Avantasia

The Metal Opera (Century Media)
by Scott Hefflon

Combining many of the best names in heavy metal and the full-on concept of, uh, a concept album, Edguy vocalist Tobias Sammet has put together a winning project called Avantasia. You get every trick in the book here – frantic’n’thundering barnburners, moody soundscape intros, light’n’touching power ballads, and plenty of fist-pumping, mall-struttin’, shadow-boxing anthems with strong, manly verses and stacked-to-the-heavens choruses, punctuated by dueling guitar leads racing across the heavens like screaming bottlerockets. Edguy hasn’t really caught on in the states – could be the dumb name, could be because American audiences are too busy pumping iron to nü metal to listen to classic heavy metal while playing D&D (or splatter video games, the less-creative MTV generation’s substitute). But after four well-received records, Tobias had the clout to assemble this star-studded belt-it-out crowd (and additional musicians) called Avantasia. Main band: Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray) on guitar, Jens Ludwig (Edguy) on guitar, Markus Grosskopf (Helloween) on bass, and Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody) on drums. Guest vocalists: Kai Hanson (Gamma Ray), Timo Tolkki (Stratovarious), David Defeis (Virgin Steele), Rob Rock (Warrior), Andrea Matos (ex-Angra), and Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation).
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