TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON — The Land of New Hope (review)

TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON — The Land of New Hope album cover

Album · 2013 · Power Metal

3/5 · 2013-09-16
arcane-beautiful

Being a fan of Stratovarius for a few years now, I am saddened that I haven't given any of Timo's current projects a look. So seeing that he had a “metal opera” I was immediately intrigued. So...is it any good...yes...and no.

The biggest flaw on this album is probably the concept. The story is very basic. The world pretty much is in ruins with floods, storms and a whole load of crazy stuff happening. The last of humanity decide to go to a place called Avalon...and then they go there. Yep, nothing really over the top. Nothing too deep and the biggest flaw...no characters. The stuff that made Avantasia & Ayreon's albums so interesting and enjoyable was that each guest vocalist played a certain character, which was important for the plot and fluidity of the album. The guest vocalists on this album don't really portray any characters and if they do, I can't see any of them. In fact, each character seems to have the same goal...to get to Avalon. That's not good storytelling if all your characters act the same. Even Rhapsody's vast concept albums have some great characterization and very in depth plot lines, so storywise, this album falls incredibly short. The guest musicians which include such legends as Derek Sherinian & Jens Johannson don't hold much weight either. Blink and you'll miss them.

Now, the album does hold some strengths, and it pretty much comes from the performers. As a guitar and a songwriter, Timo can be a bit underlooked at times. I admit he's not a songwriting icon, but he is pretty good, especially the stuff he wrote for Stratovarius, being the band's main songwriter from the late 80's till his departure in the late 2000's. I do admit, comparing to the melodies on this album to Stratovarius' most recent releases, Timo does prove to be the better catchier songwriter. The other strengths come from the guest vocalists themselves. With Timo's rather simple recording technique, the performances given sound very raw, showing off the complete talent of the vocalists at hand, with no special over the top overdubbing or pro tools used to enhance their voices.

The opener “Avalanche Anthem” is a pretty kick ass way to start the album. I do have a slight problem with the chorus. The song tries to have a rather kick ass operatic feel, but because of the production, it kind of falls flat.

Tracks like “A World Without Us” and “Enshrined In My Memory” are the more catchier and rocking moments on the album. Great chorus and both could be used as singles, with “Enshrine In My Memory” already being the lead single for the album.

One of the most interesting tracks on the album has to be “In The Name Of The Rose.” Starting off rather slow with a beautiful vocal performance from Elzie Ryd., it slowly descends into a more rocking song with a powerful vocal performance from Russell Allen. Great mix of styles.

Tony Kakko's vocals on “We Will Find A Way” are rather odd. In fact, I was rather shocked to find out it was him. Usually Tony's vocals, but on this track it' hard to tell if it's him at times, which worries me and impresses me at the same time. Mixed opinion really.

Another shining moments comes in the form of the track...em...”Shine” oddly enough. Sharon Den Adel nails it in this song with some of her most powerful and impressive vocals to date.

The album closer, which is also the title track is also the album's 'epic' being near 9 minutes long. This is probably the weakest song on this album. In many ways it seems that Timo was trying to write a song similar to an old Stratovarius tune called “Fantasia.” The only problem is, it really isn't as diverse as the song it's trying to eminate. It's very repetitive and rather slow pacing. It's such a shame that he decided to get Michael Kiske to sing this one, cause his voice really does pack a punch. Bit of a let down and an anti climax if I'm being honest.

In conclusion, this album did suprise me. I'm not completely loving it, but it did get me slightly more interested in Timo's current endeavours. This album does suffer from serious flaws, especially when comparing to other metal opera's like Ayreon & Avantasia which it would never be able to challenge. Apparently there's going to be a follow up to this album which will actually be the prequel. If Timo can iron out his mistakes, it could be a very interesting and surprising listen, but only time will tell.

6.7/10