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 Post subject: Timo Tolkki's Avalon
PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 7:58 pm 
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Metal Fighter

Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:05 am
Posts: 350
Location: Finland
He's back!

TIMO TOLKKI RETURNS WITH A STUNNING SYMPHONIC METAL OPERA « THE LAND OF NEW HOPE » DUE OUT ON FRONTIERS IN MAY

Frontiers Records is excited to announce the release of TIMO TOLKKI’S AVALON stunning new Metal Opera entitled “The Land of New Hope” on May 17th in Europe and May 21st in North America.

Hailed by fans and press as one of the forefathers of the Power Metal genre with his songwriting for the band STRATOVARIUS in the late 90’s and early 00’s, Timo Tolkki has been silently preparing his musical revenge. Following a call in august 2012 from Frontiers Records President Serafino Perugino, Tolkki quickly cancelled all plans and started writing new music following an original concept discussed years ago between the artist and Perugino. The idea was to have a magniloquent metal / rock opera with some cinematic orchestrations to bring back the STRATOVARIUS original sound in a more symphonic and grandiose fashion. “I sort of rediscovered myself musically in the process of making this album”, explains Tolkki. “I wrote the story first and started composing the music after that. My aim was to write memorable songs with good melodies that would support the story. In STRATOVARIUS back in early 90’s, I was one of those who were there in creating the whole Power Metal genre, so it is natural that people may associate this music style to me. But on this album you will find a lot of different dynamics as well with some songs that are fully orchestrated and sound very very big”.

For this unique album, Tolkki managed to gather some of the most renowned singers around including Michael Kiske (UNISONIC), Elize Ryd (AMARANTHE), Rob Rock (IMPELLITTERI), Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X), Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION) and Tony Kakko (SONATA ARCTICA).

Rounding up the stunning line-up of this album are: Alex Holzwarth (RHAPSODY of FIRE) on drums and Jens Johansson (STRATOVARIUS), Derek Sherinian (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION), Mikko Härkin (SONATA ARCTICA) on keyboards, with Tolkki taking care of all guitars and bass recordings and of course production duties.

Anticipated by a sequence of Youtube trailers which have already ignited the interest among the fans, “The Land of New Hope” opens a new chapter in Tolkki’s career and perspectives, with the Finnish artist regaining full artistic credibility with his own music and performances. Tolkki says: “The Land of New Hope album is one part of the story, the end of it actually. The story is longer and goes back to the time before this album’s story, so 2 more Metal Operas are likely to follow to complete a trilogy. In generally, I find the Metal Opera concept fascinating and logical to me at this point of my career. I love classical music and just like in Classical Opera, in the Metal Opera you can also create stories and have almost limitless possibilities musically. It is not so easy to stay fresh after 25 years career, but this album is truly something special”.

My personal favorite, To the edge of the Earth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RbAutjKz7Q


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat May 18, 2013 7:58 am 
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Karma Whore
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Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:11 am
Posts: 3884
Location: From the sunshine state of Euphoria
Sounds nice :dio: he can actually make good music when he keeps his manic depression in check.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2013 1:36 am 
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Metal Slave

Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:56 pm
Posts: 65
Yeah, that's not bad :)

Not astoundingly good, but not bad either


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 22, 2013 4:42 pm 
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Metal Slave

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:58 pm
Posts: 63
Is it just me or does Tony Kakko's voice sound a tad different from usual? It's not that I dislike it, I just would've never guessed it was him singing in those songs. Is it the higher pitch than usual, perhaps?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat May 25, 2013 7:33 pm 
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Metal Fighter

Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:05 am
Posts: 350
Location: Finland
Dare I say it, this is probably the best album Tolkki's done since Elements part 1. So damn good!


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 Post subject: rob rock!
PostPosted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 2:30 am 
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Svartalfar

Joined: Tue Jun 04, 2013 2:26 am
Posts: 2
Location: Brazil
It's a good album! I also love the fact that rob rock sings on it, since he is an amazing singer, a great inspiration and was totally missed in the last avantasias.

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 Post subject: Re: Timo Tolkki's Avalon
PostPosted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:57 am 
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Einherjar

Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:26 am
Posts: 2491
I'm really interested in hearing it. I read his book recently and bipolar disorder sound extremely scary and just a terrible way of living, going through cycles of heaven and hell, then the cure turns out to be a prison. I just feel so sorry for anyone that has to make that decision. These poor people have to pick their sanity and safety and sacrifice basic joy and any feelings of exhilaration pretty much, just to be productive and functional.

I wish he would have gotten Luppi involved after the classical themes thing was cancelled, but I guess he went with other people because their fans will buy his record. It sucks, but that's the reason for these decisions now. Owens keeps getting work because it puts bands on the same family tree as Priest and maybe priest completists and diehards will make it more commercially viable and the fans owens sucked up from those days will support him. That's a huge sticking point.

I still find it a bit off-putting that everyone is stealing at least part Arjen Lucassen's cast from his "Ayreon" epic cycle, besides the fact they are basically doing the same concept, which would be way cooler if some of these guys were really original and put together different groups of singers.

It's like the session guest vocalist playing a part in a power-prog epic has an A list now that you need to sell records, or something, because Ayreon made it work and when they tried to do it a different way, like with Soulspell's first record, it totally bombed. Of course the second album had the same people you can easily guess.

I love all those bands though and will surely like this, but a little more variety is all I'm saying.

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