BW&BK; scribe Carl Begai recently caught up with JON OLIVA'S PAIN frontman / founder Jon Oliva to discuss the band's new album, Festival. Oliva also addressed the persistent and ultimately annoying rumours that SAVATAGE will be getting back together for a reunion of some kind, word that has been fuelled by the upcoming compilation Still The Orchestra Plays, due out next month.

"That compilation is something Paul (O'Neill / producer) helped put together, I didn't have much control over it," says Oliva. "I just wanted to get something out there to kind of cap things off because I've moved on. Those reunion rumours... some people have been saying things they probably shouldn't have. There was talk about doing a show to kind of give Savatage a send-off but the logistics of doing so just made it impossible. The guys have the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I have my JOP stuff, there's a lot of other things keeping us busy. It's pretty aggravating, though, with people always asking about when it's going to happen and pushing to have one. I mean, Savatage hasn't done anything in almost 10 years! It's just a small group of people, but they just won't let it go and I can't figure out why. You have the Savatage guys in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which was spawned from the Dead Winter Dead and Wake Of Magellan era of the band, you have Jon Oliva's Pain doing a lot of the old Savatage material, what more do you want?"
"Don't get me wrong. I love Savatage and it'll always be dear to my heart because that was my start, man. I still play the songs, I love playing those songs, but I've got a whole new career now. I'm on my fourth record with JOP for crying out loud! It's like, to the people that keep pushing for a Savatage reunion, just let it go. I've got the rights back for the Sirens and Dungeons albums, so I might do something with those in a few years, but JOP is my focus now and I'm hoping people will finally catch on that I have a new band (laughs)."

Watch for the complete interview with Oliva discussing the new album, Festival, coming soon.

A clip of the song 'The Evil Within' from Festival is available at this location. The song 'Living On The Ege' featured on the player below is also available at the same location.

'Living On The Edge'

More clips are due to be online soon. The complete album tracklist is as follows:

'Lies'

'Death Rides A Black Horse'

'Festival'

'Afterglow'

Living On The Edge'

'Looking For Nothing'

'The Evil Within'

'Winter Haven'

'I Fear You'

'Now'

Festival will be released worldwide on February 19th via AFM Records.

As previously reported, on February 26th, Ear Music will release a triple disc (two CDs and one DVD) set from Savatage - Still The Orchestra Plays - Greatest Hits Volume 1 & 2.

The two CDs feature 20 previously released songs as well as three new tracks, recorded last year by Jon Oliva. Go to this location for details.