"I love that hour-and-a-half I'm on stage, but it's all that traveling and shit that nobody likes. When I'm playing it live, to me it's the same as being in a studio, more or less. It's like, you're there and I got my guitar on. I'm OK then. Then I'm secure."

- Criss Oliva

Change can either be traumatic or promising, depending on the band. "We're troopers man," says Savatage guitarist Criss Oliva. "We've definitely made our point. We can do this." Savatage are seeing their changes through to success. The band's evolution over the course of five albums in the past 12 years, has included a shift from their distinctive brand of speed metal found on 1987's classic HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING and the 1989 effort, GUTTER BALLET, to 1991's orchestrated rock opera, STREETS. But with lead singer Jon Oliva's departure last year, the band's resilience was at stake. "The truth of the matter is that Jon left the band for personal reasons," guitarist Criss Oliva explains. "One being his family and stuff. He's doing a lot of writing for other bands and producing and he's got his own little project now." Yet Jon Oliva's contribution as key writer, along with brother Criss and producer Paul O'Neill, remain constant on Savatage's new release, EDGE OF THORNS. "Jon, Paul and I still write everything," Oliva continues. "We'll write the next record together, too. So he's still involved 100 percent as far as writing with me and the band. It's the Savatage sound." But the task of finding a talented replacement who could settle easily into the 12-year-old band was no simple task. And with the uniqueness of the former singer's style, the key was not so much in finding a replacement as in finding a successor. "I didn't want to replace him with a Jon singer-type, you know. I wanted something different. You can't replace him anyway. Jon has his own style."

The replacement was Zachary Stevens, former vocalist of Boston's Wicked Witch. Counter to Jon's piercing scream, Stevens comes across with a deeper, more resonating tone.

"Zak's a much more melodic singer than Jon, " Oliva says, "Jon's more hardcore, where Zak's a little mellower, to a point. I'd gotten all these tapes and everyone was just figuring I was looking for a Jon replacement. There were these tapes of guys singing, and it was like, 'Oh man, this is horrible.' He ( Stevens ) was the last tape that I'd received, the last person."

Strangely enough, the two voices have little in common. The difference Stevens lends to EDGE OF THORNS is true to Jon Oliva's old sentiments and blends in simply as a new incarnation of "the Savatage sound." Adding to the enduring lineup of Johnny Lee Middleton (bass), Steve "Doc" Wacholz (drums) and the other Oliva brother's guitar talent, Savatage live on.

With strange and haunting songs like "He Carves His Stone", "Degrees Of Sanity" and the title track, the album continues the Savatage tradition of genuine creepyness. as Oliva explains, the inspiration for his music comes from pretty much the usual sources.

"Just aggression and real life experiences. Our moods, nightmares. My brother used to have nightmares all the time and used to write about them. That was always fun," he jokes, "What did you dream last night, Jon?"

But EDGE OF THORNS is a bit more relaxed in it's content, with added melody and more developed songwriting.
"We just kind of went for a little bit of a rawer sound, as far as the production of the record. we kinda nicked a little bit off the keyboard stuff. we still kept the piano stuff. That's kind of a Savatage trademark thing; the heavy guitars with acoustic piano."

But gone is the extensive orchestration of STREETS with heavy guitar playing more at the forefront. And where the band in the past used the studio as their setting for most of the writing, EDGE OF THORNS was recorded and mixed within 10 weeks, prior to two months of pre-production and a lot of rehearsing.

"My favorite thing to do is writing my music and putting it on tape. You know, working in the studio, that's my whole thing. I prefer that over touring, I'd love to just record records and sell them and not have to go anywhere."

"I mean, I love that hour-and-a-half I'm on stage," he stresses, "but it's all that traveling and shit that nobody likes. When I'm playing it live, to me it's the same thing as being in the studio, more or less. It's like, you're there and I got my guitar on, I'm OK then. Then I'm secure."

Yet despite the unity of the band, Stevens' transition  was made easier by the former singer, who worked closely with him in the studio throughout the recording of the new album.
"And Jon's one of his idols, so it was kind of weird at first," Criss Oliva remarks, "I can imagine it's like me working with Jimmy Page all of a sudden. I'd be scared to death."

But response towards Stevens thus far has been favorable, as the band just completed the European leg of their tour. "He got nothing but great reviews back on the shows. And obviously there were people out there with hawkeyes, watching him."

As usual, Savatage will add a fifth musician to the touring band that will stop at Flash's, thursday August 5. Twenty-two-year old Wes Garren will add guitar in addition to covering Jon Oliva's acoustic piano selections from the album.

Yet the change Savatage have gone through over the past five albums has carried fans a long way. Initial reactions to EDGE OF THORNS are mixed, Oliva admits.
"Some of them like it, and some of them don't. But they're still there, and they still bought the record. Maybe they'll like it after they listen to it a couple of times. That was the case with a lot of people that I talked to on the road."

As far as the band is concerned, Oliva is pleased with the direction Savatage has taken.
"Selling records is extremely important to me. And breaking AOR is definitely important. I mean, that's how Metallica really broke. And it's not like the band has wimped out. We definitely haven't wimped out. There's just a different aura around the band that is attracting these people, different people. We're attracting a new audience as well as keeping most of our old audience."