I’ve never been able to fully relate to the first 3 releases by AVANTASIA. For those that don’t know it already, AVANTASIA is a Tobias Sammet (singer for Edguy) project incorporating some of the best musicians to be found. Despite the obvious pedigree of the participants every time, i found individual tracks like ‘The Scarecrow’ to be outstanding whilst the albums as a whole felt cheesy. Maybe the latter is because it’s impossible to make every song epic but that is what Tobias, like Meatloaf/Steinman, tries to do. Although there is more of that here, somehow The Wicked Symphony feels more like one beast. Maybe it’s because the occasional single grants contrast to the biggies.
I can’t call AVANTASIA a timid project ’cause the first track, the title track, is huge in scope and length. The chorus is full-on, easy to accept, Eighties fare whilst structure has wonderful climbs and falls accentuated by the dueling vocals of Tobias, Russell Allen (Symphony X) and one of my favourite vocalists of all-time, Jorn Lande (Masterplan). If you said “WOW” you’d be damn right. Class for sure.
The edginess in ‘Scales of Justice’ is reminiscent of Judas Priest, an attribute undoubtedly contributed to by Tim “Ripper” Owens (ex of said band and Iced Earth). ‘Wastelands’ could’ve been an Iron Maiden track, so much so that it’s hard for me to think of the song as anything other than a lesser cover of a song never made. A better use of Michael Kiske’s vocals is with Jorn on the simplistic, yet soaring, ‘Runaway Train’. The Scorpions’ Klaus Meine adds melody to ‘Dying for an Angel’ which has gone on to become a single. ‘Black Wings’ is huge with power. Slow, metal riffs and the clear vocals of Ralf Zdiarstek work well together. There’s a sinister moment follow by a screeching solo that instantly became one of my highlights of the album.
If this were only a supergroup it would’ve called your attention but add to that that there’s no bad track to be found and that half of them are terrific, there’s an empty space on your CD rack yelling for AVANTASIA’s The Wicked Symphony to fill it. And if you’re still wanting more, check out the companion release, Angel of Babylon.
album artwork is getting so good these days.
Metal bands have generally been the leaders with their designs. I've saved so many outstanding ones.