This is the first part of a symphonic concept by Tobias Sammet (Edguy). He has gathered a wide range of great musicians like Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray/guitar), Markus Grosskopf (Helloween/bass), Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody/drums). Among many great singers are David DeFeis (Virgin Steele) and Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray).
The scene is the middle ages, the characters monks, elfs, bishops and common folk. The story is pretty complex. To sum up it's about a person's inner struggles and search for truth and knowledge in a very religious world, but also a world full of mystic and magical elements! Go explore, now on to the songs.
Reach Out For The Light is a cool up-tempo track with a brilliant lead guitar melody. The chorus is very catchy and functions well. The approach is full-steam ahead Power Metal. The energy is intense and the amount of melody overwhelming.
Serpents In Paradise features some great vocal parts from David DeFeis and Tobias Sammet. The track has a huge bombastic chorus and some very tight and well-played rhythm guitar. The bass displays some great grooving parts, and functions as a solid fundament.
One of my favourites is the ballad
Farewell. The symphonic style is very fitting to the overall atmosphere of the song. The chorus is of high importance to track, and the fast way in which it is performed sounds fantastic. The very melodic guitar solo is also a plus.
Avantasia on the other hand is not one of the most interesting moments. The slow rhythm quickly becomes a bit monotone. The chorus is good and melodic, but used a bit too much for my taste.
The slower vocal parts are working well, but a song that has both good and lesser successful elements.
Inside is a perfect ballad. The different vocal parts are brilliantly sung, and fit geniusly together with the piano melody. The chorus is filled with bombast and a genius melody.
The Tower is a long track with some great and fitting changing parts. The different atmospheres create some cool passages. I love the symphonic and varied keyboard, as well as the detailed drums. I think this track speaks for a lot of the album. Great symphonic, varied and powerful music.
These comments should describe the main effort of this release.
I am very pleased by the performance of the musicians. The guitars are sounding very tight and display a lot of great melodic passages. The drums are both technical and powerful. The bass is very solid and fits perfectly with the rhythm section. The keyboards are also a big plus for the record, creating a lot of fitting moods and making the songs just that more interesting. One of the best things about this release is the genius way that the fantastic vocals are fitted into the story. It just works.
The few things I find not that good are the choruses, which here and there are stretched out a bit, and the fact that some songs are a bit reliant on the main rhythm. Anyway this is a small detail.
The production is crystal clean and still very solid. A brilliant balance exists between the different instruments.
Overall there are no songs that don't pass the "mostly positive" test.
Yes a couple more monster tracks would not have been bad, but the overall standard is very high.
The very bombastic and symphonic edge that the songs have really functions with the story, the music is of very high quality and the album is extremely well balanced.
Written by
Tommy Friday, March 14, 2003
Show all reviews by TommyRatingsTommy: 8.5/10Members: 8.5/10 - Average of 1 ratings.
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