Projects that feature a who’s who of artists from a genre usually disappoint me. No matter the gathering of talent, it usually just doesn’t quite gel. One exception to that rule in the past has been Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia. Once again, for the most part, he overcomes that with the double release of The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon. A big difference is that Avantasia remains Sammet’s vision, rather than taking on the characteristics of the other artists.
What he doesn’t overcome is the curse of the double album. Typically, they only contain enough really good material for about one record and some uninspired filler. It could be because I started with Angel of Babylon and was just tired by the time I got to the middle of The Wicked Symphony, but Angel seems to be the much stronger release of the two.
It doesn’t hurt that Jorn Lande handles vocal duties for seven of the 11 tracks on Angel and Jon Oliva handles one of the others. The record also features a vocal dream team for some, with Lande and Michael Kiske teaming up on two tracks, “Stargazers” and “Promised Land (Part 2).” The first is a bit lackluster, despite some solid moments, as it just seems to drag on too long. The second is a more uptempo traditional power metal number that fares better.
“Death is Just a Feeling,” featuring Oliva, is one of the highlights of both records. It opens as kind of a twisted gypsy melody with some chimes and a single violin that puts the emphasis on Oliva’s maniacal vocals. The soaring style of chorus isn’t typical for Oliva, but as we’ve already established if you’ve read my reviews long, he can do no wrong in my ears. That makes this easily my favorite track.
Another nice departure is “Symphony of Life,” which features some interesting synth work at the beginning followed by a nice heavy guitar riff punctuated by operatic vocal flourishes. Female vocalist Cloudy Yang brings a gothic feel to the tune that’s a little different from the rest of the songs. I really like the more sultry tone of her voice on the verse. It gets a little more dramatic on the chorus, but this is still one of the better songs on either record.
“Down in the Dark” shows off some nice guitar work from Sascha Paeth, and I love the bluesy old-fashioned rock guitar runs at the beginning of “Alone I Remember.” The latter has more attitude than just about anything here, especially on Lande’s verses, as the style really fits the tone of his voice. I end up wishing that Sammet would just shut up and let Jorn handle this one. The chorus spoils the song a bit, going limp and 1980s commercial. It’s a problem that repeats itself often in Sammet’s work, and on this record.
There are some snoozers, here. The ballad “Blowing Out the Flame” is just dull and “Journey to Arcadia” is a little too over the top with the musical theater-style gang vocals and flourishes.
Sammet has put together a solid group of musicians for the record. Joining the standing band of Paeth, keyboard player Michael “Miro” Rodenberg and drummer Eric Singer are guitarists Bruce Kulick, Oliver Hartmann and Henjo Richter, drummers Felix Bohnke and Alex Holzwarth and keyboardist Jens Johansson. Each gets his own spotlight, but it remains very much Sammet’s production.
It’s a solid record and better than its counterpart to my ears, but to be honest, I’d rather hear the best songs from both combined into a single effort.
[ Read the review of the second album, The Wicked Symphony ]
[Visit the band's website]Find more articles with 2010, Avantasia, Fred Phillips, Nuclear Blast Records, Review
Comments
Leave a Reply
I don’t know if you realize this, Fred, but Angel Of Babylon is actually the third album in the trilogy and The Wicked Symphony is the second. Still, I don’t think it really matters the order you listen to them in because none of these are quite as character and plot driven as the Metal Opera albums.
I am far from a huge Savatage or Jon Oliva fan but he really brought it in “Death Is Just A Feeling”. Quite and epic track. It’s hard to believe that Cloudy Yang was originally only suppose to be filling in until Amanda Somerville could come sing on “Symphony Of Life” but she did an excellent job. I hope to hear more from her in the spotlight in the future.
All in all I like The Wicked Symphony more than this album. Everything other than “Death Is Just A Felling”, “Symphony Of Life”, “Stargazers”, and “Promised Land” are a bit on the filler side, as you stated. Taking the best tracks from each would have made for one hell of an album but instead we have two really decent albums. Good review.
on May 31st, 2010 at 02:59Oh, I was hoping to comment individually on The Wicked Symphony but since I can’t I’ll just continue here.
The first four songs are easily the strongest, I agree. Russel Allen, Ripper Owens, Klaus Meine, and Michael Kiske all do fantastic jobs on their respective tracks. There are some good longs later but none of them live up to what the first third of the album offered.
on May 31st, 2010 at 03:08If you were gonna make this one CD, which songs would you pick, Fred?
Here’s mine.
01 – Stargazers
on May 31st, 2010 at 03:1802 – Scales Of Justice
03 – Wastelands
04 – Dying For An Angel
05 – The Wicked Symphony
06 – Death Is Just A Feeling
07 – Symphony Of Life
08 – Blizzard On A Broken Mirror
09 – Promised Land
10 – Forever Is A Long Time
11 – States Of Matter
I was trying to write both records into one review, but it got too long and out of hand, so I had to split them. Since I liked Angel better, it was easier to make that one the main review and Symphony the second one. Didn’t think the story was all-consuming enough that the order mattered, to be honest. I’ll get back to you on the songs when I’ve got a minute.
on May 31st, 2010 at 15:16