Savatage

Savatage formed in Tarpon Springs, Florida, in 1979, founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva. They began life as Avatar, switching names shortly before their debut album, Sirens, arrived in 1983 because another band already had the name. Their early records sit firmly in the American heavy metal and power metal camp of the mid-1980s.

Everything shifted with Hall of the Mountain King in 1987, the first album made with producer and songwriter Paul O'Neill, who stayed with the band until his death in 2017. Gutter Ballet and Streets: A Rock Opera then pushed them towards progressive metal, with opera-inspired lyrics. Edge of Thorns (1993) gave them their only charting single, but Criss Oliva was killed in a car accident that October. Jon carried on in his brother's memory, and the band went on hiatus in 2002 before reuniting.