Search - Doctor Butcher :: Doctor Butcher

Back to the old school

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 06/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Doctor Butcher was the side project of Savatage members Jon Oliva and Chris Caffery. If you split the essential elements of Savatage's unique sound into two separate entities, the progressive, theatrical, epic elements would all go into Trans-Siberian Orchestra, while the old school straightforward (angry) heavy metal elements would go into Doctor Butcher. This is about as close to the Sirens/Dungeons Are Calling-era Savatage sound as you are going to get.



I discovered Savatage late in the game (circa Dead Winter Dead), so my preference is for their later, rock opera-type albums. Still, there's no denying that Oliva and Caffery can "bring the metal" quite well, which is what this collection is all about. Jon Oliva's screaming vocals keep pace with Caffery's guitar riffs, and the duo channel some serious anger into these straightforward metal tracks.



Doctor Butcher isn't for everyone, and probably isn't even a must-have for all Savatage fans, but if you prefer the earlier Savatage albums or the Chris Caffery solo material, you'll definitely want to check this one out.



Edition Notes: The 2005 2-disc Doctor Butcher collection from Black Lotus is the total Doctor Butcher experience. You get the self-titled 1994 album plus the demos that were released in 1996, all digitally remastered, in a nice digipack package with plenty of liner notes and photos."