Savatage
Edge of Thorns

THE REVIEW

Seventh album by Savatage, excluding the mini LP "Dungeons Are Calling".

There are several changes in the line-up: first of all, Jon Oliva is no longer on vocals, but a still young and unknown Zachary Stevens, who, starting from this performance, will show everyone his talent: Jon Oliva, from this album until "The Wake of Magellan" dated 1998, will no longer appear as a member of the group (probably for legal and contractual reasons), despite being one of the main composers of this and subsequent albums. In fact, he plays the piano parts in 'Edge of Thorns' and wrote most of the songs together with his brother Criss. Jon had several drug problems and was truly living on the edge (a phrase also present in the song "Tonight He Grins Again" from 'Streets').

A life of various excesses also led him to use his voice in an unhealthy way, so much so that Ronnie James Dio, during a tour with Savatage, told Jon that if he continued to sing and scream like that, he would lose his voice. Moreover, the "Mountain King" lamented that life on tour kept him away from home and his family, so he decided to follow his creation, Savatage, from behind the scenes and entrusted the vocals to another singer. As for Criss Oliva, this will be his last album due to his untimely death in 1993 when he died in a car accident while he was sleeping (I believe a drunk driver crashed into the trailer where he was sleeping), and here Criss showcases his talent with a legendary performance, in my opinion, the best of his career and also one of the best I've ever heard in metal.

Criss Oliva was one of the greatest and most underrated American heavy metal guitarists, and this album is his definitive testament. The riffs present in "He Carves in Stone", especially the end of the song where the guitar seems to duel with Stevens' high notes, in the almost progressive "Follow Me" or in "Miles Away", just to mention a few tracks, are truly anthological!

Let's say that in this album, some metal sounds and a bit of brightness are recovered, which were absent in the dark and more hard-rocking 'Streets'. Credit also goes to Stevens' voice, which manages to switch from harsh singing (as in the hard-rocking "Skraggy's Tomb", where there are other frame-worthy riffs) to a sweet, expressive, and enveloping singing found, for example, in the acoustic "Sleep" (which is an acoustic rendition of "New York City Don't Mean Nothing" from streets), to impressive high notes (as in the already mentioned end of "He Carves in Stone"). His performance in "Follow Me", almost theatrical, is also notable. It is also necessary to mention the title track, the first Savatage song to achieve decent radio success, and upon listening to it, you'll understand why (the opening piano part and the chorus are marvelous).

In short, this album is a masterpiece of absolutely original and personal melodic heavy metal. A white fly in Savatage's discography, as it is midway between the early heavy metal phase and the symphonic one, which will be predominant after this album (even though in 'Edge of Thorns' and the previous two albums "Streets" and "Gutter Ballet", the first signs of this change are already noticeable, as keyboards begin to gain importance in the group's sound). Recommended purchase