lukretion Hot on the heels of the success of Avantasia’s 2001 debut record, Tobias Sammet released the second instalment of his metal opera already one year later, relying on same cast of musicians and vocalists who had lent him their talents for Part 1. The overall approach has not changed much either relative to the first part: The Metal Opera Part 2 has the same ambition to unite the spirit of rock operas and Broadway musicals with that of heavy metal.

Sammet seems to have a clear idea of how to achieve this. His basic formula contains three key ingredients: 1) liberal inspiration from the heavy metal subgenres he admires the most (NWOBHM, classic heavy metal, European power metal), 2) a touch of theatrical flair by virtue of tasteful piano and keyboards arrangements, and 3) most importantly, a large cast of singers to interpret the songs, with each singer assigned to a different character as in a musical. The approach feels slightly primitive and visceral, and it lacks the sophistication and breadth of an Arjen Lucassen’s rock/metal opera, but it does work and it has certainly delivered a bunch of great songs across this and the previous record.

Sammet’s metal opera sounds most convincing when one can most clearly perceive a difference in songwriting between the songs written for Avantasia and those Sammet writes for his regular band, German speed/power metal veterans Edguy. On Part 1, this happened only sporadically, whereas here Sammet seems to have made a more conscious effort to avoid relying too much on standard speed/power metal aesthetics. This is what makes The Metal Opera Part 2 a more successful and satisfying album compared to its predecessor, in my opinion. The songwriting is more varied, spanning a wider array of styles in metal and rock, with nods to the great bands of the past (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rainbow, Dio) as well as the contemporaneous German speed/power metal scene. This variety injects a sense of development and purpose to the album, which flows like a story should.

Two mellow, vaguely AOR songs like “The Looking Glass” and “In Quest For”, majestically interpreted by Bob Catley, may feel out of place on a metal album, but they are perfect in the context of a metal/rock opera, as they provide a suitable change of pace, mood and delivery compared to the faster and heavier material found in the rest of the album, thus adding another dimension to the music. The contrast with the following track “The Final Sacrifice”, which is one of the heaviest pieces here, fuelled by David DeFeis’s mighty roar, is wonderful and it is exactly what one needs to develop an overarching, dynamic narrative that can transcend individual songs and be more than the sum of its parts. The album’s opener “The Seven Angels” is another example of the considerable progress Sammet made in his songwriting in the span of a few months. Even though one could describe it as essentially two songs stitched together by a semi-ambient mid-section, the flow feels natural and works well, with good dynamics that allow the listener to engage with the music for the whole 14 minutes of the song’s duration.

Unfortunately, after an explosive and near-perfect first-half, the album inexplicably peters out in the second half, with a sequence of songs that are much more homogeneous in style and feel less inspired overall. Here the speed/power metal aesthetics seem to prevail, which may be a hint of auto-pilot songwriting on the part of Sammet. The fact these songs rely on a cast of singers who sound quite similar to one another (Rob Rock, Kai Hansen, Sammet himself) is another reason why I feel slightly underwhelmed every time I pass track #5 and go through the album’s final five songs. It is only with the closing song “Into the Unknown” that things get interesting again, mostly thanks to the beautiful vocal contribution by Sharon den Adel, who as in Part 1 feels again criminally underutilized by Sammet.

Overall, if Sammet’s ultimate goal was to forge a new genre of music (“the metal opera”), it’s fair to say that Avantasia only partially succeeded in doing so in their first two records. The speed/power metal dimension ultimately dominates proceedings here as in 2001’s Part 1 and the “opera” elements mostly come in the form of multiple singers interpreting the songs. However, The Metal Opera Part 2 comes a step closer to hitting the mark compared to Part 1, by virtue of a first-half which gives us glimpses of how one can accomplish a natural and successful hybridization between the worlds of metal and Broadway. I suspect this is ultimately why this album receives consistently less praise than its precursor in metal circles, as it is a step removed from metal orthodoxy and a step closer to realizing Sammet’s true vision for Avantasia.

Kev Rowland 2019 saw Sammet return with the next album from Avantasia. Again, there are plenty of guests, including past collaborators ex-Queensrÿche singer Geoff Tate, Pretty Maids frontman Ronnie Atkins, Michael Kiske of Helloween, Jørn Lande (ex-Masterplan), Eric Martin (Mr Big) and Magnum’s Bob Catley. This time around we are also introduced to Hansi Kürsch of Blind Guardian, Kreator’s Mille Petrozza and Blackmore’s Night frontwoman Candice Night. Work started on the album following the previous Avantasia tour. As Sammet says, “For the foreseeable future none of my bands were scheduled to do anything but an anniversary celebration of Edguy. For the first time I had no deadline or contract… nothing. I was completely free. The plan was to take a break, but the freedom I found presented me with more and more ideas. The material had time to grow. It was a very relaxed way of working, especially because with the help of Sascha Paeth I had built my own studio which helped me to work at my own pace whenever I came home from creative breaks in England, which I found to be extremely inspiring.”

“In a way, its lyrical topics are quite dreamy,” theorizes Sammet. “There’s no end of the world touch; I see these songs as having a Tim Burton-esque eeriness.” Another commonality with 'Ghostlights' is that 'Moonglow' is conceptually based. “Each song is a chapter based upon a creature that is thrown into the world but fails to find its place. It cannot connect with that environment and turns instead to the dark in the hope of finding shelter there. The lyrics are very personal but wrapped up in a fantastic surrounding inspired by writers of dark romanticism, especially gothic novels of the Victorian era by the likes of Arthur Machen or Algernon Blackwood. Yes, it’s a concept album but don’t expect elves walking through the forest,” laughs Tobi. No elves, but there may be orcs, as in many ways the word ‘Moonglow’ is a great title as this is an album which musically and lyrically can be very dark, but never overpoweringly so and there is always that hint of light, that glimmer which shows the way in the dark.

While all his albums are linked in terms of style, this feels as if in many ways it is just a continuation of the last album as the heavy over the top Steinman, Wagnerian and Mangum-esque styles are here again in spades, yet there are plenty of times when Sammet also reverts to the more power metal style associated with his day job. The use of different singers is again a real strength of the album, with “Book of Shallows” (one of the outright heaviest songs on the album), definitely benefitting from that approach.

But, there is something very important you need to understand before playing this album, and that is not to play the final song. Just play the other ten and all will be right with the world, you don’t really need to listen to a symphonic metal version of “Maniac” – yes, the same one from ‘Flashdance’. They try, they really do, but nothing can get away from the fact that it is still the same song. It’s a real shame as it is a great album until that point, but at least they put it at the very end, so it is easy to ignore. Another incredibly solid album from Tobias Sammet.

Kev Rowland OK, I admit it, I’m a sucker for Tobias Sammet and his side-project Avantasia. I’m not the only one either, as he always manages to bring in loads of other names to help him out. Given he is a singer of some repute it is always interesting to see who else comes along to give him a hand, and here we see the likes of Geoff Tate, Dee Snider, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Jørn Lande and others. He has developed his own style of symphonic rock, which owes more to Magnum than any other single band, yet what threw me here was the opening song, “Mystery of a Blood Red Rose”, which immediately put us straight into the world of Jim Steinman, even down to the female backing vocals. From here on in it is an interesting ride as his take on symphonic, overblown and even Wagnerian metal links closely with Steinman, never losing the Magnum ties but also bringing in more than a hint of Nightwish.

This is a man whose first two albums under this name were called operas, and the fourth was a symphony, so it has always been plain to his listeners as to what inspires him and drives him on. Somehow he has managed to keep both careers going, as while this 2016 release was a follow-up to 2013’s ‘The Mystery of Time’, there was an Edguy album in between (2014’s ‘Space Police’), and here in 2019 he shows no sign at all of slowing down just yet. Highlight for me is the final song on the album, the delicate and wonderful “A Restless Heart and Obsidian Skies”. With an introduction which could have come from ‘On A Storyteller’s Night’, Bob Catley takes the first verse with aplomb, and when Tobias joins in then we are taken into a Magnum classic. Tobias may sing the second verse, but this sounds as if it was written for Catley, one of the truly great singers of our time (when he recorded this, he was in his late Sixties!). I can listen to this one song all day, as two singers combine together to take Magnum in a different more symphonic direction, and I love it.

siLLy puPPy Now here’s a power metal wet dream come about in the thralls of tangible reality. A METAL OPERA is the debut album by the German act AVANTASIA led by Tobias Sammet (of Edguy) about a young novice of the Dominican order known as Gabriel Laymann in the year 1602, who begins suspecting that the Roman Catholic Church is up to no good falsely accusing woman of being witches after his stepsister Anna is accused of such. The plot is actually quite comprehensive embodying two albums worth of material but on this debut album by Tobias Sammet and a little help from his friends from Helloween, Gamma Ray, Statovarius and Rhapsody Of Fire he conjures up a far reaching musical vision that he could surely not accomplish by his lonesome.

While power metal bands for me are a little hit and miss, this one falls squarely into the hit category. While wine and cheese can go together like bread and butter, the mismatching of refined tastes can result in utmost dissatisfaction. Power metal has the propensity of unleashing these universal imbalances in great proportions with musicians mixing and matching sounds while not paying enough detail to the consequences of these musical engineerings. On A METAL OPERA all seems to flip and fall with a satisfaction flag ultimately flapping its approval in the winds of musical excess.

First of all, i don’t find anything on this release TOO cheesy. Power metal is notorious for its cheese without the proper accompanying wine and crackers but this album eschews many of those pitfalls. I really love all the vocalists on board here ranging from Tobias Sammet to the large cast of vocal characters including Kai Hansen (Helloween, Gamma Ray), Michael Kiske (Helloween), David DeFeis (Virgin Steele), Timo Tolkki (Statovarious) and MORE! There are also a plethora of guitarists, keyboardists and well…. ideas. This is really a well thought out affair that contemplates all the pieces of the puzzle and brings them to fruition, not just your run of the mill act that thinks of a theme and doesn’t follow through on the goods.

Warthur On The Mystery of Time, Avantasia assemble all the ingredients of something embarrassingly cheesy - it's a concept album! There's a choir/orchestra! There's Rodney Matthews cover art featuring goblins and treasure! There's an Ayreon-like cast of singers! - but arrive at an end product which certainly delivers all of that.

Power metal majesty, prog metal adventurousness, and rock opera ambition inform the compositions, resulting in a compelling sound which at its best makes me want to hear more from this project - and from parent band Edguy, for that matter. As with Ayreon's projects, the large number of vocalists can tend to make the project seem a little prone to stunt casting, though it's always nice to hear Michael Kiske doing his thing.

That said, whilst at some points Avantasia show a more subtle touch, at others they bring the full-on pomp and cheese turned up to 11, as is only to be expected - it will scratch the itch for a prog-tinged power metal rock opera when you're in the mood for that, but if you aren't in just the right receptive mood it will struggle to win you over.