Metalbaswee One of the 2 new Avantasia albums, this will the first I review. With Tobias Sammet sining, it quickly turns into an Edguy cd, but i try not to compare it.

I have to say, for a side project, that put out 2 cd's in one year, i didn't really expect much from it. But in the end, it was a pretty solid and enjoyable album. Not the most orginal tracks, but is does just fine. Production is rock solid as well

1. The Wicked Symphony (4) 2. Wastelands (3.5) 3. Scales of Justice (4) 4. Dying for an Angel (4) 5. Blizzard On a Broken Mirror (4) 6. Runaway Train (5) 7. Crestfallen (3) 8. Forever is a Long Time (3.5) 9. Black Wings (3.5) 10. States of Matter (4) 11. The Edge (4.5)

= 3.5 stars.

adg211288 Avantasia’s continuation of 2008's The Scarecrow can be seen as going two ways before hearing it. The first would be for it to have the same sound as The Scarecrow, seeing that it is a continuation of the story, or the second way would be something different. Many fans seemed to want something closer in sound to the project's first two releases, The Metal Opera Parts I & II. What The Wicked Symphony and its partner Angel of Babylon come across as however is something in between, closer to the Metal Opera’s than The Scarecrow was, but with some elements of that album thrown into the mix for good measure. It’s a pretty good result, and Tobias Sammet has some great vocalists with him on this album.

Opening with the 9 and a half minute title track that Sammet described this as an epic vocal battle between himself, Jorn Lande and Russell Allen, the album is off to a strong start. The results are exactly what Sammet promised. These are three of the best voices in metal and if I may be so blunt, is a much better union of the voices of Allen and Lande than any of the Allen/Lande albums to date managed.

The album does not lose its quality as we continue through, with the much shorter track Wastelands coming after the title track and will probably become a fan favourite due to the presence of Michael Kiske, an Avantasia regular, and then a personal favourite from the album, Scales of Justice, which is the only track to feature the voice of Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. His voice and Sammet’s compliment each other’s very well. The song feels much faster and heavier than much Avantasia material, it really feels as if it was written with Owens in mind. As such it wouldn’t have sounded out of place on an Owens era Iced Earth album. These one song per guest singer songs are much more common on The Wicked Symphony than on previous albums, with only Jorn Lande, Russell Allen and Michael Kiske singing on more than one song. Lande is the most common guest singer on the album, singing on four tracks, The Wicked Symphony, Runaway Train, Crestfallen and Forever is a Long Time.

Lead single Dying for an Angel follows. It’s one of the more commercially inclined songs from The Wicked Symphony but not to the scale of Carry Me Over or Lost in Space from The Scarecrow.

Runaway Train is another long song. There are several longer songs between the two 2010 Avantasia albums, though nothing as long as The Seven Angels from The Metal Opera Part II or even The Scarecrow from the album of the same name. This is The Wicked Symphony’s second and final long song. Piano led with some excellent vocals from Lande it soon gets heavier. To be honest the chorus section isn’t too special but another piano section, this time with the vocals of Bob Catley, followed by an excellent guitar solo makes up for it. Crestfallen, at about half Runaway Train’s length is a much better track and another favourite of mine. It features some of Sammet’s best vocals on the album and the presence of Jorn lande is another bonus. The line “And you’ll fall away from heaven” comes across as extremely epic. I’m not entirely sure what to make of Sammet’s contribution to the chorus, it sounds as if he is attempting some growl vocals, coming across more as a shriek. Maybe this is for story affect, I can’t tell, because unfortunately, like its predecessor The Wicked Symphony doesn’t come across as a concept piece in a musical sense. It’s just good songs. This certainly isn’t a problem, since many find concept albums hard to digest. With The Wicked Symphony it’s very easy to take tracks at random and enjoy it.

Nearing to the end of the album is another favourite of mine, Black Wings, which features someone who is probably the most unknown vocalist on the album, though Avantasia fans should remember him from The Metal Operas, Ralf Zdiarstek.

If anything though The Wicked Symphony is somewhat anticlimactic. I’m not fond of closing track The Edge at all. All in all a pretty good symphonic power metal album though.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)

arcane-beautiful When I heard that Avantasia was going to release a new album. I was extremely excited. The Scarecrow for me was a landmark of modern metal and music in general.

But when I heard that their was going to be 2 new album released at the same time, I might have soiled myself a little.

So, how were they...

Well, because it's Avantasia, obviously they were better than good. But, where they better than the first. Yes and no.

I think overall, The Scarecrow is better, but their was some songs on these albums which made me think, wow that is way better than what Tobias did with The Scarecrow.

But, their is a wee bit of filler now and then. And, I think this album was the strongest one. Angel Of Babylon was still really good, but the first one had the stronger material.

Their is also some new vocalists, who gave some amazing performances, e.g. Tim Ripper Owens, Russell Allen, etc.

The concept I don't get at all though, I need to read deeper into it.

1. The Wicked Symphony - What an intro. Epic chorus and fantastic vocal performances. Amazing instrumental work. One of Avantasia's best songs. 10/10

2. Wastelands - One of the best chorus' on the album. Very Stratovarius meets Helloween. Michael never lost his power. 10/10

3. Scales Of Justice - Tim Owens, yay. As usual, the vocals are amazing (it is the Ripper like). The arrangment seems a wee bit random though. The chorus is inredibly epic. 9/10

4. Dying For An Angel - My brother doesn't really like this song, and I don't know why. This is one of their most strongest songs. I'm not the biggest fan of the Scorpions, but Kluas does do a good job on this song. The chorus is one of the best chorus' I have ever heard. 10/10

5. Blizzard On A Broken Mirror - Quite gothicy. Andre Matos does some great vocals though. 8/10

6. Runaway Train - Beautiful arrangment. Amazing chorus. Some very epic vocal performances. 10/10

7. Crestfallen - Interesting song. I like how Tobias screams in the chorus. Surprisingly dark 8/10

8. Forever Is A Long Time - Great chorus and a fantastic vocal performance. 9/10

9. Black Wings - Quite dark. Great chorus. 9/10

10. States Of Matter - Pure power metal at its best. Russel's vocals really make this song what it is. 10/10

11. The Edge - The Scarecrow ended with this amazing pop metal song. And this ends with this. Quite weak I'mn afraid. 7/10

CONCLUSION: Not as good as Part 1, but still has some amazing moments. :)

Stephen "The Wicked Symphony" is the fourth installment of German power/melodic metal project fronted by Edguy's mastermind, Tobias Sammet. This album was released together with its other twin, "Angel of Babylon" on April 2010, and also acted as the second part of "The Scarecrow Saga". Produced by Sammet and Sascha Paeth, the sound quality in this album is just magnificent and crisp.

The ambitious opener, which stated as the three-man duel between Sammet/Lande/Russell, is a fantastic combo with a tremendous chorus, but somewhat a 9-minutes track felt too extensive. A shorter track will be much better but still this is a strong door-kicker. Kiske's "Wastelands" took you back to the glorious Helloween day with its majestic chorus. This is my best pick of the album. "Dying For An Angel" is a mind-blowing commercial melodic metal with Klaus Meine. "Forever Is A Long Time" is a wonderful Lande track with a monstrous chorus. "States of Matter" featured a modern riffing and Russell Allen's soaring vocal is the song's highlight. "The Edge" is a good power ballad and marked the last beautiful piece of the album.

The Ripper Owen's track, "Scales of Justice" is actually a good Iced Earth style metal but nothing's really memorable here. "Blizzard On A Broken Mirror" has some powerful scream with a modern-day Iron Maiden composition and also a decent track. "Runaway Train" is a decent ballad but it's just too long and quite boring, "Crestfallen" started pretty good but went downhill on the chorus, and "Black Wings" is a horrible filler, definitely the worst here.

Bottom line, "The Wicked Symphony" might not be a good recommendation for fans of true power metal since this is a varied record and contained too many ballads for some, but if you like Sammet's different orientation for the last couple of years whom had moved away from its original power metal path, this album is a heart-pleasing release.