Written by Jovan Ristić

The story of AVANTASIA begins much like any other fairy tale, with a young protagonist not
unlike you, average reader. Picture a young boy from a small German town going far and beyond
to fulfill his dreams of fronting a huge heavy metal band. That boy’s name is Tobias Sammet,
and he eventually did rise to acclaim with his teammates from their childhood band Edguy.
Starting out as 14-year olds, the Edguys were heavily influenced by their much more recognized
countrymen, Helloween, as well as classic acts such as AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Magnum,
and Kiss. With help from power metal legends Timo Tolkki and Hansi
Kursch, Edguy eventually received international acclaim with their sophomore release “Vain
Glory Opera” and even more so with its follow-up “Theater of Salvation”. But that was not the
apogee of Sammet’sambitions. Little did he know that what he was planning would change the
landscape of heavy metal music in the coming decades.
“I remember” Sammet recalls, “it was early 1999. I was pretty bored on the tour bus when we were
on tour with my main band and I’d always had this dream of doing a great project with some
friends. So I started to write and compose everything. You get an idea of how much work and
trouble I had to go through, though, as the first part of ‘The Metal Opera’ wasn’t released until
nearly 20 months later.”
He is, of course, referring to the project that would become well known as Avantasia, the name
derived from the words “Avalon” and “Fantasia”. With a green light from his publisher at the
time, AFM Records, Tobiasstarted working on his most ambitious project so far: a metal opera
that would feature guest performances by some of Sammet’s favorite musicians, most
prominent of all probably being Sammet’s idol and former frontman of Germany’s power metal
pioneers Helloween – Michael Kiske.
 Michael Kiske, Helloween live in Sofia, 2017 | Photo: Jovan Ristić

Of course, back in those days, Kiske wanted nothing to do with the heavy metal scene. Replaced
in Helloween by Andi Deris due to creative differences with the rest of the band and
disillusioned with the evil imagery heavy metal was increasingly adopting, Kiske was only
swayed to say “yes” to Sammet’sproposal with the young singer’s constant nagging.
“I think the hardest to get was Michael Kiskeactually. Nowadays it’s easy since we’ve known each
other for years, but then It was quite different. I had to convince him before he’d even speak to me.
But it was not such a big deal in the end.”
Sammet had managed to persuade the legendary frontman to join his ambitious project, but
only on the condition that he is referred to by a pseudonym: Ernie. The fans were not fooled by
this and from the first notes of his trademark falsetto in the opening “Reach out for the
Light” fans knew that the highly revered singer was back to singing what he sings best –
bombastic, melodic heavy metal anthems.
Kiske recalls being contacted by the young singer at the time in an interview with Metal
Blast: “When Tobi called me up I was in a very “anti-everything” phase and wasn’t really willing
to do anything like that, but I liked him. It was his attitude, he kept calling me on the phone, and I
just liked that. Now I’m very happy that I actually said yes, because I’m really enjoying it, but in
those days I was very fed up with everything, so I said ‘OK, do it, but call me Ernie’.”
But Kiske was far from being the only prominent guest on the debut. Sammet had recruited
some of the most well-known names in the power metal scene of those days. The core band was
made up of Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray) on guitars, Markus Grosskopf (Helloween) on bass
and Alex Holzwart (Rhapsody) on the drums. The ever-shifting staff of guest singers then
included David DeFeis (Virgin Steel), Oliver Hartmann(At Vance), Bob Rock (Axel Rudi
Pell), Bob Catley (Magnum), Andre Matos (Angra), Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray) and Sharon
Den Adel(Within Temptation).
Avantasia have issued two albums at this time, the quintessential power metal masterpieces
titled “The Metal Opera”, parts 1 and 2. The albums were conceptual and followed the
protagonist Gabriel Laymann, a novice of the Dominican Order. Set in the 17thcentury, the
story revolves around the witch hunts of which young Gabriel was a part until his
stepsister Anna Held is accused of being a witch. Despite the warnings by his
mentor Jakob (played by David DeFeis), he reads a forbidden book. He is incarcerated and
introduced to a druid named Lugaid Vandroy(played by Michael Kiske) who
introduces Gabriel to a magical world of Avantasia, inhabited by elves, dwarves, and other
mythical creatures. The book Gabriel had read is the seventh part of a seal which a group of
clerics is bent on delivering to a tower in the center of Avantasia, as they are promised the
ultimate wisdom in return. In a series of events Gabriel thwarts their plans and manages to free
thousands of trapped souls and his stepsister Anna with the help of druid Vandroy, who
sacrifices his life to free her.
 Avantasia Band Lineup in 2000 | Photo: Facebook

Although the albums are not an opera by standard definition, each of the songs on the album
refers to a certain point in the storyline. While the first part is a typical power metal album heavy
on the symphonic side, the second one shows clear signs of evolution, as Sammet explores
various influences such as symphonic rock of the 70’s and 80’s, and is most prominently inspired
by the works of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf. The centerpiece of both albums is the 14-minute
long epic “The Seven Angels”, found on the second part of the album, with complex
arrangements and lyrics crucial to the story. Sammet explains: “‘Seven Angels’ is a track that
combines many different styles of metal and rock music. I like the Meat-Loafish part towards the
end, I like the classic 70’s rock verses, and the chorus is anthemic.” The song was supposed to
feature the legendary Ronnie James Dio, but due to the singer refusing to take part in the
production, the role was given to Oliver Hartmann (At Vance) instead.
Although the albums were met with great critical acclaim and started an avalanche of similar
though less successful projects, Sammet allegedly shut the door to Avantasia. Going back to
work with his native band Edguy, who were in turn propelled by the massive success of the lead
singers side project and the heavily acclaimed album “Mandrake”. As Sammet explained in our
interview, “Avantasia has somehow overshadowed Edguy from ‘The Metal Opera’ on. ‘The
Metal Opera’ was super big and without that album, Edguy’s ‘Mandrake’ wouldn’t have become
as big.” Singing a new record deal with Nuclear Blast, Edguy toured all corners of the world and
released immensely popular albums “Hellfire Club” and “Rocket Ride”. In the meantime,
Avantasia was nowhere in sight.
However, Sammet clandestinely worked with Edguy’s new producer, Sascha Paeth on
something that had no name until late 2006 when Sammet announced the return
of Avantasia with an album scheduled for 2008. As a taste of the
new Avantasia sound, Sammet and his crew released two EPs: “Lost in Space”, parts 1 and 2.
Taking over the bass guitar duties for the first time since Edguy’s1998 album “Vain Glory
Opera”, Sammetteamed up with Paeth who took on the guitar duties and Eric
Singer of KISS fame on the drums. Singer was no stranger to Avantasia, as he performed on
the final track of the second part of “The Metal Opera” titled “Into the Unknown”. The band
shot a video for “Lost in Space” in Belgrade, and the single launched itself straight into the
German and Swedish Top 10 singles charts in late 2007.

Sascha Paeth, Eric Singer & Tobias Sammet in Studio | Photo: Facebook
Joining Sammet and his band were once again Bob Catley and Michael Kiske, but the EPs
introduced a new player into the fold, Norwegian powerhouse singer Jorn Lande, who would
become a steady player in this team later on. The supergroup’s third studio album “The
Scarecrow” was released on January 25th 2008, and featured an impressive guest list
including Roy Khan of Kamelot, Kai Hansen and Henjo Richter of Gamma Ray in lead guitar
roles, Amanda Somerville and Jorn Lande. The biggest surprise, however, was a guest
appearance by the shock-rock icon Alice Cooper, who lent his talents to the eerie track
titled “The Toy Master”. Naturally, having Eric Singer who previously played in Alice
Cooper’sband undoubtedly helped. Last but not least, Sammet’s countryman from the
legendary Scorpions, Rudolf Schenker recorded lead guitar parts for the track “I Don’t Believe
In Your Love”, also featuring the returning member Oliver Hartmann on lead vocals.
As Sammet wanted to create a story that is more open to interpretation compared to his work
on the debut, the plot of “The Scarecrow” stars an unnamed protagonist, who comes off as anti-
social but extremely musically-gifted and able to sense the vibrations of the music. Plagued by
unrequited love, the protagonist is swayed by a Mephistopheles-like figure (played by Lande)
to use his gift to rise to acclaim. Tempting him with fame and riches with the help of the Toy
Master (portrayed by Alice Cooper), the protagonist is launched into stardom only to question
his decision towards the end of the album and is left wondering.
How could I know, how could I know
That I’d Get Lost in Space to Roam Forever…

“The Scarecrow” was among 20 best-selling albums in Europe upon its release and was
awarded the Best Rock Production 2008 award by the Association of German Sound
Engineers (VDT). All the success the project achieved with their latest album did not go
unnoticed, and the organizers of the prestigious Wacken Open Air festival asked Sammet to
take the project to the stage for the first time and headline the festival. Initially
reluctant, Sammet was swayed by Sascha Paeth to gather a team of musicians and embark on
a 13-show tour in the span of a little over a month. Playing prestigious festivals in the Czech
Republic, Sweden, Hungary, and Germany, Avantasia performed in front of over 450.000 fans
in only a few weeks. Sammet recalls: “All-star albums are being recorded quite often, but I don’t
think people have seen a giant all-star project like that traveling around the world to hit the stages
on three different continents within only a few days.”
Joining Sammet on the stages were Sascha Paeth and Oliver Hartman as guitarists,
his Edguy teammate Felix Bohnke on drums, producer and composer Michael Miro
Rodenberg on the keys, Robert Hunecke on bass, as well as Amanda Somerville and Cloudy
Yang on backing vocals. The impressive vocal star roster included Jorn Lande, Bob
Catley and Andre Matos of Angra, as well as Kai Hansen filling Alice Cooper’sshoes for
several festival performances.
 Avantasia Live | Photo: Facebook

Even though Sammet alleged this would be the first and the last tour, Avantasia went on to
publish four more albums and several big world tours. The tour following the release of “The
Scarecrow’s” sequel albums, “The Wicked Symphony” and “Angel of Babylon” saw the band
performing solo shows across the globe and featured Michael Kiske’s return to the stage and
touring, as well as a reunion with former bandmate Kai Hansen, which led
to Hansen joining Kiske’s band Unisonic. The tour dubbed “The Metal Opera Comes to
Town” spanned 12 shows lasting nearly two hours. But that’s a story for another time.
“The Scarecrow” signified a brand new chapter in the life of this project. As with anything of
this magnitude, every album or tour could be the last, and if “Metal Opera”was where it ended
we would have missed on years of quality music and incredible shows. As Sammet himself puts
it: “With Avantasia, the exciting thing is that you never know if things will happen again.
Whatever happened in the past always happened at the premise that it will be unique and may be
the last time it happens. Nothing is taken for granted, that’s sad but it’s the way it is, and sadly,
that’s what makes Avantasia preciously fragile and beautiful.”

2018 avantasia helloween specijalTobias Sammet

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About the author

Jovan Ristić
Editor

Contact
jovan@hardwiredmagazine.com

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1 Comment
 AVANTASIA announce new album, world tour in 2019!
03. 05. 2018. at 4:53 PM
[…] Formed in 1999 as a studio project, Avantasia first hit the stage in 2008 after the release of
their comeback album “The Scarecrow”, headlining none other than the prestigious Wacken
Open Air festival alongside Iron Maiden. Avantasia has released seven studio albums with a
revolving cast of guest singers and musicians. You can read more about the band in our feature
article AVANTASIA – Birth, Death and Ressurection of a Legend. […]

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