Avantasia
| Avantasia | |
|---|---|
 Avantasia live in São Paulo (2013) |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Germany |
| Genre (s) | Power Metal , Symphonic Metal , Progressive Metal |
| founding | 2000 |
| Website | tobiassammet.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Tobias Sammet ( Edguy ) | |
| Sascha Paeth (Ex- Heavens Gate ) | |
| Michael "Miro" Rodenberg (ex- Aina ) | |
| Felix Bohnke ( Edguy ) | |
| former members | |
guitar |
Jens Ludwig ( Edguy ) |
guitar |
Henjo Richter ( Gamma Ray ) |
bass |
Markus Großkopf ( Helloween ) |
Drums |
Eric Singer ( KISS ) |
Drums (vocals) |
Alex Holzwarth ( Rhapsody ) |
Drums |
Russell Gilbrook ( Uriah Heep ) |
| Guest musician | |
singing |
Joe Lynn Turner (Ex- Rainbow , Ex- Yngwie Malmsteen ) |
singing |
Michael Kiske ( Helloween , Unisonic ) |
singing |
Biff Byford ( Saxon ) |
singing |
Eric Martin ( Mr. Big ) |
singing |
Ronnie Atkins ( Pretty Maids ) |
singing |
Bob Catley ( Magnum ) |
singing |
Cloudy Yang |
singing |
Klaus Meine ( Scorpions ) |
singing |
Jørn Lande ( master plan ) |
singing |
Alice Cooper |
singing |
Roy S. Khan (ex- Kamelot ) |
Vocals, guitar |
Oliver Hartmann (Ex- At Vance ) |
singing |
Amanda Somerville (Trillium, Rock Meets Classic ) |
singing |
Andre Matos (Ex- Shaaman , Ex- Angra ) [† 2019] |
singing |
David DeFeis ( Virgin Steele ) |
singing |
Jon Oliva (Ex- Savatage , Jon Oliva's Pain) |
singing |
Rob Rock ( Impellitteri , ex- Axel Rudi Pell ) |
singing |
Sharon den Adel ( Within Temptation ) |
singing |
Russell Allen ( Symphony X ) |
singing |
Tim Owens (Ex- Judas Priest , Dio Disciples , Yngwie Malmsteen ) |
guitar |
Bruce Kulick (ex- Kiss ) |
guitar |
Arjen Lucassen ( Ayreon , Star One ) |
guitar |
Rudolf Schenker ( Scorpions ) |
guitar |
Kai Hansen ( Gamma Ray ) |
guitar |
Norman Meiritz |
guitar |
Timo Tolkki ( Stratovarius ) |
Keyboards |
Ferdy Doernberg ( Axel Rudi Pell ) |
Keyboards |
Jens Johansson ( Dio , Stratovarius ) |
organ |
Simon Oberender † ( Beyond the Bridge , Trillium) |
| Frank Tischer ( Miller Anderson ) | |
Drums |
Felix Bohnke ( Edguy ) |
singing |
Herbie Langhans ( Sinbreed , Voodoo Circle ) |
Avantasia is an all-star project by the German metal singer, composer and producer Tobias Sammet , who became known as the singer of the metal band Edguy . The band sold an estimated 3 million records worldwide.
The Metal Opera
Emergence
In the spring of 1999, during Edguy's Theater of Salvation tour, Sammet began planning a concept album with many guest musicians. After the tour he implemented this plan of an all-star project and was able to win over metal greats like the former Helloween singers Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske . In 2000 the first EP was released under the title Avantasia with four tracks, before the first album, The Metal Opera , was released in July 2001 . The project was completed with the release of The Metal Opera Part II in September 2002. The project name Avantasia is composed of the words Avalon and Fantasia ( fantasy ) and describes "a world beyond the human imagination".
music
The term “metal opera” applies to Avantasia only insofar as there is an underlying plot and each role is performed by a separate singer. The corresponding story can be read in the booklet.
Stylistically, the majority of the pieces are melodic Power Metal with many orchestral passages, so that Avantasia is also assigned to Symphonic Metal .
The Metal Opera & The Metal Opera II
The first part of this project, called The Metal Opera, consists of two CDs with a total of 23 pieces of music, in which the fictional story of the Dominican Gabriel in the early 17th century is told. He is involved in the witch hunt, but gets into a conflict when his stepsister Anna is reported.
The Wicked Trilogy
As a harbinger of the third album The Scarecrow , two EPs were released on November 16, 2007 under the title Lost in Space (Part 1 & 2) , which entered the top 10 of the charts in Germany .
The album was released on January 25, 2008 via Nuclear Blast and reached number 8 in the album charts in Germany. The story that began with The Scarecrow was planned from the beginning as a trilogy, which was continued and completed with The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon at the same time. The two albums were also released on April 3, 2010 as a double LP, which rose to number 2 in the German album charts . Ten weeks after its release, the new Avantasia double album The Wicked Symphony / Angel of Babylon stayed in the German album charts.
The mystery of time
In the summer of 2012, Sammet announced, contrary to the previous statement, that the project was over, the new Avantasia album, released in spring 2013, entitled The Mystery of Time, on its website. It was released on March 29, 2013 and reached number 2 in the German charts.
Ghostlights
In 2015, Sammet announced that they were working on a new Avantasia album called Ghostlights , which was released on January 29, 2016 via Nuclear Blast Records. The album builds on the predecessor Mystery of Time . The regular album contains 12 pieces (without special editions and bonus material) and is again characterized by the fact that numerous guest musicians are involved. The associated Ghostlights World Tour took place between March and July 2016 and included European venues as well as concerts in North and South America and Japan. On December 11, 2015, the album's first single, Mystery Of A Blood Red Rose, was released.
In February 2016, Avantasia took part in the preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 , Our Song for Stockholm , with Mystery Of A Blood Red Rose and took third place.
Tours
In the summer of 2008, Avantasia started a short festival tour through Europe , South America , Mexico and Japan . It started on June 5th at the Rocksound Festival in Switzerland and ended on August 13th in Hungary . The band also performed at the Wacken Open Air . The planned double DVD The Flying Opera was released in spring 2011. In December 2010, a large-scale indoor tour took place for the first time with performances in various countries. Avantasia played as one of the headliners at Wacken Open Air 2011. In 2013, the release of the current album was followed by another tour with hall and festival appearances. In 2014 they played again as headliners at Wacken Open Air, for the first time with a live broadcast (in Germany on 3sat). In 2016 Avantasia went on the Ghostlights World Tour. In 2019 the Moonglow World Tour began with the release of the album of the same name.
The Scarecrow World Tour (2008)
The Metal Opera Comes to Town Tour (2010)
The Mystery World Tour (2013)
Moonglow World Tour (2019)
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
|||
| 2001 |
The Metal Opera AFM Records |
DE35 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: February 22, 2001
Sales: + 200,000 |
| 2002 |
The Metal Opera Part II AFM Records |
DE17 (4 weeks) DE |
- |
CH94 (2 weeks) CH |
- |
First published: October 29, 2002
|
| 2008 |
The Scarecrow Nuclear Blast |
DE8 (7 weeks) DE |
AT16 (4 weeks) AT |
CH17 (6 weeks) CH |
- |
First published: January 25, 2008
|
| 2010 |
The Wicked Symphony / Angel of Babylon Nuclear Blast |
DE2 (9 weeks) DE |
AT9 (4 weeks) AT |
CH7 (6 weeks) CH |
- |
First published: April 3, 2010
|
| 2013 |
The Mystery of Time Nuclear Blast |
DE2 (8 weeks) DE |
AT11 (3 weeks) AT |
CH5 (4 weeks) CH |
UK97 (1 week) UK |
First published: March 29, 2013
|
| 2016 |
Ghostlights Nuclear Blast |
DE2 (13 weeks) DE |
AT10 (4 weeks) AT |
CH8 (8 weeks) CH |
UK53 (1 week) UK |
First published: Jan 29, 2016
Sales: + 2,500 |
| 2019 |
Moonglow Nuclear Blast |
DE1 (10 weeks) DE |
AT4 (3 weeks) AT |
CH3 (8 weeks) CH |
UK38 (1 week) UK |
First published: February 15, 2019
|
Live albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|||
| 2013 | The Flying Opera Nuclear Blast |
DE18 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: March 18, 2011
|
EPs
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|||
| 2007 | Lost in Space Part I Nuclear Blast |
DE9 (9 weeks) DE |
AT48 (1 week) AT |
- | - |
First published: November 19, 2007
|
more publishments
- 2007: Lost in Space Part II
Singles
- 2000: Avantasia
- 2007: Lost in Space
- 2007: Carry me over
- 2010: Dying for an Angel
- 2013: Sleepwalking
- 2016: Mystery of a Blood Red Rose
- 2018: The Raven Child
- 2019: Moonglow
As a guest musician
- 2008: Elected (vs. Ayreon )
Video albums
- 2011: The Flying Opera
statistics
Chart evaluation
|
|
Awards
- Echo 2016 nominated in the group category "Rock / Alternative national".
- Metal Hammer Awards 2013, awarded in the category “Best German Band”.
- Metal Hammer Awards 2016, nominated in the category Best German Band, nominated in the category Metal Anthem, awarded in the category Best Album (Ghostlights) .
- Gold record : Czech Republic (2016 for Ghostlights )
Musician
singing
| Artist | The Metal Opera | The Metal Opera Part II | The Scarecrow | The Wicked Symphony | Angel Of Babylon | The Mystery of Time | Ghostlights | Moonglow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tobias Sammet | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Michael Kiske | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| David DeFeis | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Ralf Zdiarstek | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Sharon the nobility | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||||
| Rob Rock | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Oliver Hartmann | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Andre Matos | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Kai Hansen | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Timo Tolkki | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Bob Catley | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Jørn Lande | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Amanda Somerville | Yes | |||||||
| Alice Cooper | Yes | |||||||
| Roy Khan | Yes | |||||||
| Russell Allen | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Tim Owens | Yes | |||||||
| Klaus Meine | Yes | |||||||
| Cloudy Yang | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Jon Oliva | Yes | |||||||
| Joe Lynn Turner | Yes | |||||||
| Peter "Biff" Byford | Yes | |||||||
| Eric Martin | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Ronnie Atkins | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||||
| Marco Hietala | Yes | |||||||
| Dee Snider | Yes | |||||||
| Geoff Tate | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Herbie Langhans | Yes | |||||||
| Robert Mason | Yes | |||||||
| Hansi Kürsch | Yes | |||||||
| Mille Petrozza | Yes | |||||||
| Candice Night | Yes |
guitar
| Artist | The Metal Opera | The Metal Opera Part II | The Scarecrow | The Wicked Symphony | Angel Of Babylon | The Mystery of Time | Ghostlights | Moonglow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henjo Richter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Jens Ludwig | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Norman Meiritz | Yes | |||||||
| Timo Tolkki | Yes | |||||||
| Sascha Paeth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Kai Hansen | Yes | |||||||
| Rudolf Schenker | Yes | |||||||
| Bruce Kulick | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Oliver Hartmann | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Arjen Anthony Lucassen | Yes |
Bass guitar
| Artist | The Metal Opera | The Metal Opera Part II | The Scarecrow | The Wicked Symphony | Angel Of Babylon | The Mystery of Time | Ghostlights | Moonglow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markus Grosskopf | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Tobias Sammet | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Drums
| Artist | The Metal Opera | The Metal Opera Part II | The Scarecrow | The Wicked Symphony | Angel Of Babylon | The Mystery of Time | Ghostlights | Moonglow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Holzwarth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Eric Singer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Felix Bohnke | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Russell Gilbrook | Yes |
swell
- ↑ biography. In: tobiassammet.com . Retrieved June 10, 2016 .
- ^ Website of the Nuclear Blast label, last accessed on January 30, 2016 at 11:00 am
- ↑ Artist Appearances on Avantasia Concerts - Ghostlights World Tour 2016 | setlist.fm. Retrieved May 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Tour dates on Tobias Sammet's website, last accessed on January 30, 2016 at May 11th
- ↑ Tobias Sammet's website, last accessed on December 11, 2015 at 3:11 pm
- ↑ German ESC preliminary decision: Participants have been determined. In: eurovision.de. Retrieved January 18, 2016 .
- ↑ https://www.metal-hammer.de/gewinner-und-erste-fotos-der-metal-hammer-awards-2013-33237/
- ↑ https://www.metal-hammer.de/metal-hammer-awards-2016-das-sind-die-gewinner-692725/
- ↑ Avantasia home page. Retrieved September 6, 2016 .
Web links
- Official website
- Avantasia band profile at Nuclear Blast
- Chart sources: DE AT CH UK