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Avantasia

 
Artist: Avantasia
 

Group Members:

Tobias Sammet

Similar Artists:

  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "The Metal Opera," "The Metal Opera, Vol. 2," "Lost in Space, Vols. 1-2"

Biography

Avantasia was an all-star side project headed by Tobias Sammet, lead singer of the prog-tinged German power metal band Edguy. While recording a guest appearance from Blind Guardian singer Hansi Kursch with his regular band, Sammet conceived of a massive-scale rock opera featuring the cream of the current power metal scene. He spent a year composing the material, named the "band" Avantasia, and recruited a variety of vocalists to tell his story: Gamma Ray's Kai Hansen, Stratovarius' Timo Tolkki, Virgin Steele's David DeFeis, Angra's Andre Matos, Warrior's Rob Rock, and Within Temptation's Sharon Den Adel. For the backing band, Sammet gathered guitarists Jens Ludwig (Edguy) and Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray), bassist Markus Grosskopf (Helloween), and drummer Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody). The album, The Metal Opera, was filled with tried-and-true fantasy themes and anthemic, progressive pomp-metal; it was released by Century Media in the summer of 2001. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Avantasia
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For other uses, see Avantasia (disambiguation).
Avantasia

Avantasia at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2008.
Background information
Origin Germany
Genre(s) Symphonic metal
Power metal
Heavy metal
Alternative rock
Years active 1999–present
Label(s) AFM, Nuclear Blast
Associated acts Edguy, Scorpions
Website tobiassammet.com
Members
Tobias Sammet
See: Avantasia personnel

Avantasia is a symphonic metal/power metal project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist and frontman of the power metal group Edguy. The project's title 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 a self-titled single, two full-length albums with the subtitle The Metal Opera, two EPs called Lost in Space, and the recently released album The Scarecrow.

Contents

Development

In Spring 1999, during Edguy's Theater of Salvation tour, Tobias Sammet began to write down his ideas for a metal opera, a concept album with many guest musicians. When the tour was finished, he carried this plan out, recruiting well-known metal players like Kai Hansen and the ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske. The project was recorded with a core band of four members - Sammet playing keyboards and arranging orchestration, Henjo Richter playing guitar, Markus Grosskopf playing bass, and Alex Holzwarth on drums. In 2001, the self-titled single and the first full-length album, The Metal Opera, were released. The project was completed in September 2002 with the release of The Metal Opera Part II.[1] At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2008. On March 24, 2007, the name was confirmed to be "The Scarecrow".[1] The album was released on January 25, 2008, and includes special guests such as Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paeth, drummer Eric Singer, and singers Bob Catley, Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan, Amanda Somerville and Oliver Hartmann.[2] Tobias Sammet has announced that a new album will be released by the end of 2009.[3]

Members

Discography

Studio Albums

EPs

Singles

Compilations

See also

References

  1. ^ allmusic
  2. ^ Tobias Sammet :: Avantasia :: Official Web
  3. ^ Ashladan (in Dutch)

External links


 
Shopping: Avantasia
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Learn More
Scarecrow (2008 Album by Avantasia)
The Scarecrow [Bonus Tracks] (2008 Album by Avantasia)
Fairyland (Rock Band, '90s, 2000s)

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Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Avantasia" Read more

 

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