Released: Feb. 28, 2025 via Napalm Records
Production: Probably Tobias Sammet and Sascha Paeth
Running time: 50:09
Genre: Symphonic power metal that doesn’t want to be
“Just Another Day at Tobi Sammet’s Office”
Tobias Sammet, fallen power metal hero, was a prominent figure of the European power metal scene between 1998 and 2004. With the albums of his home band Edguy (from Vain Glory Opera to Hellfire Club) and the first two albums under the Avantasia banner (The Metal Opera I and II), he was one of the solid pillars of a genre that was slowly losing its power and its meaning. Then he probably figured out that this style of music doesn’t bring in the money and doesn’t exactly attract the most attractive specimens of the fairer sex. The result of that realization was a move away from high-octane power metal with the albums Rocket Ride (Edguy, 2006) and even more so The Scarecrow (Avantasia, 2008). Tobi started bringing in elements of hard rock, AOR, symphonic rock and a Meat Loaf style with over-the-top orchestrations. At the same time, he realized (and still does) that the base of orthodox fans craves power metal. And that’s exactly the mix he serves up on the latest album.
Let me mention that everything post The Metal Opera Avantasia leaves me completely cold, with the exception of the surprisingly excellent album Ghostlights from 2016 and the odd flash of genius here and there, like The Toy Master from The Scarecrow or Stargazers from Angel of Babylon.
Tobi and his partner in crime, Sascha Paeth (guitarist and mastermind of the unfairly overlooked German band Heavens Gate), deliver a masterfully crafted product that sadly lacks passion, blood, sweat, not to mention soul. Everything is played, produced and made up to perfection, but there isn’t a single song on the whole album I’d come back to for a hit of excitement and enjoyment. Alongside a string of familiar faces, Tobi brought in three new guest vocalists: Adrienne from Seven Spires, Tommy from Kamelot and Kenny from H.E.A.T. You have to give the guy credit, he’s always had a good nose for guest vocalists, and once again they’re all outstanding. The problem is that with the material they’ve been handed, they can’t really shine. The only exception is maybe Roy, who completely overshadows Tobi on the ballad Everybody’s Here Until the End. Kenny fares surprisingly badly on the bouncy power number Against the Wind, where the key the song is written in obviously doesn’t suit him.
As a whole, Unleash the Kraken stands out slightly with its variety and surprisingly heavy musical backing. Tobi makes an effort and shows off his still fairly impressive singing chops. Unfortunately, over the years his voice has picked up a slightly annoying tone, especially in the higher registers. That’s why it sticks out in an especially unwelcome way on the duets with Tommy and Roy.
Back to the discussion about power metal and Tobias Sammet. As a bonus, he serves up Return to the Opera, a tongue-in-cheek track aimed at the orthodox fans, with lyrical and musical nods to the first two Avantasia albums. In the lyrics, Tobi claims he can write a song like that over a bottle of wine and that those days are never coming back. Which sounds pretty contradictory when you listen to Against the Wind, The Moorland at Twilight and partly Unleash the Kraken .
To sum up: it’s another product of impeccable quality off the production line of the Avantasia corporation. One that the masses, judging by the sales results (number one on the charts in Germany and Austria), are greedily gulping down, much like the hamburgers of some other corporation.
Chewed to death.
(Let’s say) the sweet spots: Unleash the Kraken, Everybody’s Here Until the End, partly Against the Wind
Rating: 6.5/10
Author: Igorac
Tracklist:
01. Creepshow
02. Here Be Dragons (Geoff Tate)
03. The Moorland at Twilight (Michael Kiske)
04. The Witch (Tommy Karevik)
05. Phantasmagoria (Ronnie Atkins)
06. Bring On the Night (Bob Catley)
07. Unleash the Kraken
08. Avalon (Adrienne Cowan)
09. Against the Wind (Kenny Leckremo)
10. Everybody’s Here Until the End (Roy Khan)
11. Return to the Opera (Bonus)
Musicians:
Tobias Sammet – Vocals, bass, orchestrations, keyboards, piano
Sascha Paeth – Guitars, orchestrations, keyboards, piano
Miro Rodenberg – Orchestrations, keyboards
Felix Bohnke – Drums (not credited anywhere, but I’m almost sure he played them)
Se popolnoma NE strinjam!
Daleč od prežvečenega in za današnje čase odličen album.
Seveda subjektivna ocena.
Ne, zakaj? Pošteno 😀 Vsaka ušesa imajo svojo percepcijo. Respect. Jaz osebno, sem že davno tega prekrižal ta projekt, ker je zvodenel v samo replicirajoči brezizraznosti in generičnosti. Verjamem pa vsakomur, ki najde tudi v najnovejšem izdelku momente, ki ga spravijo na prave obrate in tako v njem uživa in ima ustvarjeno pozitivno mnenje. Jaz recimo trenutno nimam časa, da bi poslušal niti albume tistih izvajalcev, ki me v mojih zrelih letih še vedno dovolj animirajo, da spremljam njihove nove izdaje, začenši z Opeth, Dream Theater, Jethro Tull. Steven Wilson,… in kupom revival AOR/melodic rock plat, kaj šele da bi se posvečal novim power metal platam – gre za žanr katerega sem bil od nekdaj velik privrženec. Tako da bom na podlagi tvojega komentarja definitivno preveril novi Avantasia album. In hvala da si se oglasil. 😀
Lepo, da si odprl debato. Seveda je vsaka glasbena recenzija izrazito subjektivna zadeva, osebno mi je Avantasia projekt razočaranje glede na potencial. Povej, kaj te je na tem albumu navdušilo, pa da še kakšno rečemo.
Pozdrav.
Ne želim preveč politizirati o glasbi, saj menim, da to ni njen namen, tudi nikoli se vtikam v ocene plošč, pa jih preberem kar veliko tako na tujih straneh kot na vaši, saj menim, da gre vedno za subjektivne ocene in da imajo vsaka ušesa svojega najboljšega glasbenika.
Ampak označiti zadnji Avantasia izdelek za prežvečenega pa mi je tako plehko, da v danem trenutku nisem mogel pustiti tipkovnico nedotaknjeno. Nisem se mogel znebiti občutka, da je recenzent že a-priori odpisal skupino in njen izdelek in da se je ocene lotil s predsodki in predvsem površno ter na preskok. Sploh si ne predstavljam, kaj pomeni po vseh že ustvarjenih albumih in napisanih kompleksnih tekstih, da najdeš še vedno toliko domišljije in kreativnosti na koncu pa tvoj izdelek nekdo označi za prežvečenega. Sploh v enem žanru nizati vrsto let nove in nove ideje, ne da bi te nekdo označil za prežvečenega je po moje nemogoče. So AC/DC na zadnji plošči prežvečeni? Tobija označiti za padlega power metal heroja, ki da se ukvarja s to vrsto glasbe zgolj zaradi denarja in najbolj atraktivnih primerkov nežnejšega spola, je po moje najmanj nepošteno, da ne rečem, kaj drugega. Ja, se strinjam, ni to najboljši Avantasia album pa vendar je še vedno vrhunski izdelek in če kaj ni, potem ni prežvečen. Zvok in produkcija sta vrhunska, gostje vrhunski pa tudi s skladbami kot npr »Phantasmagoria« dokazujejo, da še vedno imajo tisto nekaj, kar mnogi drugi metal bendi ne premorejo. Mogoče res ni plošča, ki bi pustila pravi vtis na prvo poslušanje, meni osebno je z vsakim poslušanjem boljša in trdim, da še vedno imajo tisto nekaj več, kar poslušalca popelje v neko drug Avantasia svet, pa četudi je to 55+ star prdec, kot sem sam ali pa atraktiven primerek nežnejšega spola.
Kakor koli gre za popolnoma oseben pogled in videnje zadnjega Avantasia albuma, ki ga nikakor ne želim vsiljevati drugim, se mi pa zdi, da bi bilo vredno biti malo bolj prizanesljiv in spoštljiv pri ocenjevanju truda umetnikov v metalu, sploh v današnjih časih, ko je vsega drugega “sr….” res preveč.
Če pa premorejo tudi v živo biti še vedno tisti pravi, pa bom preveril z obiskom dveh njihovih koncertov v prihajajočih dneh.
Lep pozdrav.
Pošteno. Naj samo pojasnim pomen padlega heroja. Tobi se je nehal ukvarjati (ali pa se je hotel nehati) s power metalom, ker je doseg občinstva v tem žanru premajhen. Ko pa je pogruntal, da ga zapuščajo orto oboževaci, se je k temu nejevoljno vrnil. Vsaj tako se zdi. LP