Artist: AVANTASIA
Album: THE METAL OPERA (CD)

Release date: 2001
EAN/UPS: 4009880467220
Media type: CD

Avantasia is a symphonic metal project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist and frontman of the power metal group Edguy. The project's title is a portmanteau of the words "avalon" and "fantasia" ("fantasy") and describes "a world beyond human imagination" (a quotation from the booklet). The project consists of two full length albums with the subtitle "The Metal Opera," two EPs called "Lost in Space," and the upcoming album "The Scarecrow."

In Spring 1999, during Edguy's Theater of Salvation tour, Tobias Sammet began to write down his ideas for a metal opera, a concept album with many guest musicians. When the tour was finished, he carried this plan out, recruiting well-known metal players like Kai Hansen and the ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske. The project was recorded with a core band of four members - Sammet playing keyboards and arranging orchestration, Henjo Richter playing guitar, Markus Grosskopf playing bass and Alex Holzwarth on drums. In 2000, the first EP with the name Avantasia – The Metal Opera was released. The project was completed in September 2002 with the release of The Metal Opera Pt. II. At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2007. On March 24th 2007, the name was stated to be "The Scarecrow". The confirmed guests are Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paeth, drummer Eric Singer and singers Bob Catley, Jшrn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan and Oliver Hartmann.

The project is described as a "Metal Opera" because it has an underlying plot and each role has its own singer, though it's not an opera by the classical definition. It's merely a collection of pieces, which refer to the individual points of the plot printed in the booklet.

From a stylistic view, the majority of the songs are melodic power metal meshed with a voluminous sound, many orchestral passages and choral parts, gaining Avantasia recognition as symphonic power metal. One song from each part, "Inside" and "In Quest For" respectively, is accompanied almost exclusively by piano. The first part also contains three short instrumental pieces.

The most complex piece is the first song of Part II, "The Seven Angels", featuring seven of the eleven singers. The song is over 14 minutes long and contains a classical "stanza/refrain" part, two guitar solos, choirs, a passage with piano accompaniment, and an epic finale. It also plays an important part in the plot, as it serves as summation of the first part, and has caused discussion due to the inclusion of lyrics not printed in the booklet.

Christendom and the Roman Catholic Church play an important role in the plot. Men of the Church like Pope Clement VIII are criticised for thinking that they hold the only truth and that they have to keep the normal people ignorant for their own good, not realising that the Church men themselves are too blinded to recognise the truth. Criticism like this appears very often in Sammet's works: many Edguy songs like "The Kingdom" (1996) or "Theater of Salvation" (1999) contain themes, plot and dialogue very similar to those found in Avantasia.

TRACKLIST:

01 Prelude
02 Reach out for the light
03 Serpents in paradise
04 Malleus Maleficarum
05 Breaking away
06 Farewell
07 The glory of Rome
08 In nomine patris
09 Avantasia
10 A new dimension
11 Inside
12 Sign of the cross
13 The tower

LINE-UP:

Guitar :
Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray)
Jens Ludwig (Edguy) (lead on tracks 12 & 13)
Norman Meiritz (acoustic on track 6)

Bass : Markus Grosskopf (Helloween)

Drums : Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody of Fire)

Keyboards : Tobias Sammet (Edguy)

Frank Tischer (Piano on track 11)

Singers :

Gabriel Laymann - Tobias Sammet (Edguy) - tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 & 13
Lugaid Vandroiy - Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) - tracks 2, 5, 6, 9, & 13
Friar Jakob - David DeFeis (Virgin Steele) - tracks 3 & 13
Bailiff Falk von Kronberg - Ralf Zdiarstek - tracks 4 & 7
Anna Held - Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) - track 6
Bishop Johann von Bicken - Rob Rock (ex-Impellitteri) - track 7
Pope Clement VIII - Oliver Hartmann (ex-At Vance) - tracks 7, 12 & 13
Elderane the Elf - Andre Matos (ex-Shaaman, ex-Angra, ex-Viper) - tracks 11, 12 & 13
Regrin the Dwarf - Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray) - tracks 11 & 12
Voice of the Tower - Timo Tolkki (Stratovarius) - track 13