For other uses, see Avantasia (disambiguation).

Avantasia
Avantasia in Fulda, Germany - December 12, 2010
Background information
Origin	Germany
Genres	power metal, symphonic metal, heavy metal, hard rock
Years active	1999–present
Labels	AFM, Nuclear Blast
Members	Tobias Sammet Sascha Paeth Miro Russell Gilbrook
Past members	See: Members
Website	www.tobiassammet.com

Avantasia is a heavy metal/hard rock supergroup project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist of the band Edguy. Avantasia is often referred to as a rock opera, as it features the participation of many renowned vocalists and musicians.

The project's title is a portmanteau of the words "avalon" and "fantasia" ("fantasy") and describes "a world beyond human imagination" (a quotation from the booklet).

The project consists of three different installments. The first is a self-titled single and two full-length albums with the subtitle The Metal Opera. The second consists of the EPs Lost in Space Part I & II and the The Wicked Trilogy, composed of the albums The Scarecrow, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon. The third installment begins with the full-length album The Mystery of Time.^[1]

In Spring 1999, during Edguy's Theater of Salvation tour, Tobias Sammet began to write down his ideas for a metal opera, a concept album with many guest musicians. When the tour finished he carried this plan out, recruiting well-known metal vocalists like Michael Kiske, Andre Matos, Kai Hansen, Rob Rock, David Defeis, Sharon den Adel, Bob Catley and Oliver Hartmann. The project was recorded with a core band of four members, including Sammet on keyboards and orchestrations, Henjo Richter on guitar, Markus Grosskopf on bass and Alex Holzwarth on drums. In 2001, a self-titled single and the first full-length album, The Metal Opera, were released.^[2] The project was completed with the release of The Metal Opera Part II in September 2002.

At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2008. Two EPs named Lost in Space Part I and Part II were released on November 19, 2007, while the full-length album, The Scarecrow, was released on January 25, 2008. The Scarecrow marked the first chapter of "The Wicked Trilogy" concept and was also the first of many Avantasia releases to feature Sascha Paeth on the role of main guitarist and producer. The album included guest performances by drummer Eric Singer, guitarists Henjo Richter and Rudolf Schenker and singers Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan, Amanda Somerville and Oliver Hartmann.^[3]

After the release of the The Scarecrow, Tobias Sammet was invited to perform a headlining show at Wacken Open Air, an offer that producer/guitarist Sascha Paeth convinced him to accept. That led to 13 shows between July 5 and August 13. The shows at Masters of Rock and Wacken Open Air were recorded and the live DVD The Flying Opera, based on the footage, was released in March 2011.

In November 2009, Sammet announced that he was recording two new albums, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon, to be released on April 3, 2010.^[4] The concept of the albums was a continuation of The Scarecrow story and these three albums together are often referred to as "The Wicked Trilogy".^[5] The special guests included drummers Eric Singer, Alex Holzwarth and Felix Bohnke, guitarists Bruce Kulick and Oliver Hartmann, keyboardist Jens Johansson and vocalists Jørn Lande, Russell Allen, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Klaus Meine, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Jon Oliva, Andre Matos, Cloudy Yang and Ralf Zdiarstek.^[6] The Scarecrow, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon are the most commercially successful Avantasia albums to date and have scored high positions in international music charts.^[7]

A 12 show tour of Europe, South America and Asia took place during December 2010, with the exception of one concert at the Wacken Open Air festival in August 2011. The concerts lasted for almost three hours and many of them were sold out days before.^[8] The ensemble was almost the same as on The Scarecrow Tour in 2008, with two changes. Andre Matos was replaced by ex-Helloween and current Unisonic singer Michael Kiske. With Kai Hansen also participating on this tour, there were a lot of instances when the two ex-Helloween members shared the same stage. The second change was the fact that Cloudy Yang was not part of the line-up.

Both tours were closely documented by Amanda Somerville on her YouTube channel.^[9] The videos show various interesting backstage moments such as rehearsals, cancelled flights, or the ensemble travelling by a regular train.

In August 2012 Sammet announced that "I didn‘t foresee how much I need Avantasia when I decided to finish this chapter of my life in 2011. After the worldwide success of the latest studio releases, an arena world tour that was sold out pretty much everywhere, collaborations with childhood heroes...I 'knew' that I had said everything I could possibly say in the name of Avantasia. But that's not what Avantasia is all about. I wanna create more great music, I wanna create more fantasy-worlds, the bigger and the more epic, the better. And listening to the material that I have created for this forthcoming chapter in the history of Avantasia, I know there is no way, I am not going to do it! I have got the feeling and the certainty, that this is absolutely meant to happen and to be."^[10]

During December 2012, it was revealed on Sammet's Avantasia website that the new album would be called The Mystery of Time and was due for release on March 30, 2013. The Mystery of Time marked the beginning of a new concept and was the first Avantasia release to feature the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg. The album included guest performances by drummer Russell Gilbrook, guitarists Bruce Kulick, Oliver Hartmann and Arjen Anthony Lucassen, while the guest vocalists were Joe Lynn Turner, Michael Kiske, Biff Byford, Ronnie Atkins, Eric Martin, Bob Catley and Cloudy Yang.^[11][12]

Avantasia’s biggest world tour will take place between April and August 2013. The tour consists of 30 concerts and includes 8 headlining festival appearances in Europe and 3 hour long shows in South America, Asia, Russia, Germany and Switzerland.^[13][14]

According to Sammet: "I wanna put on the biggest thing you have ever seen, I wanna bring more vocalists, play longer shows, and just make it a giant Rock Opera. I love to headline festivals, you run over people in 90 mminutes and kick ass. But I also like to do our own Avantasia indoor tour because we can make it much more Avantasia oriented and play almost three hours...It will be huge."^[15]

Avantasia's touring ensemble includes Sascha Paeth (guitars), Oliver Hartmann (guitars, vocals), Felix Bohnke (drums), Andre Neygenfind (bass), Miro (Keyboards) and vocalists Tobias Sammet, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Ronnie Atkins, Eric Martin, Thomas Rettke and Amanda Somerville.

• Tobias Sammet
  • Lead vocals (2001–present)
  • Bass guitar (2007–present)
  • Keyboards (2001–2002)
• Sascha Paeth
  • Guitars (2007–present)
  • Producer (2007–present)
• Russell Gilbrook
  • Drums (2013–present)
• Miro
  • Keyboards (2007–present)
  • Orchestration (2007–present)

• Tobias Sammet
  • Lead vocals (2001–present)
  • Bass guitar (2007–present)
  • Keyboards (2001–2002)
• Sascha Paeth
  • Guitars (2007–present)
  • Producer (2007–present)
• Eric Singer
  • Drums (2002, 2007–2010)
  • Vocals (2007)
• Miro
  • Keyboards (2007–present)
  • Orchestration (2007–present)

• Tobias Sammet
  • Lead vocals (2001–present)
  • Keyboards (2001–2002)
• Henjo Richter
  • Guitars (2001–2002, 2007–2010)
• Markus Grosskopf
  • Bass guitar (2001–2002)
• Alex Holzwarth
  • Drums (2001–2002, 2010)

• Tobias Sammet - vocals
• Andre Matos - vocals
• Jørn Lande - vocals
• Kai Hansen - vocals (only shows in Europe)
• Bob Catley - vocals (only shows in Europe and Asia)
• Oliver Hartmann - vocals & guitars
• Amanda Somerville - vocals & backing vocals
• Cloudy Yang - backing vocals
• Sascha Paeth - guitars
• Robert Hunecke-Rizzo - bass
• Miro - keyboards
• Felix Bohnke - drums

• Tobias Sammet - vocals
• Michael Kiske - vocals
• Jørn Lande - vocals
• Bob Catley - vocals
• Kai Hansen - vocals & guitars
• Oliver Hartmann - vocals & guitars
• Amanda Somerville - vocals
• Sascha Paeth - guitars
• Miro - keyboards
• Robert Hunecke-Rizzo - bass
• Felix Bohnke - drums

• The Metal Opera - 2001
• The Metal Opera Part II - 2002
• The Scarecrow - 2008
• The Wicked Symphony - 2010
• Angel of Babylon - 2010
• The Mystery of Time - 2013

• The Flying Opera - 2011

• Lost in Space Part I - 2007
• Lost in Space Part II - 2007

• Avantasia - 2000
• Lost in Space (Promo Single) - 2007
• Carry me Over (Promo Single) - 2007
• Dying for an Angel - 2010

• Lost in Space Part I & II - 2008
• The Metal Opera: Pt 1 & 2 – Gold Edition - 2008

• Tobias Sammet's official (Avantasia) website