Doctor Butcher was a side project involving

Jon Oliva John Nicholas "Jon" Oliva (born July 22, 1959) is an American singer and musician. He is best known as the co-founder, keyboardist and lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage, which he co-founded with his younger brother Criss Oliva. Sinc ...

and

Chris Caffery Christopher Caffery (born September 9, 1967) is an American musician, best known for his work as a member of Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Recently, Chris has been pursuing a solo career, releasing four albums since 2004. Biography ...

Savatage Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album ''Sirens'' (1983), they changed thei ...

which released one major self-titled studio album in 1994. The original album title, ''A Living Hell'', was changed at the last minute. The project was born when Oliva left Savatage at the conclusion of their 1991 tour in support of their album '' Streets: A Rock Opera''. Caffery was invited to play with the band on tour, like he did in the support of their 1989 album ''

Gutter Ballet ''Gutter Ballet'' is the fifth full-length album produced by the American progressive metal band Savatage. This was the second album created under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill and was initially released in December 1, 1989. Overview ...

'', but this was not possible because of issues within

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. After Caffery heard of Oliva's departure from the fore of the band, he called him, and "over ten bottles of Jack Daniels", Doctor Butcher was born.

Zachary Stevens Zachary Trussell (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Zachary "Zak" Stevens, is an American singer, best known as the second lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage. He currently performs with the heavy metal band Circle II Circl ...

replaced Oliva as lead vocalist for Savatage in 1993, but Jon continued to work with his brother

Criss Criss is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Criss Angel (born 1967), American magician *Criss Oliva (1963–1993), American musician Surname *Anthony Criss (born 1970), American rapper and actor *Charlie ...

on the record which would eventually become ''

Edge of Thorns ''Edge of Thorns'' is the seventh album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released on April 6, 1993 on Atlantic Records. This is the last Savatage album to feature guitarist Criss Oliva, who died six months after its release, and their firs ...

''. Caffery was again asked to re-join the band, but he stayed loyal to Jon and Doctor Butcher. Some initial demos were recorded with Hal Patino and

Gene Barnett Lillian Axe is an American hard rock band from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known for its major label albums, ''Lillian Axe'', ''Love + War'', ''Poetic Justice'' and ''Psychoschizophrenia''. Originally formed in 1983, the group is still activ ...

, but bad press over Oliva's health (he was still recovering from the drug and alcohol addiction he had during the late 80s and early 90s) lead Atlantic Records to make a decision between Doctor Butcher or Savatage and the label chose the latter. Hopes of an American release were shattered. However, Doctor Butcher was picked up for a European release, and a self-titled album followed. Despite being let down by a non-US release, plans were made for a second record with the tentative title, ''The Good, The Bad, and the Butchered'', to be released in January 1996. However, after Oliva and Caffery re-joined Savatage, the album saw a possible release date pushed to 1997 (a post on the Savatage website claimed that it may also have been released prior to the band's then forthcoming album, ''

The Wake of Magellan ''The Wake of Magellan'' is the tenth studio album released by the American heavy metal band Savatage. The album was released in September 1997 in Europe and Japan, and in April 1998 in the US. This is the first Savatage album to have the same ...

''). Due to a contractual obligation to

Edel Records Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and po ...

, the second album was eventually never released. A compilation of the band's demos was released in 1999 by Crook Records. In 2005,

Black Lotus Records Black Lotus Records was an independent record label based in Greece that specialized in metal. After licensing a number of new artists, Black Lotus Records declared bankruptcy and all announced titles are on hold indefinitely. See also * List o ...

re-issued the album with a bonus disc, featuring one new song ("Inspecter Highway") and four tracks taken from the demo CD.

Track listing

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, producer * Christopher Caffery – lead, rhythm and bass

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s, producer, mixing * Johnny Osborn –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

;Additional musicians * Hal Patino – bass guitar on tracks 2–5 of bonus CD *

– drums on tracks 2–5 of bonus CD * "Metal" Mike Chlasciak – guitar solo on "Inspecter Highway" *

David Z David Z may refer to: * David Z (producer) David Rivkin (born 1953), professionally known as David Z, is an American music producer, engineer, and songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for his long-standing work with Prince, a ...

– bass guitar on "Inspecter Highway" *

Jeff Plate Jeff Plate (born March 26, 1962) is an American professional hard rock/heavy metal drummer. He plays with the group Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He is best known as drummer for American heavy metal band Savatage on their albums since ''Japan Live '9 ...

– drums on "Inspecter Highway" * Paul Morris –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

on "Inspecter Highway" *

Dave Eggar Dave Eggar is an American cellist, pianist and composer. Early life Eggar was a musical prodigy as a child, beginning to play the cello and piano at age three and performing as a singer and actor on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera at ...

–

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

on "Inspecter Highway" ;Production *Jim Morris – co–producer, engineer, mixing *Tom Morris – engineer, mixing *Steve Heritage, Mark Prator, Jeff MacDonald – assistant engineers *John Goldwater – executive producer *Nik Chinboukas – producer and engineer on "Inspecter Highway"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Butcher (Album) 1994 albums American heavy metal musical groups GUN Records albums Musical groups established in 1991 Savatage 1991 establishments in the United States GUN Records artists