The power metal project Avantasia was the brainchild of Tobias Sammet, lead singer of the band Edquy. And his idea became more popular than the work of the vocalist in the named group.
Idea brought to life
It all started with a tour in support of Theater of Salvation. Tobias came up with the idea of writing a "metal" opera, in which famous vocal stars would perform the parts.
Avantasia is a country from the world of fantasy, in which in the XNUMXth century. Gabriel Laymann was a monk. At first, he, along with representatives of the Inquisition, hunted for female witches, but found out that he was forced to pursue his own half-sister, Anna Held, who was also a witcher. This changed his views.
Gabriel began to read forbidden literature, for which he was imprisoned. In the dungeons, he met a druid who revealed to him secret knowledge about a parallel world called Avantasia, which was on the verge of death. The druid enlisted Gabriel as an assistant, and in return promised to save Anna.
Many trials awaited Laymann, as a result of which he nevertheless saved his half-sister, and also became the owner of many secrets of the universe. That was the plot of a metal opera.
Sammet began sketching the script for the future opera while on tour in 1999. The action (according to the planned plan) was supposed to involve many characters, for the roles of which the author expected to invite various famous vocalists.
Members of the Avantasia project
The idea was quite successful. The brightest stars of the "metal" sky were collected in the project: Michael Kiske, David DeFeis, Andre Matos, Kai Hansen, Oliver Hartmann, Sharon den Adel.
Tobias himself took up the instrumental instruments, taking on the role of keyboardist and author of arrangements for the orchestra. The guitarist was Henjo Richter, the bassist was Markus Grosskopf, and the drummer was Alex Holzwarth.
Continuation of a successful project
One of the parts of The Metal Opera hit the shelves of music stores in late autumn 2000. Fans waited for the continuation in mid-2002, when the next part of The Metal Opera Part II appeared.
In 2006, news spread that another installment of Avantasia was about to be released in 2008. Soon, Sammet confirmed these assumptions. And in 2007, it turned out that Tobias decided to call the planned project The Scaregrow, and it had nothing to do with Avantasia.
The hero is a lonely scarecrow looking for friends. The album was released in January 2008.
The project involved instrumentalists: Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paet, Eric Singer. Vocals were recorded by Bob Catley, Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Hahn, Amanda Somerville, Oliver Hartmann.
Two albums of the Avantasia project were bright examples of heavy metal, but the new project is often called symphonic hard, meaning a significant symphonic component. In 2008, concerts were held as part of the tour.
Concert activity of the Avantasia group
The success of all three projects was colossal, they served as the basis for 30 shows. The Masters of Rock and Wacken Open Air shows were released on DVD recordings of The Flying Opera concert in March 2011.
2009 was marked by two albums - The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon. They went on sale in the spring of 2010. They logically continued the disc The Scaregrow and together they became the collection The Wicked Trilogy.
The Avantasia project went on tour at the end of 2010, and it was very short. This was followed by a show at Wacken Open Air in the summer of 2011.
The three-hour concerts were held to a full house, all places were sold out in advance.
Participated in concerts one soloist-vocalist - Amanda Somerville, although there were two of them on the 2008 tour. Both tours (2008 and 2011) Amanda posted on her YouTube channel.
The videos were very interesting, they documented rehearsal moments, and incidents with canceled flights, and train trips.
The DVD The Flying Opera - Around the World in 20 Days contained four discs with all the material, including video clips, and was released in the spring of 2011. And by the fall of the same year, The Flying Opera vinyl record was released, immediately sold out by music lovers-collectors.
The Avantasia website posted information about the launch of a new studio album. Sammet said that he wants to record a fantasy rock "metal" opera in a classical style, and the plot will be the trends that have become a sign of our modernity. The album was called The Mystery of Time and appeared in the spring of 2013.
The project was created by: Ronnie Atkins, Michael Kiske, Biff Byford, Bruce Kulik, Russell Gilbrook, Arjen Lucassen, Eric Martin, Joe Lynn Turner, Bob Catley.
Avantasia now
The continuation of this project The Mystery of Time was hinted at by Sammet in May 2014.
Tobias kept his promise, and a fresh album called Ghostights was released in 2016.
It was recorded with the participation of: Bruce Kulik and Oliver Hartmann (guitar), Dee Snyder, Jeff Tate, Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, Sharon den Adel, Bob Catley, Ron Atkins, Robert Mason, Marco Hietal, Herbie Langhans.
