DEAD WINTER DEAD

i remember in high school when 'we, the few' tried to support our beliefs about our favourite music (that would be rock & metal) and how it's not just noise and attitude against our trendy colleagues, Savatage was one of our strongest arguments..

"Dead Winter Dead" stands proudly next to "Operation : Mindcrime" as the next best concept...the seeds of the plot were first sowed in Handful Of Rain LP with Watching You Fall, a song that Jon conceived after watching war scenes on TV from former Yugoslavia.

the plot is about a love story of a muslim and a christian falling in love while fighting on different sides..not that shallow as it sounds..Savatage don't hesitate to cauterise the cruelty of war, the deeper motives (that would be weapon trades..) of war, but also interpose love, peace, faith, virtues...

musically speaking, Jon's classical influences are present here too, not hesitating to orchestrate uncut Mozart themes, Al Pitrelli seems to be the best substitute for Criss' loss and Zac Stevens gives us his best performance...you will also find power metal dynamites and moving ballads and, of course polyphonic parts, sth that gives away Jon's biggest influence: Queen...

don't deprive your self of this experience...you wiil well up, you will feel hatred and anger, you will love again...in other words, you will feel human...