AVANTASIA: Here Be Dragons

[KingsGene]

Tobias Sammet’s AVANTASIA Announce Here Be Dragons Album And Arena Tour For 2025​

"... In March 2025, Avantasia are going to ring in a new age in the spooky and enchanting lands of Avantasia, embarking on an arena world tour in support of their 10th studio album, Here Be Dragons, which is currently in the works and will be released early next year....

Tobias Sammet states:

This year’s summer festival season has been only the beginning of a new era of Avantasia, an appetizer so to speak. The shows of our own Here Be Dragons tour are going to be the real deal, a trip to a world of wonder where people can forget about everything else in their real lives and join me on the other side. It’s an immersive experience with special effects and a huge production, bigger and better than anything we’ve ever done. And: there is amazing new music in the works; anthemic and epic songs that will fit in seamlessly with our classics and some almost forgotten songs that may make it into the live setlist as well. I can’t wait to finish and unleash our brand new album Here Be Dragons to the world and take this new stage spectacle to the road. Yes indeed, Avantasia is back![\QUOTE]

 

[KingsGene]

Tobias Sammet’s AVANTASIA Ink Deal With Napalm Records​

"... Having cemented the band’s standing as a leading force in the metal scene over the years, Avantasia is not showing any signs of slowing down. The band has an extensive European arena tour scheduled for spring 2025, promising to deliver fans an immersive experience through their biggest and most epic production ever. Stay tuned for information about Avantasia’s Napalm Records debut coming soon and get your tickets for the “Here Be Dragons” tour now....

Tobias Sammet comments :

Avantasia is back, and with the biggest show we've ever put on during this year's festival season, we've already given you a taste of what's to come. Fueled by the incredible spirit and energy of our tour, we headed back to the studio to channel that momentum into creating our most powerful album yet: Here Be Dragons. We're also thrilled to announce our new partnership with Napalm Records. Their passion, commitment, and deep love for the world of Avantasia have been truly inspiring and they’re just as enthusiastic as we are to bring this new chapter to life. I couldn’t be more excited about the future. Avantasia is back, bigger and stronger than ever!

2025 tour dates:

March
14 - Hamburg, Germany - Sporthalle
15 - Brussels, Belgium - AB Box
16 - Paris, France - Olympia
18 - Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg - Rockhal
20 - Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
21 - Bamberg, Germany - Brose Arena
22 - Bochum, Germany - RuhrCongress
24 - London, England - The Roundhouse
26 - Tilburg, Netherlands - O13
28 - Stuttgart, Germany - Schleyerhalle
29 - Prague, Czech Republic - Forum Karlin

April
1 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra
2 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer
4 - Munich, Germany - Zenith
5 - Frankfurt am Main, Germany - Jahrhunderthalle
6 - Cologne, Germany - Palladium
8 - Milan, Italy - Alcatraz
9 - Zurich, Switzerland - The Hall
11 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
12 - Madrid, Spain - Vistalegre

 

[KingsGene]

Tobias Sammet’s AVANTASIA To Release Here Be Dragons Album In February; Details Revealed​

"... Leading rock and metal force, Avantasia, is set to unleash their bombastic 10th studio album and Napalm Records debut, Here Be Dragons, on February 28. Featuring absolute Avantasia essentials such as spellbinding choirs and theatrical symphonic metal elements, multitalented mastermind and frontman Tobias Sammet also surprises fans old and new with plenty of intriguing fresh soundscapes. Here Be Dragons gives the celebrated Avantasia sound that has been carefully crafted over a quarter of a century an exciting and powerful spin. The new album is the most consistent and concise piece of art that the band has ever crafted...."

Tobias Sammet comments:

This new album carries the most adventurous and bold spirit my music has had in decades. And it's rather reckless, fearless, powerful, and uplifting and not introverted at all. While my previous albums allowed me to get a lot off my chest, this time I dove headfirst into the creative flood, crafting ten discrete, musical pictures, that miraculously merged into what I believe is the tightest chapter in Avantasia’s history. I did everything exactly how I wanted it, approaching the album with unrelenting determination and a carefree attitude, that was reminiscent of my early days way before the Metal Opera thing, when I felt unstoppable and let instinct just write songs. Right now I’m bursting with energy and can’t wait to unleash Here Be Dragons and then kick off the big tour with our new stage. We’ll present the new material alongside our classics and some rarities in the most spectacular stage show Avantasia has ever delivered. An early Merry Christmas, everyone!

Pre-order here.

 

[Cronopio]

Here's the tracklist:

01. Creepshow
02. Here Be Dragons
03. The Moorland at Twilight
04. The Witch
05. Phantasmagoria
06. Bring on the Night
07. Unleash the Kraken
08. Avalon
09. Against the Wind
10. Everybody's Here Until the End

Hopefully there will be some power metal on this. I wouldn't mind him revisiting the sound of Mystery of Time, to be honest.

 

[KingsGene]

Tobias Sammet’s AVANTASIA Release "Creepshow" Single And Music Video​

Tobias Sammet on the single and video:

'Creepshow' is a perfect single. It’s short and catchy, and it emphasizes a facet of my work that has taken a backseat in my music in recent years. It’s light-hearted and the opposite of melancholic. And it's fresh, boisterous and unabashed - a straightforward kick-ass anthem. Also, even though it may seem like a reminiscence of my earlier writing, I think we managed to turn the whole thing into a trademark Avantasia tune, as we accentuated with the music video. We rented a haunted castle in North England and celebrated a night in the world of spectres and undead creatures. This is the most vibrant and eccentric music video I’ve ever shot in my entire career, not dead-serious, but certainly of serious quality! I can’t wait to play 'Creepshow' live on our tour next year, I can already see the whole venue jumping up and down and screaming along!

 

[KingsGene]

AVANTASIA - Here Be Dragons Title Track Features GEOFF TATE, “Is The Longest Song On The Album,” Says TOBIAS SAMMET​

Writes Sammet, Track by Track:

‘Here Be Dragons’ is the longest song on the album and features a great duet with my good friend and one of my vocal heroes since his early days in Queensrÿche, Mr. Geoff Tate, who’s outdone himself on the track. It’s a groovy mid-tempo song with enchanting melodies, orchestral elements, big keyboard passages and a powerful guitar riffing driving the main parts of the song. Even though you can hear some classic Dio, Queensrÿche and even Marillion elements in there, it’s a typical Avantasia song and a very unqiue one. It has two different choruses and a very emotional and big sounding mid-section. The song wasn’t meant to be that long, but there isn’t a single note I would change or leave out if I listen to the final result now.

 

[KingsGene]

AVANTASIA – “The Moorlands At Twilight” Features MICHAEL KISKE, “A Rampant Speed Metal Anthem,” Says TOBIAS SAMMET​

Sammet writes:

Track by Track: ‘The Moorlands At Twilight’ is a really rampant speed metal anthem with my lovely brother in Avantasia since the early days, Michael Kiske delivering a killer vocal performance. I guess that type of music is just in my DNA and even though it's a classic Avantasia song I think that the atmosphere is different to anything we've done before. I can hear some early Helloween influence in there, even though the song is very unique with its playful neo-classical elements and wild approach. Also, the lead guitars are extreme and quite virtuous: Sascha Paeth and Arne Wiegand have delivered an extensive, fast and hymnic axe battle that made my jaw drop. When ‘power metal’ is done like that, I absolutely love it!

 

[KingsGene]

AVANTASIA – TOBIAS SAMMET Reveals Former KAMELOT Vocalist ROY KHAN To Guest On New Track​

Track by Track: ‘Everybody's Here Until The End’! When the album was almost done I felt that we had a lot of furious and fast material, and I thought that I was still in need of a grand finale for an epic ending, something conciliatory and big, and I sat down on my piano and started to play a ballad which would eventually grow from a piano piece into a monumental power ballad. It's a very personal song but eventually I wanted a duet partner who would add more depth. And I reached out to an old acquaintance to the Avantasia family, the mighty Roy Khan (ex-Kamelot) to help me shape this song to an amazing finale of an enchanting album. I think it's one of the most moving and emotional, and yet biggest ballads I have ever done.

 

[KingsGene]

AVANTASIA’s TOBIAS SAMMET On New Song “Bring On The Night” – “BOB CATLEY Had Tears In His Eyes When He Sang It”​

".. Avantasia continues with track-by-track description of a new song from the upcoming Here Be Dragons album. Magnum’s Bob Catley stars on “Bring Me The Night” – a tribute to the late Tony Clarkin...."

Sammet writes:

Track by Track: ‘Bring On The night’ was written on the evening of July 6th, 2024 within a few hours as a heartfelt tribute to Magnum and the late Tony Clarkin. I dive deeper into the background story in the Artbook version of the new album, but in brief words: the song came to me within minutes in an almost spiritual way, and I just had to capture it and turn it into an Avantasia tune.

I wanted to do it justice and used the sounds and keyboards played on classic ‘80s Magnum records, and of course there would be only one singer in the world, who could sing that song with me, the undisputed king of magic, the storyteller on a storyteller's night: my dear friend and partner for 25 years now, Birmingham's finest: Mr. Bob Catley. It's such a wonderful song, anthemic, melancholic, quite a bit ‘80s... or better: timeless. This kind of approach and the magic you feel when a piece of music is given to you out of nowhere and it all comes together, those are the sacred moments in music that drive me.

Bob had tears in his eyes when he sang it, and I was trying to hide mine behind my goggles when I was sitting next to him. It's just so beautiful. Bob, I love you for rocking my world and being the friend and inspiration you are, I can't wait until March to hit the road with you again!

 

[KingsGene]

AVANTASIA – H.E.A.T.’s KENNY LECKREMO Revealed As Guest Vocalist On “Against The Wind,” “An Anthemic Powerful Speed Metal Rocket,” Says TOBIAS SAMMET​

Sammet writes:

Track by Track: ‘Against The Wind’ is an anthemic powerful speed metal rocket with some quite unique phrasings, melancholic melodies and very unusual twists and turns. It combines very early Avantasia trademarks with new elements and yet it somehow reminds me of the carefreeness of my very early songs. Also lyrically I reflect on where I come from, which approach I once set out with and how to be true to yourself despite the headwind and outside expectations. My friend Kenny Leckremo of H.E.A.T. is a wonderful duet partner on this one, it's got some challenging vocal lines and I think the two of us do a pretty good job together, conveying the two extremes of the song: Power and emotion!

 

[KingsGene]

AVANTASIA’s TOBIAS SAMMET On New Track “Unleash The Kraken” – “Old School, Not Modern!”​

"... Avantasia’s Tobias Sammet is back with another track-by-track description of a new song from the upcoming Here Be Dragons album. On “Unleash The Kraken”, Sammet handles the vocals himself as he boasts the song “has some of the heaviest and technically most demanding metal guitars” Avantasia has ever had...."

Sammet writes:

Track by Track: ‘Unleash The Kraken’ has some of the heaviest and technically most demanding metal guitars we've ever had in Avantasia. Old school, not modern! Sascha Paeth must be the eight-armed creature I conjure in the song. It's a real fast song and it's also got the highest and most extreme vocals I've ever come up with in my entire career. But despite its aggressive and angry elements, it's very melodic and hymnic.
‘Unleash The Kraken’ is one of two songs on the album that I'm singing by myself, and maybe this and the rampant riffing, along with the impetuous take-no-prisoners attitude make the song somewhat remind me of the faster stuff on albums such as Hellfire Club, just a notch wilder. Again, what Sascha does on guitars is out of this world, just like a crossbreed of Jeff Waters, Paul Gilbert and a rampaging mammoth! In the artbook version of the album you can read a lot more about the backgrounds of the songs.”

 

[Cronopio]

 

[KingsGene]

Tobias Sammet’s AVANTASIA Unleash New Single “Against The Wind” Feat. H.E.A.T.’s KENNY LECKREMO; Lyric Video​

 

[KingsGene]

TOBIAS SAMMET Unveils AVANTASIA Here Be Dragons Artbook (Video)​

 

[Cronopio]

That looks classy.

 

[Cronopio]

 

[Cronopio]

The big RETURN TO THE OPERA

Many press people say that HERE BE DRAGONS is my finest output of all, as it displays all of my trademarks and ploughs its way with sheer force and rampant carefreeness. Yet, they haven’t even heard the bonus material of our limited editions, and that is some of the best bonus stuff I have come up with:

RETURN TO THE OPERA is one of the songs, I did only after the main album was written and mostly recorded and we had to set up everything again. It was a bonus track, and I wrote Sascha a text message: "I’m gonna have a bottle of wine now and write a song that some people demand, and I want to finish it before the morning, including lyrics.“ And I did it. It was painting-by-numbers, yet after a short while I took it quite seriously and put my heart in it. The layout of the song was done in the morning and then we recorded everything within the next few days. When I played the bass I asked myself "What would Markus Großkopf of Helloween play?“. What would he have done on Keeper? What would he have done on Metal Opera? And in the end the song sounds like a pretty good mix of old Avantasia, old Edguy and old Helloween, with me doing all lead vocals and a nice backing choir myself, almost a bit operatic and Queenish. Not dead-serious, but a great experiment. The wine gets half of the credit, so if you want me to go "back to the roots“ (which is nonsense as it doesn't work) and I had to do a whole album like that I’d end up in a Betty Ford rehab center… The lyrics explain… Ha! Great song to be found on the limited edition Artbook, along with some other pretty decent bonus material. Conceptually it’s not exactly a part of the real album, but it’s quite a fun song - and really good I think...

 

[KingsGene]

Some more detail here....Tobias Sammet’s AVANTASIA Release New Single “The Witch” Feat. KAMELOT’s Tommy Karevik; Cinematic Music Video Streaming

Tobias Sammet:

’The Witch’ is a dark and enchanting song that carries many traditional Avantasia trademarks, and yet it has a sinister and magical mood that I think is somehow new in the world of Avantasia, while it perfectly blends with the rest of the album. Tommy Karevik of Kamelot did a wonderful job on this one and I can’t wait to sing this song with Tommy on our forthcoming tour. We’ll bring the great stage setting to turn the stage into the ghost infested old castle resembling the ancient building which we shot the stunning video clip for the track at. It’s a beautiful track, powerful, anthemic, melodic and full of eerie little details. I am extremely proud of the song and the whole album.

 

[KingsGene]

TOBIAS SAMMET Reveals How He Recruited HELLOWEEN’s MICHAEL KISKE For AVANTASIA’s Debut​

 

[KingsGene]

TOBIAS SAMMET – “We’ve Come Up With An Amazing Album”; AVANTASIA’s Here Be Dragons Available Now​

Here Be Dragons – now it’s yours! I’m listening to the album right now and we’ve come up with an amazing album. All the singers and players involved, I wanna thank YOU – my musical family! I love you all. Also, I just had to smile when listening to Moorlands at Twilight & Return To The Opera – Michi, Kai, Weiki, Markus… your inspiration will be in my DNA forever, Helloween invented that sound, period. It’s a wonderful piece of music and I wouldn’t change a single note, also thanks to my new record label Napalm and the team around me, you are working your butts off and I see myself staring at me from newsstands everywhere. And last but not least, thank YOU – my fans. You let me do what I love and support me, without you I’d have to be a plumber or a ticket inspector. Nothing wrong with it, but I prefer to be a troubadour! I am a blessed man. Love you all and now blast the new album. Here Be Dragons – out now!