Sweet Savage formed in 1978 and later became part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). The band members were Vivian Campbell on guitar, Trev Fleming on guitar, David Bates on drums and Ray Haller on bass and vocals.
In 1980 Sweet Savage released their first single " Take No Prisoners " Which included the NWOBHM classic track " Killing Time " reaching No. 1 in the NWOBHM charts.
During this period they toured Britain with bands such as Budgie / Motorhead / Wild Horses / Wishbone Ash / Ozzy Osbourne and Thin Lizzy ( Renegade Tour ) the latter they supported at the first Slane Castle festival in 1981.
After recording two further singles ( never released ) Vivian Campbell left the band to pursue other music projects including DIO and Whitesnake, finally settling in as a lead guitarist for Def Leppard after the tragic death of Steve Clark.
It has been widely noted that it was the influence of the music of Sweet Savage that inspired the young members of Metallica to start the band in the early 80’s, the energy and sound of Sweet Savage proved to be what they were looking for in a band of their own. In the late 90's Metallica covered Sweet Savage track "Killing Time" for their Garage Inc. record, after its mainstream release and performance live in concert, there was large interest in music of Sweet Savage and as a result the band released 2 new studio records.
The first full length studio release was 1996’s Killing Time, the second release was 1998’s Rune, both of which were brought out on UK label, Neat Metal Records.
The band has reformed and are now in rehearsals for this summers European Rock Festivals , The current lineup now includes Ian Wilson on guitar, Trev Fleming on guitar, Jules Watson on drums and Ray Haller on bass and vocals.
For more photos of the band, on the road, on the stage, in the studio and various places...... visit our photographer Mark Hylands
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