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"Avantasia" is a story composed as metal album by
Tobias Sammet's Avantasia.
It is
written in the format as a play and the songs are the characters dialogs and
inner thoughts.
The
album (The Metal Opera) was split into two parts.
(The
Metal Opera and The Metal Opera Part II)
The
second part of the album was released a year later.
The
album features many artists from various power metal bands such as Helloween or Gamma Ray.
"Avantasia" is a portmanteau of the words "avalon" and "fantasia" ("fantasy")
and describes
"a world beyond human imagination" (a quotation from the
booklet).
The
project consists of two CDs containing 23 pieces, which tell a fictional story
about a Dominican monk,
Gabriel, in the early 17th century.
===================================
1 Plot
2 Religion in Avantasia
3 Music
4 Cast
4.1
Instrumentalists
4.2
Singers
===================================
Plot
-----------------------------------
The main
character of the story is the young Gabriel Laymann,
novice of the Dominican order in the abbey of
It's the
year 1602 and, with the rest of the order, Gabriel joins in the witch hunts.
But when
he is unexpectedly reunited with stepsister Anna Held, who is awaiting trial as
a witch, Gabriel begins to doubt.
He
sneaks into the library, where he reads a forbidden book.
His
mentor Bruder Jakob notices
him, and Gabriel is thrown into the dungeon.
While
there, he meets an old man, Lugaid Vandroiy, who introduces himself as a druid ("Reach
Out for the Light").
He tells
Gabriel about another dimension, the world Avantasia,
which is in great danger.
Vandroiy
offers to help rescue Anna if Gabriel agrees to help Avantasia.
They
manage to escape ("Breaking Away"), and Vandroiy
takes Gabriel to an old stone pit,
which
hides a portal between the two dimensions, and uses it to send Gabriel to Avantasia.
In the
meantime, Johann Adam von Bicken, bishop of
Bruder Jakob and the bailiff Falk von Kronberg
are traveling to
With
them is the book Gabriel read.
Old
documents tell that the book is the last of seven parts of a seal,
which
will help its owner to absolute wisdom if he brings it to the tower in the center of Avantasia.
When
Gabriel arrives in Avantasia ("Avantasia") he is welcomed by two inhabitants,
the elf Elderane and the dwarf Regrin
("Inside"). They tell him about a war against the forces of evil,
of the
pope's plan, and its consequences ("Sign of the Cross").
If the pope
uses the seal,
the link
between Avantasia and the human world will break down
with grievous consequences for both worlds.
Gabriel
arrives at the tower just in time, and while the pope
talks to a mysterious voice from the inside,
Gabriel
manages to steal the seal and, in the chaos he causes, bring it back into the elvish city ("The Tower"),
which
marks the end of the first part.
But
Gabriel isn't satisfied yet. He wants to find out more about Avantasia, so Elderane sends him
to the tree of knowledge.
There
Gabriel has a vision of Bruder Jakob
enduring great pain in a lake of flames ("The Final Sacrifice").
Elderane
tells him about a great golden chalice in the catacombs in
and warns
him of a beast that guards the chalice.
Despite
the elf trying to discourage them, Gabriel and Regrin
go back into the human world.
They
find the chalice and knock it over, allowing many souls to escape
("Chalice of Agony").
The
beast awakes and attacks both of them; the dwarf is killed but Gabriel manages
to flee.
Afterwards,
Gabriel returns to Vandroiy, who has been waiting for
him.
The
druid now fulfills his part and sneaks into the
prison by night to free Anna.
In the
process, he finds a "refined" Bruder Jakob who plans to do the same.
Falk von
Kronberg, who has been having doubts of his own
("Memory"), catches them and approaches to arrest them.
A fight
breaks out; Vandroiy is killed by Kronberg
who is then slain by Bruder Jakob.
Anna escapes
and is reunited with Gabriel, and together they go into their unknown future
("Into the Unknown").
-----------------------------------
Religion
in Avantasia
Christendom
and the Roman Catholic Church play an important role in the plot.
Men of
the Church like Pope Clement VIII are criticised for thinking that they hold
the only truth
and that
they have to keep the normal people ignorant for their own good, not realising
that the Church men
themselves
are too blinded to recognise the truth.
Criticism
like this appears very often in Sammet's works:
Many Edguy songs like "The Kingdom" (1996) or "Theater of Salvation" (1999) contain themes,
plot and
dialogue very similar to those found in Avantasia.
-----------------------------------
Music
The
project is described as a "Metal Opera" because it has an underlying
plot and each role has its own singer,
though
it's not an opera by the classical definition.
It's
merely a collection of pieces, which refer to the individual points of the plot
printed in the booklet.
From a
stylistic view, the majority of the songs are melodic power metal meshed with a
voluminous sound,
many
orchestral passages and choral parts, gaining Avantasia
recognition as symphonic power metal.
One song
from each part, "Inside" and "In Quest For" respectively,
is accompanied almost exclusively by piano.
The
first part also contains three short instrumental pieces.
The most
complex piece is the first song of Part II, "The Seven Angels",
featuring seven of the eleven singers.
The song
is over 14 minutes long and contains a classical "stanza/refrain"
part, two guitar solos, choirs,
a passage
with piano accompaniment, and an epic finale.
It also
plays an important part in the plot, as it serves as summation of the first
part,
and has
caused discussion due to the inclusion of lyrics not printed in the booklet.
------------------------------------
Cast
Instrumentalists
Henjo
Richter - Guitar
Jens
Ludwig - Guitar
Norman Meiritz - Guitar
Timo Tolkki - Guitar
Markus Grosskopf - Bass
Alex Holzwarth - Drums
Eric Singer - Drums
Tobias Sammet - Keyboard, Bass
Frank Tischer - Piano
------------------------------------
Singers
Tobias Sammet - Gabriel Laymann
Michael Kiske - Lugaid Vandroiy
David DeFeis - Bruder Jakob
Ralf Zdiarstek - Bailiff Falk von Kronberg
Sharon den Adel - Anna Held
Rob Rock - Bishop Johann von Bicken
Oliver Hartmann - Pope Clement VIII
Andre Matos - Elderane the Elf
Kai
Hansen - Regrin the Dwarf
Timo Tolkki - Mysterious Voice of the Tower
Bob Catley - Tree of Knowledge
=====================================
Albums:
The
Metal Opera
The
Metal Opera part 2
The
Scarecrow
---------------
EPs
Avantasia
Lost in
Space Part I
Lost in
Space Part II
=====================================
The
Metal Opera
Released
The
Metal Opera is the first full-length album by Tobias Sammet's
side project opera, Avantasia.
It is a
concept album, and further information on the story can be found here.
Track
listing
"Prelude"
– 1:11
"Reach
Out For The Light" –
"Serpents
In
"Malleus Maleficarum" – 1:43
"Breaking
Away" –
"Farewell"
–
"The
Glory Of
"In
Nomine Patris" –
"Avantasia" –
"A
New Dimension" – 1:39
"Inside"
–
"Sign
of the Cross" –
"The
Tower" –
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Metal Opera Part II
Released
The
Metal Opera Pt. II is the second full-length album by Tobias Sammet's side project opera, Avantasia.
It is a
concept album, and further information on the story can be found here.
Track
listing
"The
Seven Angels" – 14:17
"No
Return" –
"The
Looking Glass" –
"In
Quest For" –
"The
Final Sacrifice" –
"Neverland" –
"Anywhere"
–
"Chalice
of Agony" –
"Memory"
–
"Into
the Unknown" –
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Scarecrow
Released
The
Scarecrow is the third full-length Avantasia album by
German power metal vocalist Tobias Sammet,
released
in
Contents
[hide]
1 Tracklist
2
Personnel
2.1
Guest vocalists
2.2
Guest musicians
3 Promo
Singles
4 Videos
5 Charts
6
References
Tracklist
"Twisted
Mind" (
"The
Scarecrow" (
"Shelter
from the Rain" (
"Carry
Me Over" (
"What
Kind of Love" (
"Another
Angel Down" (
"The
Toy Master" (
"Devil
in the Belfry" (
"Cry
Just a Little" (
"I
Don't Believe in Your Love" (
"Lost
in Space" (
Videos
The
video for Lost In Space was released in 2007 with the
release of the EPs of the same name. In December 2007,
the video
for Carry Me Over was released on Myspace.
The EPK (electronic press-kit) is available here, courtesy of
Tobias Sammet.
Videos
on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgv7xuWdi6g
- The Scarecrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o26SlmROH5Q
- Lost in Space
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC-FqllS6Ls
- Carry Me Over
http://www.youtube.com/user/NuclearBlastEurope
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Avantasia&search=Search
- Avantasia
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avantasia
(EP)
Released
Avantasia
is the self-titled debut EP by Tobias Sammet's side
project opera, Avantasia.
Track
listing
1;"Avantasia"
(Edit Version)
2;"Reach
Out For The Light"
3;"Final
Sacrifice"
4;"Avantasia"
---------------------------------------
Lost in
Space Part I
EP by Avantasia
Released
Lost in
Space Part I is an EP to the Avantasia
album The Scarecrow.
Track
listing
1;"Lost
In Space" (
2;"Lay
All Your Love On Me" (ABBA cover) (
3;"Another
Angel Down" (
4;"The
Story Ain't Over" (
5;"Return
To Avantasia" (0:42)
6;"Ride
The Sky" (Lucifer's Friend cover) (
Bonus
features
1;Lost In Space (Video Clip)
2;Lost In Space (Making of Video Clip)
3;Photo Gallery + Poster
-----------------------------------------
Lost in
Space Part II
Released
Lost in
Space Part II is an EP to the Avantasia album The
Scarecrow.
Track
listing
1;"Lost
In Space" (
2;"Promised
Land" (
3;"Dancing
With Tears In My Eyes" (Ultravox
cover) (
4;"Scary
Eyes" (
5;"In
My Defense" (Freddie Mercury cover) (
6;"Lost
In Space" (Epic Version) (
Bonus
features
1; The
Road To Avantasia (Studio
Report with interview)
2;
Slideshow
--------------------------------------------------
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avantasia
http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=331
http://www.myspace.com/tobiassammet
http://www.darklyrics.com/a/avantasia.html
http://www.elyrics.net/song/a/avantasia-lyrics.html
http://www.mp3.com/artist/avantasia/summary/
http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Opera-Avantasia/dp/B00005LMOK
http://www.metalstorm.ee/bands/band.php?band_id=46&bandname=Avantasia
http://www.last.fm/music/Avantasia/_/Avantasia