Overkill - Savatage - Non-Fiction

May 24,1993

Koln, Germany - E-Werk
From: RockHard
By: Thomas Kupfer / Matthias Breusch
Translation: Ellen Bakvis

Recession strikes, even in metal matters. How else can it be explained that no more than 500 people come to see a killer show like this one ? Okay, the latest LP's of Overkill as well as Savatage were not strong as usual, but live - as anyone should know - these bands have more than a handful of brilliant songs at their disposal.

Expectation ran high, as Savatage appeared on stage on this sultry early summer evening. Not just because Florida's power heroes had to perform without their legendary front man Jon Oliva for the first time: Steve "Dr. Killdrums" Wacholz, one of the most rough-edged drummers of all times, had surprisingly also decided not to come to Europe. The way things look at the moment, his days in Savatages line-up have definitively ended.

Officially word goes that a chronic suffering in Steves shoulder is responsible for the fact that the master pushed his sticks aside to open a racing track for remote control high speed miniature cars instead, but anyhow it has been whispered for years that Steve had personal problems with his band mates. They, so-to-say, wanted to throw him out on more than one occasion. And, in connection with the big shake-up after Jon's departure, the right time had come to finally get rid of him...

Although his successor Andy James, a studio drummer from New York, who according to himself makes a living as a professional musician ever since he was 15 ( in the meantime he's 24) , had perfectly mastered the songs within no more than five weeks - it became clear to everyone within a few minutes, that he'd never be able to reach good old Steves level of charisma, stageacting and power. Unfortunately he also had the run of bad luck, of being left in the lurch by the Overkill - crew. The drums could hardly be heard. No punch - no beat - no groove, while the bass drums sounded like mushrooms underneath the stage floor, the snare drum had almost completely been switched off and drums and cymbals sounded like they'd been built up backstage.

The biggest impudence however was inflicted upon Criss Oliva's guitar sound by these freaks. In order to keep off the nasty ( though more than just equally valuable ) "support act" succes - technically, Criss' guitar was mainly presented at a living room sound level, beggaring any description. ( In fairness it must be admitted that Savatage were soundtechnically irreproachable a few days later in Munchen - Ed.)

Thank god neither the fans, nor the band allowed such trivia to spoil their appetite. Even whispering, Criss' axt still sounded heavenly and besides it became clear that Savatage have dug up a true jewel with their new frontman Zak Stevens. A strong vocalist, who brings along the necessary diversity and power to create a good name for himself in the tracks of Jon Oliva within the next couple of years. Live, he even managed to make people forget Jon's strident shrieks with his strong vocal performance.

Unfortunately, after a little more than an hour the whole thing came to an end. With "Hall Of The Mountain King", "She's In Love" and "Ghost In The Ruins" no more than three older songs were represented; the rest of the set consisted of "Edge Of Thorns"-songs. First class material, true, but yet something was missing. Compared to Savatage's last headlinertour it was a step backwards ofcourse. Due to time restrictions, no tracks from the "Dungeons..."/"Sirens"/"Power Of The Night"-episode, on top of that being treated like a half-baked beginners-band soundtechnically - Savatage did not deserve a thing like that. And that opinion was obviously shared by a large number of their fans, who left the E-Werk hall single file, as soon as Overkill opened their set with almost exagerrated bombastic sound and light effects.