***POWER/ SYMPHONIC/ PROGRESSIVE METAL: Third wave of metal in Europe of the 90's/00's

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EDGUY + AVANTASIA

http://www.edguy.net/

www.myspace.com/edguy

http://www.myspace.com/tobiassammet

Savage Poetry (1995)
Kingdom of Madness (1997)
Vain Glory Opera (1998)
Theater of Salvation (1999)
The Savage Poetry (2000) (re-recorded Savage Poetry)
Mandrake (2001)
Hellfire Club (2004)
Rocket Ride (2006)

Edguy was founded in 1992 by 14-year-old students Tobias Sammet, Jens Ludwig, Dirk Sauer, and Dominik Storch. The name "Edguy" was an affectionate epithet for Mr. Edgar Zimmerer, their math teacher at the time. Until 1998, when Tobias Exxel joined the band, they had no bassist; Sammet played the bass lines on a keyboard.

After two demos the band received a contract with AFM Records in 1995. Its first two albums were not very successful, but with Vain Glory Opera in 1998 it achieved a breakthrough. After another two albums it received a contract with the German label Nuclear Blast in 2004.

In 2001/2002 Tobias Sammet released the first album of his side project Avantasia, a wide-scope metal opera including the participation of many famous musicians and achieving a fair amount of success.

Edguy toured with the well known power metal band DragonForce in early 2006 after the release of the latter's Inhuman Rampage album.

In July 2006, Edguy played at the Metalcamp festival in Slovenia, where they played a joke on fellow Germans Kreator, who followed. Sammet asked the audience to do him a favor: Once Kreator came on stage and played one song, the crowd was to start singing "Olé, olé, olé, olé". Not only did the crowd do this, but they continued to sing this following almost every song played by Kreator, prompting Mille Petrozza to stop and ask, "Is this still about the Edguy thing?"

Current members

Tobias Sammet - vocals
Jens Ludwig - lead guitar
Dirk Sauer - rhythm guitar
Tobias Exxel - bass guitar
Felix Bohnke - drums

Former members
Dominik Storch - drums (1992-98)
Frank Lindenthal - drums (session musician, 1998)

AVANTASIA

http://www.tobiassammet.com/

musicians

singers

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 was finished, he carried this plan out, recruiting well-known metal players like Kai Hansen and the ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske. The project was recorded with a core band of four members - Sammet playing keyboards and arranging orchestration, Henjo Richter playing guitar, Markus Grosskopf playing bass and Alex Holzwarth on drums. In 2001, the self-titled EP and the first full-length album, The Metal Opera, were released. The project was completed in September 2002 with the release of The Metal Opera Pt. II. At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2008. On March 24th 2007, the name was stated to be "The Scarecrow". The confirmed guests are Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paeth, drummer Eric Singer and singers Bob Catley, Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan and Oliver Hartmann

The project is described as a "Metal Opera" because it has an underlying plot and each role has its own singer, though it's not an opera by the classical definition. It's merely a collection of pieces, which refer to the individual points of the plot printed in the booklet.

From a stylistic view, the majority of the songs are melodic power metal meshed with a voluminous sound, many orchestral passages and choral parts, gaining Avantasia recognition as symphonic power metal. One song from each part, "Inside" and "In Quest For" respectively, is accompanied almost exclusively by piano. The first part also contains three short instrumental pieces.

The most complex piece is the first song of Part II, "The Seven Angels", featuring seven of the eleven singers. The song is over 14 minutes long and contains a classical "stanza/refrain" part, two guitar solos, choirs, a passage with piano accompaniment, and an epic finale. It also plays an important part in the plot, as it serves as summation of the first part, and has caused discussion due to the inclusion of lyrics not printed in the booklet.

Christendom and the Roman Catholic Church play an important role in the plot. Men of the Church like Pope Clement VIII are criticised for thinking that they hold the only truth and that they have to keep the normal people ignorant for their own good, not realising that the Church men themselves are too blinded to recognise the truth. Criticism like this appears very often in Sammet's works: many Edguy songs like "The Kingdom" (1996) or "Theater of Salvation" (1999) contain themes, plot and dialogue very similar to those found in Avantasia.

Tobias Sammet's new Avantasia album "The Scarecrow" has been officially one of the 20 best selling albums in whole Europe during the fourth week of January. The record label has just announced that it has also reached #27 in the Spanish album charts and #36 in the official charts in Norway. For the first time one of Tobias' releases has entered the Italian charts as well, on #65. To check the album click here! Official album chart positions so far read as follows:
#6 Czech Republic
#8 Germany
#10 Sweden
#10 Hungary
#16 Austria
#17 Switzerland
#26 Finland
#27 Spain
#29 England (Independent)
#36 Norway
#49 Japan
#50 Belgium
#58 France
#65 Netherlands
#65 Italy

Article ajouté le 2007-11-18 , consulté 43 fois

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