22. February 2025
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Media Review

Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society

Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society
4.6

Rating

 4.6/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great and versatile album
  • Amazing list of guest musicans
  • Wide range of sounds - even some folk and pop references

Avantasia is back… again and again and again… What started as a one album… or two album metal opera turned into one of Germany’s finest rock exports and one of the most remarkable super bands in the harder genres. Tobias Sammet gathered the superstars again for A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society – release date of the album is 21st October 2022

 

Avantasia – About The Artists

The story of Avantasia began  in the early 2000’s as a two piece metal opera project. Tobias Sammet of the band Edguy gathered some really big names of the genre for two albums. It obviously worked out much better than expected: Avantasia did several world tours and headlined the biggest rock festivals already. And, last but not least, A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society is already the ninth Avantasia album. Some more information can be found in my Moonglow review.

 

Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society – Track by Track

The eleven track album lasts 54 minutes.

1. Welcome To The Shadows

Could an Avantasia album open differently? Could it open? Welcome To The Shadows works with a nice contrast of hymnic stadium rock parts and very quiet elements, all made to sing along and get into the album. Great one.

2. The Wicked Rule The Night

There are a lot of rock and celebrities on this album again – Primal Fear’s Ralf Scheepers takes over a leading role in this second track of the album. The song has the presence of some of the Metal Opera days songs. Scheepers is just adding this special touch. Nice, speedy song.

3. Kill The Pain Away

Kill The Pain begins with choir vocals. However, this is not a harder version of a Gregorian album. After some 30 second, we Tobias Sammet leads us back into the typical sound of this project. With the chorus latest you feel the Avantasia vibes strongly again – even though the choir does get some additional presence during the 3:43 minute song. Lovely collaboration of Tobas Sammet and Floor Jansen (Nighwish) in here.

4. The Inmost Light

Helloween’s Michael Kiske is one of the most frequent guest on Avantasia albums – and here he is again. The song feels so familiar – but why should you change a winning team? I don’t just mean Kiske and Sammet by that – also the style of the song. It just works. I am sure they do a similar one on the next one again – and I will love it.

5. Misplaced Among The Angels

What would Avantasia be without the emotional, the slow, the intense moments? Misplaced Among The Angels starts very quiet, before it develops to a beautiful power ballad. Great work.

6. I Tame The Storm

I Tame The Storm feels to be a bit harder and darker if you just listen to the first minute – but finally, it is a typical Avantasia song. Sammet nicely grants some vocal space to Norway’s Jorn Lande (Masterplan, Ark). The German just knows the right moment to for each and every artist.

7. Paper Plane

Metal opera? Power metal? This song about the Paper Plane is rather a mainstream popper. It is a nice showcase for Ronnie Atkins, who is incurably infected with lung cancer. This definitely raises the emotional level of this song. Metal fans are absolutely allowed to have a tear in their eyes while listening here.

8. The Moonflower Society

Apart from the massive closing song, this somehow-title track is the longest song of the album. The chorus is an amazing, the song itself has the potential for a metal musical – wouldn’t that be a nice Avantasia spin-off, Mr. Sammet?

9. Rhyme And Reason

Another big name of rock music is part of Rhyme And Reason – Mr. Big’s Eric Martin, who has been touring with the band several times as well. The song is just right for traditional Avantasia listeners – a straight and nicely set up power metal experience.

10. Scars

Scars is a very smart recording. It does not need to head for the hardest riffs to became a very fascinating recording. Beautiful, very fluent melodic line. The song felt a bit like a chucker-out at first listen – before I more and more felt it is a great reason to stay and listen on to the album.

11. Arabesque

The last dance – Tobias Sammet are inviting you to Arabesque. there are oriental parts, even the bagpipes have some presence. The whole closing song trip exceeds a ten minute duration – but Arabesque is not boring or feels too long in any way. Great.

 

Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society – Spotify

Here is the album on Spoitify:

 

Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society – My View

Even though I loved the title track, I struggled a bit with the whole album when I reviewed Moonglow in early 2019. Three years later, I just can state that this album brings Avantasia back into the Top Pick! ratings. Tobias Sammet is just a too good storytellers and feels to be smart enough to keep this bunch of outstanding musicians together. Love it!

 

Hard Rock & Metal Top Pick! Reviews

Here are all my Media Reviews related to Hard Rock & Metal, which lead to a Top Pick! rating:

 

Postings about Concerts

All postings about concerts I visited:

 

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