| Avantasia - The Metal Opera Century Media, 2001 Lord Pale: Avantasia is a new side project of Edguy's frontman Tobias Sammet. Tobias has pulled together an impressive array of guest vocalists and musicians to help out including Andre Matos (ex-Angra), Kai Hansen (ex-Helloween/Gamma Ray), David DeFeis (Virgin Steele), and Jens Ludwig ( Edguy ) amongst others. With a lyrical concept based on a mixture of history and fantasy , the story centres around a young novice monk who uncovers a conspiracy of treachery and deception by the Pope when his true love is imprisoned for heresy , the story just gets bigger and more fantasy orientated from that point on . Musically Avantasia is standard power metal fare with the dramatic flair and bombast of keyboards and choirs with some rock and operatic influences . An excellent array of vocals and well-structured songs gives Avantasia plenty of variation with some speed metal classics ‘Reach Out For The Light’ , ballad style songs ‘Farewell’ , as well as more epic arrangements ‘The Tower’ . This album is only the first part of the opera and a second instalment is due to be released some time in 2002 which will likely live up to the high standards set by this classic given Sammet’s love of his work . Recommended listening for fans of Edguy , Virgin Steele , Blind Guardian and other fantasy based epic power metal . Favorite tracks: Sign of the Cross, Farewell, The Glory of Rome Mark: 9 / 10 Avantasia ‘The Metal Opera Pt 2’ AFM , 2002 Lord Pale : The long awaited sequel to Tobias Sammet’s epic operatic side project Avantasia finally arrives and slightly recreates the atmosphere it’s predecessor captured . Avantasia Pt 2 seems a little rushed , it doesn’t have any of the short musicals of the original like ’In Nomine Patris’ or ‘A New Dimension’ , and the storyline is kept brief with much less of an explanation than was contained in the first installment . What Avantasia Pt 2 does offer however is longer more epic songs and occasionally more experimental elements like the rocky section in the middle of , and the quiet soothing section at the end of ‘The Seven Angels’ , the 14 minute highlight of the album , and the bassy bridge section in ‘No Return’ . Like the original Avantasia , Pt 2 has many similarities to Edguy’s ‘Theatre Of Salvation’ , but where Pt 1 focused on the speed metal side , Pt 2 focus’ on the more elaborate elements like ‘The Unbeliever’ and ‘Theatre Of Salvation’ , and the slower more romantic elements like ‘Another Time’ ( see ‘In Quest For’ and ‘Anywhere’ ) . The faster elements are still present as demonstrated in ‘The Final Sacrifice’ ( with some ‘Ripper’ vocals heh ) , ‘No Return’ with some great vocal switches , and some darker sounding passages present themselves in ‘The Looking Glass’ ( reminiscent musically of both ‘The Headless Game’ , and ‘Tears Of A Mandrake’ ) , providing the album with plenty of variation . Tobias should again be congratulated for another great album , although I still think Pt 1 is my favourite , Avantasia Pt 2 is ( like most of his work ) an album that will grow and unfold new layers to the listener with each spin . Overall highly recommended . Favourite Tracks – The Seven Angels , Chalice Of Agony , No Return Mark – 9/10 |
 |
 |
| Official Website |
 |
| Avantasia |
 |