In a new interview with Iron Madness, guitarist Chris Caffery and bassist Johnny Lee Middleton of reactivated American progressive metallers SAVATAGE spoke about the band’s long-in-the-works new studio album. Regarding the progress of the LP songwriting and recording sessions, Johnny said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, well, we got a record that’s pretty much — I got it here on my hard drive. There’s a lot of great songs on it. Jon [Oliva, SAVATAGE mastermind] did a lot of his vocals awhile back. We do have a lot of music. The problem is Jon keeps writing more. So, we don’t know when an album will be released, but we know one will be released. It’s just a matter of when the timing is right. And that’s pretty much where we’re sitting on it right now.”He continued: “We’re just getting this band back out on tour. We’re gonna see how this works. And then we’ll make a decision on when we’ll finish the record. Luckily, we own a recording studio, because right now you’re basically t-shirt salesmen. We used to sell records. Now we sell t-shirts. And that’s just the way the business went. If we had to basically pay two to three hundred thousand dollars to record a record, probably it wouldn’t happen because times have changed. And as soon as your record’s released, it’s on Spotify and you get 0.0006 of one penny per spin. So, business-wise, it doesn’t make sense. We do have a lot of great songs. Jon has come up with some incredible stuff. And he wants it to be the last record. So, when it is released, it will be the last one.”Chris chimed in: “But then I talked to [Jon], and he laughs, and he goes, ‘Well, if we don’t get everything on it, maybe we’ll put something out later on.’ [Laughs] So it’s one of those things where it’s the last — maybe. You never really know. We were sitting here a couple of years ago and not even knowing exactly what we would be doing now. If you were to ask me two years ago today if I would be sitting on my computer doing a Zoom interview with Johnny Lee about SAVATAGE shows coming up in Europe and South America, I probably would not have an answer of yes. So I always look at it that way.”I know that the music is there, and I just think that the only thing that may change from what’s going on right now is the title,” he continued. “It might not wind up [the previously announced working title] ‘Curtain Call’. We have so much recorded that it needs to be more than one release. And it might be like ‘Curtain Call A’.”Regarding the musical direction of the new SAVATAGE material, Johnny said: “It’s the classic SAVATAGE stuff, classic SAVA sound. And Jon wrote some really good stuff for [vocalist] Zak [Stevens] and then the stuff Jon has for himself is real strong. So it’s not like we don’t have material. It’s just a matter of when we’re gonna put it out.”Added Chris: “Yeah, we’re not gonna have anything that’s not going to sound like SAVATAGE. There’s not gonna be, I think, anything that’s gonna be shocking to people. The thing about SAVATAGE records, if you listen to a record like ‘Dead Winter Dead’ or a record like ‘Streets’ or ‘The Wake Of Magellan’, there was so many different kinds of metal and so many different kinds of music in there. So we were already pushing different elements and levels with that, whether it was bringing in the piano and the orchestrations or the extra background vocals. So, it’s kind of like just right there for us to even go do what it was that we did is a lot of different things. And I think that’s what people can expect. And if something happens that’s new and cool, then it’ll just be something we’ve added into SAVATAGE.”We never listened to anything and really tried to go, ‘We need to do a song like this or that,'” Caffery explained. “We’d make a record and be, like, ‘Okay, well, we don’t have a fast song and we’ve got too many…’ So we would try to fill spaces on the record with songs that you thought made a really complete record for people to listen to, but we never sat there and said, ‘We need a song like somebody else’s.’ We were more or less trying to say, ‘Oh, we don’t have a song like ‘Chance’ on this record, so we would try to make sure we put what people expected out of SAVATAGE.”After more than two decades without a proper tour, SAVATAGE is preparing to return to the stage. The American metal band, known for its fusion of heavy, progressive, and power metal, has been largely inactive in the live scene since 2002, with their last full performance taking place at Wacken Open Air 2015. Now they are set for a series of concerts across South America in April and Europe in June. The return begins in Brazil, where SAVATAGE will perform at the Monsters Of Rock festival on April 19 at Allianz Parque, São Paulo. The event will also feature SCORPIONS, JUDAS PRIEST, EUROPE, OPETH, QUEENSRŸCHE and STRATOVARIUS. However, one key member will be missing: the aforementioned Jon Oliva, SAVATAGE’s founding vocalist and keyboardist. In 2023, Oliva suffered a T7 vertebra fracture in three places, a severe injury that has left him relying on a wheelchair. Additionally, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Ménière’s disease, conditions that have further complicated his health.SAVATAGE’s lineup for the 2025 dates will consist of Middleton, Caffery, Al Pitrelli on guitar, Jeff Plate on drums and Stevens on lead vocals.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, and only so far, 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 September 2021, Jon Oliva was arrested on the west central coast of Florida for driving under the influence as well as possession of a controlled substance. Police charged Oliva with possession of cocaine, which is a felony, and DUI, which is a misdemeanor. Oliva was reportedly arrested again in July 2023 on another cocaine possession charge.In addition to his work with SAVATAGE, Oliva is well known for co-creating the classical music-meets-prog rock and pyro act TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA alongside the project’s founder Paul 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[embedded content]