriously asked to leave the band after the tour, although it could be said that Frost's commitments elsewhere drove him from the band. For Summer festival appearances in 2002, the band was joined by
Annihilator's
Jeff Waters. These festival performances included an appearance at
Wacken Open Air in 2002. Savatage had remained inactive since that tour, with band members concentrating on other projects such as Trans-Siberian Orchestra and
Jon Oliva's Pain. This has not pleased everyone, with
Chris Caffery in particular citing his anger at Savatage not recording a new album in almost five years . Trans-Siberian Orchestra continues with their releases and Savatage's members are mostly split up between its two touring lineups, but during the European tours in 2011 and 2014 Pitrelli, Caffery, Middleton and Plate were all featured together on stage. Year by year more Savatage songs were included in the TSO setlists, among them also
Gutter Ballet,
Believe,
All That I Bleed and
Chance. Jon Oliva usually does not play on stage with Trans-Siberian Orchestra while Paul O'Neill did it very often during selected songs before his death in 2017. Jon Oliva formed his own band,
Jon Oliva's Pain, and released their debut album in 2004 entitled ''
'Tage Mahal''. Through the years
Jon Oliva's Pain, also called JOP, published many records and their live concerts always feature Savatage's songs from the albums with Criss Oliva. Additional material, taken by Jon from his brother's unused stuff, was used to write several Jon Oliva's Pain's tracks as described in the album's credits. Lead guitarist
Chris Caffery also recorded solo albums, while frontman Zak Stevens was approached by longtime friend and Savatage stage manager Dan Campbell to co-found a new band
Circle II Circle and their first record entitled
Watching in Silence was released in 2003, produced by Jon Oliva and featuring a guest appearance from Caffery. After a dispute with the management during the tour, Zak's entire band left and joined Jon Oliva's Pain band. Zak regrouped with new members and release other new records. Since 2011, the band included more and more Savatage songs (from the records with Stevens at vocals) in their setlists, and in 2012 also the entire
The Wake of Magellan album was played. Their 2013 European tour included the complete
Edge of Thorns album due to its 20th anniversary while the 2014 European tour included the complete
Handful of Rain album for the same reason. In addition to his work with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, drummer Jeff Plate performed with electric violinist
Mark Wood and joined
Metal Church. He also reformed
Wicked Witch with Zak Stevens, renaming the band
Machines of Grace, and releasing a self-titled album in 2010. Never involved with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Steve Wacholz formed a new band in 2010, named Reverence, with guitarist Pete Rossi, vocalist Todd Michael Hall (formerly of
Jack Starr's Burning Starr and currently in
Riot V) and former
Tokyo Blade members guitarist Bryan Holland and bassist Frank Saparti.
Criss Oliva 10th anniversary memorial concert On October 17, 2003, at The Masquerade in historic
Ybor City,
Tampa, Florida, fans were invited to remember and celebrate the life and contributions of Criss Oliva at a 10th anniversary memorial concert. It featured
Circle II Circle,
Jon Oliva's Pain and
Doctor Butcher as supporting acts and, as headliner, a special one night only band (composed of Jon Oliva, Johnny Lee Middleton, Steve "Doc" Wacholz, Chris Caffery and John Zahner) who played only selected songs from the albums with Criss Oliva. Many Criss parts were executed by Jon himself using keyboards. This show was not intended, recorded or filmed for any sort of live album.
Reunion rumors In an interview to Aardschok, a Dutch Magazine, in June 2006, Jon Oliva announced that he wanted to record one more Savatage album, with a live CD and DVD to follow it, before ending the band. He did not specify a release date for a new album, however.
Chris Caffery then said in an interview in October 2006 that if a new Savatage album was to be recorded, then it was likely that Alex Skolnick would be involved, as well as original drummer Steve "Doc" Wacholz. In a November 2006 interview with
Greek website,
Metal Temple, Jon Oliva himself shot down all rumours of the return of Savatage, claiming that it never made him any money, but instead it cost him one million US dollars to keep the band going over the years. Despite Jon's earlier denials, in October 2008 the band launched an official MySpace page, hinting that 2009 would see some activity under the Savatage banner. The lineup listed on official MySpace was:
Jon Oliva,
Zak Stevens,
Chris Caffery,
Al Pitrelli,
Johnny Lee Middleton and
Jeff Plate; signalling that Stevens would return as lead vocalist in a reunion. In December of the same year, a brand new Savatage web site was unveiled. However, Jon Oliva had since denied these reunion rumors saying: In 2013, in support for Jon's first solo album
Raise the Curtain, Oliva had been giving many interviews, and during at least one he mentioned the possibility of new Savatage music was something he was considering. While discussing the success of TSO and the decision to cease activities as Savatage with Dr. Metal on June 30, 2013, he had this to say about the idea of new Savatage recordings:
One-off reunion, death of Paul O'Neill and second hiatus (2014–2019) On August 2, 2014, it was announced that
Trans-Siberian Orchestra would be performing live on stage at
Wacken Open Air 2015, followed immediately by a Savatage reunion gig. which led to speculation that it would be a one-off reunion show, or the band had planned to continue performing in the future. Asked in a December 2014 interview if Savatage would do any more live shows or record new material, guitarist
Chris Caffery replied, "I'm gonna put it this way: for 12 years, 13 years, I've been waiting for my band to play again. We're playing again. I don't know what's going to happen after that [laughs], but there were people that were putting a fork in it, and we're getting up and not just running a marathon, we're running in the Olympics with this festival being what it is. I'm not going to make any predictions, but let's just say there's a possibility that something more will happen after Wacken—that's all I can say. And nothing would make me happier." On the future of Savatage, frontman
Jon Oliva explained, "As far as that goes, the whole Wacken thing came up, and I was, like, you know what? If we're going to do anything, we have to do it now. I don't want to do it when I'm 60 years old. I mentioned that to
Paul. He said to me, 'We're going to do the Wacken thing, but let's just wait until the winter tour is over and then you and me we're going to sit down in January and discuss what we're going to do. Jon also said that Savatage has "already gotten offers" to play in "certain areas of the world, America being one, Greece, South America, places like that", and added that he does not rule out the possibility of any more shows. Though Oliva said he does not know what the future holds for Savatage, he said, "I just wish that everything works out good and then we'll see what happens down the road. I'll never say no to anything anymore, because every time I do, I get rained on." The Wacken started with a performance of Savatage on the Black Stage, featuring Gutter Ballet as first song. After seven songs the band left the stage, and on the True Metal Stage TSO began to play with Pitrelli and its non-Sava members. Caffery, Middleton and Plate replaced them on several songs, and Stevens had a duet with Andrew Ross in the song "The Hourglass". This set was followed up by simultaneous play by both bands, featuring also Savatage and TSO songs, ending up with O'Neill's appearance on guitar in "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" and "Requiem (The Fifth)". In October 2015, Zak Stevens confirmed the intentions of starting a new phase for Savatage, adding that (from November 1 on) there would be meetings to take decisions on the details, possibly a tour or a new album, as Jon Oliva was inspiredly writing new music. When asked in April 2016 about Savatage's future, drummer
Jeff Plate (who had recently released
an album with
Metal Church) stated, "This really is a question for Jon and Paul. We had a tremendous time last year when we performed at the Wacken Open Air Festival. It truly was great, and magical, to perform with that band again. I would love to put the
Dead Winter Dead band back on the road again, but this is not my decision to be made." In April 2017, it was announced that Savatage producer, lyricist and co-composer
Paul O'Neill had died at the age of 61. When asked in August 2017 about a possible reunion with a classic Savatage lineup (with
Chris Caffery filling in for the late
Criss Oliva on guitar), original drummer
Steve "Doc" Wacholz mentioned a Savatage tour taking place in 2018. However, he stated, "I really can't imagine them having TWO drummers on stage, so Jeff will be doing the drumming duties on his own (which he does a great job), although I would love to finish what I started with the Olivas so long ago. That would be a great accomplishment, but I do not see it happening." In a September 2018 interview with Bill Louis of
WNCX radio, Plate stated that he would "really love to see" a Savatage reunion, but added that O'Neill's death and the success of Trans-Siberian Orchestra were the reasons the band has been sidelined since their 2015 reunion show at Wacken Open Air. He explained, "There's always been that thought. We did get back together for the Wacken show in 2015. There was a lot of talk after that show, because it was very well-received. When the band got back together, it's just so interesting how when a certain group of guys get together and play music, it's just different than plugging other people in. There's a real chemistry there with the six of us — Jon Oliva, Chris Caffery,
Johnny Middleton,
Al Pitrelli, myself and
Zak Stevens. Of course, there's always interest, but when we lost Paul, it had to get pushed aside. There's always conversations, and personally, I would really love to see it. We would love to make that happen, but with everything that's happened over the past couple of years, there's a lot going on there. Once all the business end of this whole scenario gets sorted out here and we all get in a room and really talk about some things... It's going to take a little time — none of this stuff is easy — but I would love to see it happen. I know a lot of people would, and I know a number of guys in the band would really like to see it happen too. But Trans-Siberian Orchestra, that's the focus — that has been our success, and this is what our careers have become. If we can somehow squeeze some Savatage music or some shows in there around all this, that would be fantastic." When asked in December 2019 about the current state of Savatage, Stevens said: "You've always got Savatage lurking out there that we really don't know for sure either. Basically the same answer that I get from them is what I'm giving for
Circle II Circle — 'You know what? It's not ever gone, but we just have to figure out what [to do], and the answer will come.' When the right situation appears, that's when I think things will happen... It needs the right thing to come along. I like the fact that TSO has five Savatage songs in the last half of the set this year, so something's brewing... I don't really have any more answers after that, but something seems like it's going on. We're going to find out one way or the other at some point, but the right situation has to come along, I think."
Second reunion and upcoming twelfth studio album (since 2020) In November 2020, when commenting on the possibility of a full-time reunion of Savatage, guitarist
Al Pitrelli revealed that
Jon Oliva "is always working on new music, constantly sending [him] new songs and new ideas", and added, "We always talk about doing something, I would like more than ever to get the band back together and back on tour." Pitrelli also stated that there has not yet been any discussion of a tour with the agents or promoters, and concluded, "What I do know is that we all talk about it often, particularly now that we have a lot of time to talk. The conversation is still open, I spoke to
Chris Caffery...
Jeff Plate,
Johnny Lee, we all talk about it all the time, it's just a matter of saying, 'Okay, let's leave this pandemic behind and focus on the important things in life!'" In December 2020 interview with
Brave Words, guitarist
Chris Caffery hinted at Savatage releasing a new album in 2022. When asked about the possibility of the band carrying on without their late friend and producer
Paul O'Neill, he said, "I mean we've been speaking about it for the last 20 years now, since the last record. It's always able to happen and something else stops it - you've got Haley's Comet coming around once in a while, and every hundred years you have a pandemic, and once every 20 years there's a Savatage record. It will be 20 years in 2022 so maybe that's when it will show up. I'm kind of hopeful that it does, I know I've done a lot of writing, and Jon has, and Al always has a lot of music, so we could make a record. Things would never be exactly the same without Paul, but they were never exactly the same without
Criss Oliva either, but we still managed to do
Dead Winter Dead and
Wake of Magellan and
Poets and Madmen." Caffrey also offered an update on the state of Jon Oliva's health, saying, "He's doing much better, because a couple of years ago he had a bit of an incident. So he hit a bump in the road with something inside of him. I see the masked mountain king every day and probably the last four five years he's looked the best he has to me." In February 2021, Savatage announced that their first album
Sirens and the EP
The Dungeons Are Calling were being released to streaming platforms in the US for the first time. In a statement issued by the band, they wrote, "This is just the start of many new exciting things we have in store for you this year"; this led to speculation that there would be Savatage-related activities in 2021. After months of rumors that a reunion and new album from Savatage were planned, vocalist
Jon Oliva confirmed in a March 2021 interview with "80's Glam Metalcast" that he, Caffery and Pitrelli had indeed been working on new material together: "Since [Savatage's] Wacken [reunion] show in 2015, Chris Caffery, me and Al Pitrelli, we've been trading song ideas for a possible Savatage thing over the phone. I go, 'Hey, this is great. This is great. This is cool.' But I've been writing Savatage material since 2003, and I could do a quadruple double album, if I wanted to. So, yeah, we're trading off things, and we're looking at that." As for a possibility of a full-time reunion, Oliva stated that he would "love" to do it, adding that "it's very possible": "If it's gonna happen, we'll make an official announcement, but we have been working together, just because with the pandemic and all that, we're bored; there's nothing to do. So we've been trading ideas through e-mails and on the phone. Me and Al wrote three or four things together. Me and Chris Caffery have worked on a few things together. What else are we gonna do? There's nothing to do. So, yeah, we'll see what happens." In June 2021, Oliva reiterated that he had enough material for three new Savatage albums and all the band members "would all love" to work on new material, but added that "there's no deal with a record company to do it" and there were no plans to go into the studio. In a December 2021, Caffery offered an update on new possible music from Savatage to That Metal Interview: "We've been writing and talking about it now. It's the first time in a long time where I actually have been trading riffs and songs with Jon over the phone, and I have some really cool things. I have this one song that I wrote that he really likes and it's kind of one that I think would be a good lead-off track for Savatage. [We're] just calling it 'The Dungeous Are Calling Again' and it's a really, really, really cool metal song. We'll see what happens. I know a lot of people would like to see a new Savatage record. I think the cards are lining up. Whether or not it's gonna fall into place, we'll find out. I always tend to stay really positive and optimistic about it — I have for 20 years. So hopefully it does wind up happening. We're not getting any younger." In April 2023, Jon Oliva confirmed to
Rock Hard magazine that Savatage would reconvene in June to begin recording their first studio album in more than two decades, to which he said will "probably be the last album [they] ever do" and revealed
Curtain Call as its working title. Oliva confirmed that the lineup of the new album would include all members of the
Dead Winter Dead lineup (including his replacement
Zak Stevens) as well as contributions by original drummer
Steve Wacholz, and added that he wanted to have it released on what would have been his late brother
Criss' 61st birthday in 2024. Progress on the album continued to be slow by December 2024, with Caffery saying, "The music is being written and it keeps being written. As far as when it's going to be finished, there is not a date. Let's just put it this way that when we can, we will get music done." Stevens added, "We've been recording stuff for a while now. I mean, I've got about probably eight or nine songs that I've been working on with Jon." In April 2025, Oliva confirmed that he wants to begin recording the new Savatage album in January 2026: "That's my goal, is to start recording new material. The songs are basically all written. They just — I need to be healthy to be able to do it. I can't sing like I sing without feeling like somebody's stabbing me with a screwdriver." Savatage played their first show in nearly ten years at the
Monsters of Rock festival in
São Paulo, Brazil on April 19, 2025, followed four days later by the band's first-ever show in
Chile at the Masters of Rock festival. Due to his diagnosis with both
multiple sclerosis and
Ménière's disease, Oliva did not perform at those shows. During the spring/summer of 2025, Savatage played their first shows in Europe in more than 20 years, which include headlining shows and appearances at festivals such as Into the Grave in the Netherlands,
Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium, and Rock Fest in Spain. The band will tour Europe in June through August of 2026 on what is dubbed the "Prelude to Madness" tour. Select dates will feature support from
Nevermore,
Armored Saint and
Vision Divine. It will be the band's first time performing in the cities of
Istanbul,
Bucharest,
Este,
Warsaw, and
Leipzig. In addition to nine headline dates, the tour will also include several festival appearances, such as the 2026
Wacken Open Air music festival in
Germany. To coincide with this tour, Savatage will release a new live album
Madness Reigns from the Gutter (1990), recorded during the
Gutter Ballet tour, on June 26, 2026. ==Musical style==