Band:	Avantasia
Album:	The Metal Opera Part I
Style:	Symphonic power metal
Release date:	2001

01. Prelude
02. Reach Out For The Light
03. Serpents In Paradise
04. Malleus Maleficarum
05. Breaking Away
06. Farewell
07. The Glory Of Rome
08. In Nomine Patris
09. Avantasia
10. A New Dimension
11. Inside
12. Sign Of The Cross
13. The Tower

by Dream Taster:

When Tobias Sammet, the singer of the German heavy metal band Edguy, started to write a parellel project to Edguy, he surely didn't expect so much congratulations from the fans that would come from all over the world. Just have a look at his guestbook!

After the Edguy album called Vain Glory Opera, Tobias has got the idea to write an entire album on a theme in order to compose a metal opera. His first motivation was to sing with other great singers who were his models such as Michael Kiske [former singer of Helloween] or Ronnie James Dio [Black Sabbath, Dio...]
Once the story written [including monks, dwarves and elves and even a beautiful prisoner in a tower], Tobias started to contact other singers and unfortunately for him Dio refused. But he managed to get the presence of great singers such as Andre Matos [former singer of Angra, now in Shaman], Kai Hansen [who don't know this guy? Ex Helloween and Gamma Ray of course...], David DeFeis [the wonderful and hypnotic voice[s] of Virgin Steele] and of course Michael Kiske! Helped by old mates such as Ralf Zdiarstek and Oliver Hartmann, Tobias Sammet gather great singers and on instruments, the mostly German line-up is also composed of well-known musicians: Henjo Richter of Gamma Ray on guitars, Markus Grosskopf of Helloween on bass guitar and Alex Holzwarth of Rhapsody on drums... Just to sound better, this metal opera also includes additional guitar parts performed by Timo Tolkki of Stratovarius and Jens Ludwig of ... Edguy! And finally, some keyboards and piano parts performed by Frank Tischer and Tobias himself.

The result of this incredible line-up is an amazing album full of beauty and very easy to enter your head. Songs such as 'The Glory Of Rome' or 'Sign Of The Cross' are hard to forget and what should I say about 'Farewell' [with angelic voices by Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation] and 'Breaking Away'? One of my favorite tracks is still 'Reach Out For The Light'.

More than the wonderful compositions it includes, The Metal Opera Part I has a particular feeling on itself that gives you the certitude to hear a better album everytime you listen to it! And I'm not the only one to be aware of that fact... Conclusion: once you've heard it once, you don't want to stop listening to this album because it's better every time.

The Metal Opera is a gorgeous release, full of good things and it has its own personality. If you like heavy, power or symphonic metal, you would have interest in having a heard at this masterpiece. In conclusion, I can say that this metal opera will always remains in my memory as one of my best musical experience. And more than that, this album has changed my life and in a very good way... I think some people would be able to understand that.


by Emalaith:

In addition to the above, I need to say that this album takes you into another world from the beginning of the beautiful Prelude. 'Reach out for the Light' is indeed a brilliant song and sums up beautifully what the album [and I think Tobi's philosophy] is about: adversaries, defiance, and, above all: perseverance! Yes, I think Tobi has packed his optimistic spirit into this album and he is showing it to us through his beautiful, medevial story.

Musically, this album is multi-faceted, ranging from classical interludes to fast metal tracks, such as 'Breaking Away' to beautiful ballads like 'Farewell' and 'Inside' to powerful Metal hymns, such as 'The Glory of Rome', 'The Sign of the Cross' [my favorite!], and the final piece 'The Tower'. The group of singers Tobi gathered here should be mindblowing to any Metal fan, and I still wonder how Tobi managed to convince all these people!

My summation: a truly wonderful album. This is a great way to get into power metal, or, if you already are, a brilliant coming-together of some of your favorite singers and musicians. For me, this album was life-changing as it gave me the greatest gift of all. But even if that doesn's happen to you, it is nevertheless an album that will lift your spirits.