Savatage

Savatage is a heavy metal/progressive metal band founded by the brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979. The band is known for recording many concept albums. Although they are currently considered a progressive power metal band, their origins could be attributed to thrash metal as expressed by their debut album, Sirens.

==Biography=

Criss and his brother Jon formed their first band together, Avatar, in 1978, from the ashes of their former bands Tower and Alien respectively. In 1980, the duo met up with Steve Wacholz and jammed in a shack behind the Oliva home that was dubbed "The Pit" by the band. They also gave Steve a nickname that would follow him through out his career: "Doctor Killdrums", often shortened to just "Doc", which referred to Steve's hard playing style.

Criss, Jon and Steve played Tampa (where they had moved with their family in the late-70s) and Clearwater area clubs for many years. In 1981, Keith Collins joined them to relieve Jon of bass guitar duties. In 1982, the band took part in some heavy metal compilations, most notably "The YNF Pirate Tape", a promotion by Tampa rock radio sta...