CD-Review: AVANTASIA - "Moonglow"

Oh Tobias Sammet ... you have big shoes to fill. The mastermind behind the worlds most famous Metal Opera AVANTASIA has released a bunch of amazing records in the past, but especially with their 2016 output "Ghostlights" he raised the bar even higher. It was a stunning masterpiece from start to finish. The follow-up , called "Moonglow" , will arrive in just a few weeks and I'll tell you in this review if it can compete with the stunning Avantasia catalogue.

Live-Report: AVANTASIA - "Ghostlights" World Tour 2016 (Berlin, March 4th 2016)

It's been three long years now since I saw the Metal Opera Project Avantasia live on stage. It was my third Avantasia show, so I already knew what to expect: over three hours of pure Melodic Metal entertainment with a huge number of guest singers. The guys around mastermind Tobias Sammet started their "Ghostlights" world tour on March 4th 2016 in Berlin. The venue "Huxleys" was sold out as well as other upcoming dates on the entire tour. I have to admit that the venue isn't that big (there is space for around 1.500 people), but Huxleys is still one of my favorite places in Berlin.

Exclusive Interview with Tobias Sammet (Avantasia, Edguy)

Tobias Sammet, the mastermind behind the German Power Metal band Edguy and of course the head of the Metal Opera project Avantasia, has reached a lot in the last 20 years. Playing shows in over 40 countries and countless chart entries are just a few of them. His biggest achievement seems to be the work with his own heroes on Avantasia. In just a few days the next masterpiece, called "Ghostlights", will hit the stores and just a month later Tobias Sammet will attend the preselection round of the Eurovision Song Contest in Germany. So there were several reasons to talk to him again. But this isn't just another interview out of hundreds. This time it was important to me to involve the Avantasia/Edguy fans, so I asked those people in a fan forum for their questions and the resonance was great. Thanks to all those people from all over the world who sent in their questions! There were so many, so I couldn't use all of them, but I selected a few and combined them with my own questions. Read the result below.

CD-Review: Avantasia - "Ghostlights"

Nowadays allstar-projects are nothing new, but remember the year 1999 when Edguy-singer Tobias Sammet defined a whole genre with his solo project Avantasia. The Metal Opera was born and in the following years Avantasia developed into a true force of bombastic Metal. With iconic guest musicians like Alice Cooper, Klaus Meine, Michael Kiske, Jorn Lande, Jon Oliva, Eric Martin and many others joining this ambitious project during the years expectations are getting higher with each new release. On January 29th the wait is over and the seventh album, called "Ghostlights" will hit the stores.

Album Of The Year 2013: # 05 - 01

Hello my friends,

now the time has come: today I reveal my top five album of the year list! Those five albums are the ones I can always listen to without getting bored.
Some of you wrote me already which records you prefer. For those of you who didn't do it until now: feel free to write me a message or leave a comment under this post. I'm very interested in what YOU are thinking. So, now let's start the final countdown. :)

Song Of The Year 2013: # 05 - 01

Hello folks,

my first ranking comes to an end with this post. These are the five best songs in 2013 for me: a bombastic Metal Opera song, a tough Melodic Rocker, an energetic Power Ballad, a feel-good Party-Anthem and finally a dreamy Symphonic Metal Ballad. What about your favorites???

Exclusive Interview with Michael Kiske (Unisonic, ex-Helloween, Place Vendome, Avantasia, ...)

When you ask people about the most iconic and most popular singers in Rock & Metal, you'll definitely get to hear his name very often: Michael Kiske! Back in the 80's he coined the genre of Power Metal with his band Helloween. The two Keeper-Records are still classics to many Heavy Metal fans out there and the teenager at the microphone has become a serious singer and songwriter in many ways these days. In promotion of the new Place Vendome album I had the opportunity to talk with Michael about his current activities with this AOR project, his new band Unisonic, the forthcoming Kiske/Somerville album, Avantasia and of course about his very exciting past. Michael Kiske tells his story. Check out what he had to say!

Live-Report: AVANTASIA - The Mystery World Tour (Lichtenfels, 26.04.2013)

In 2008 the metal opera hit the road for the first time with a big all-star line-up. At this time no one thought this would ever happen again, but it worked and in 2010 Avantasia played their first own indoor shows with genre-veterans like Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Kai Hansen and many, many more. Who thought this would be the peak of their live-activities was totally wrong.On their current "The Mystery World Tour" Avantasia exceed themselves. With a stunning line-up and a strong performance, which was close to 3 1/2 hours long, they set the bar very high for each Metal band out there. Before I tell you the details I can only say one thing: this whole show was a blast - one of the best concerts I've ever been to. But let's start at the beginning.

INTERVIEW with Tobias Sammet (Avantasia, Edguy)

Mastermind Tobias Sammet is very busy in promoting his new rock epic "The Mystery Of Time" these days, but nevertheless he found the time to answer some of my questions.
He talks about the conceptual story, musical direction, his future plans and more.

Special thanks to Denys Jaime and Mark Dean for making this  Interview possible!

Please keep in mind, that the Interview was done BEFORE I've listened to the new album.

CD-Review: Avantasia - "The Mystery Of Time"

He did it again: three years ago mastermind Tobias Sammet (Edguy) announced the end of his metal opera side-project Avantasia, but now he is back with a new album and an amazing new "cast" of guest musicians. Can Sammet fulfill the big expectations of his fans this time?

AVANTASIA - "The Mystery Of Time" tracklist and guestlist!

Tobias Sammet revealed the tracklist of his highly anticipated new Avantasia record "The Mystery Of Time". Lyrically it marks a conceptual story again.
There are also so many guest musicians announced, so I'll give you an overview here. I'll update it regularly for you. When I look at the line-up I just can say: I can't f***ing wait for this album!!! It will hit the stores on March 30, 2013!

AVANTASIA - first tourdates announced!

In March the wait is over: AVANATASIA will release their new album "The Mystery Of Time"!
Some of the guest musicians are already confirmed: Biff Byford (Saxon), Michael Kiske (Unisonic, Ex-Helloween), Amanda Somerville (Trillium), Bruce Kulick (Ex-Kiss), Russell Gilbrook (Uriah Heep), Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon), Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids), Eric Martin (Mr. Big) and many more will appear on this highly anticipated album. But thats not enough for mastermind Tobias Sammet - he will bring his Metal Opera back to the road in spring 2013! He promises lots of guest musicians, lots of surprises and more than three hours playtime.
The first dates in Europe are confirmed. You see them below. Other dates will be added very soon. I'll update this post regularly. The pre-sale for some shows in Germany started already on www.metaltix.com. Stay tuned!

THE MYSTERY WORLD TOUR 2013

13.04.2013 (CH)     Pratteln - Z7
14.04.2013 (CH)     Pratteln - Z7
16.04.2013 (I)         Milan - Alcatraz
18.04.2013 (D)        Ludwigsburg - MPH Arena
19.04.2013 (D)        Kaufbeuren - All - Karthalle
20.04.2013 (D)        Fulda - Esperanto Halle
22.04.2013 (D)        Berlin - Tempodrom
23.04.2013 (D)        Hamburg - tba
25.04.2013 (D)        Oberhausen - Turbinenhalle
26.04.2013 (D)        Lichtenfels - Stadthalle
23.06.2013 (R)        Moscow - Milk
25.06.2013 (ARG)  Buenos Aires - El Teatro
27.06.2013 (CL)     Santiago de Chile - Teatro Caupolican
29.06.2013 (BR)     Sao Paulo - HSBC Hall


http://www.tobiassammet.com

AVANTASIA on Tour in April 2013

2013 is going to be the year of AVANTASIA. A new album is in the making and it is no surprise that the Metal Opera hits the road again to play some summer festivals and an own arena-tour in April next year.
I'll keep you up to date. Tour dates will be announced soon.

For more information visit http://tobiassammet.com/