Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist and SAVATAGE legend JON OLIVA is featured in a new interview with Metal Meltdown discussing his new solo album, Raise The Curtain. An excerpt is available below:

On Raise The Curtain: "It's really just a break from JON OLIVA'S PAIN. It was when Matt passed away. It screwed me up, man. It was like reliving the Criss thing all over again. I talked to Matt the day before he passed away. Everything was fine, and blah blah blah. It was just like when Criss passed away. I had talked to Criss the day before from Paul's house, and boom, the next day they're gone. I got really depressed, and I was like, 'I need a break, man.' I had these last few riffs of Criss's left which were actually the first songs we ever wrote together, and I was like, 'Before I end up croaking, man, I've gotta put this stuff out.' And I said, 'I'm gonna do this. Now is the time to do it. I need a break from the band thing.' I didn't want to think about replacing Matt right away. I didn't want to think and deal with any of that shit. I gotta do something to keep busy. It was kind of like living Handful Of Rain all over again after Criss died. Handful Of Rain was almost as much a solo album as this was. I had a couple people help me out. I had Paul obviously, and Zak, and Alex Skolnick. But other than that, everything else on Handful Of Rain was me."

On Savatage: "The bottom line comes down to, perish the thought, but it comes down to making a living. We're not 21 anymore. We gave the best years of our lives to Savatage. When people sometimes actually get snotty with me about it, and I'm like, 'Where the hell were all you guys when we needed you to buy the record?' If Savatage would have released Dead Winter Dead and it sold 2 million records, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. Somebody else explain to me how I could release the same song the next year and it sell millions. And then I walk around and I've got 6 platinum records on my wall, and not one of them says Savatage on it, folks. So what am I supposed to do? I've got a family to take care of. I've got responsibilities. I gave it as much time as I could to break. Now I have something that's become very successful. It's paid the bills for everybody, it's provided a living for all the guys from Savatage. We're still a family, we're still together, we still love each other. Why would I want to do anything to destroy that? Why would I want to put a monkey wrench in that to rehearse a week and go put a Savatage thing together? It doesn't make any sense to me."

Go to this location to check out the full audio interview.

More than thirty years after the start of his career with Savatage, and successive projects/bands like TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA and JON OLIVA’S PAIN, now legendary songwriter and performer Jon Oliva releases his first ever solo album, titled Raise The Curtain. On June 21st in Europe and July 2nd in North America via AFM, the master’s new piece of work will be available as CD Digipak (first edition) and two-vinyl (gatefold, limited to 800 copies worldwide).

The album will be released simply under the banner OLIVA and you can expect a mixture of Jon Oliva’s early influences and the material he wrote and recorded throughout his whole artistic career.

Raise The Curtain tracklisting:

'Raise The Curtain'

'Soul Chaser'

'Ten Years'

'Father Time'

'I Know'

'Big Brother'

'Armageddon'

'Soldier'

'Stalker'

'The Witch'

'Can’t Get Away'

'The Truth' (bonus track)

Check out the first taste of the album, written by Jon Oliva and his late brother/Savatage guitarist Criss Oliva, via the 'Father Time' lyric video below: