Avantasia – The Metal Opera: Part I
Album Review By Adam McCann
AFM Records
2001
Ladies and Gentlemen… Welcome to the Show
This is where it all began, by the turn of the millennium Edguy’s Tobias Sammet began to plot one of heavy metal’s most ambitious projects ever. Combining King Arthur’s realm of Avalon with Disney’s ‘Fantasia’, Avantasia was born.
At this time, little acorns were planted in the metal world, Sammet assembled a European all-star cast that featured the likes of Michael Kiske, Kai Hansen, Henjo Richter, Timo Tolkki and Sharon den Adel releasing ‘The Metal Opera’ – a concept album revolving around the central character of Gabriel Laymann played by Sammet himself.
Although in later years Avantasia would become a power metal behemoth, there is a loving European metal charm about ‘The Metal Opera’, Kiske, den Adel, Sammet and Oliver Hartmann form a partnership that would endure throughout Avantasia’s career that would create the backbone of the band with excellent songs such as ‘Reach Out for the Light’, ‘The Glory of Rome’, ‘Sign of the Cross’ and the sublime title track. Furthermore, ‘The Metal Opera: Part I’ is a snapshot that shows Sammet blooming as a songwriter, a feat that would only get better with subsequent Avantasia albums.
As an album, Sammet struck gold with his first act and although the album went under the radar outside of Europe, Avantasia was born and an ambitious project was ratified within heavy metal history.
Rating : 76/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
