Avantasia

For other uses, see Avantasia (disambiguation).

Avantasia

Avantasia (Template:Pron-en) is a symphonic metal/power metal project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist and frontman of the power metal group Edguy. 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 a self-titled single, two full-length albums with the subtitle The Metal Opera, two EPs called Lost in Space, and the recently released album The Scarecrow.

Development

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 single 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 Part II. At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2008. On March 24, 2007, the name was confirmed to be "The Scarecrow".[1] The album was released on January 25, 2008, and includes special guests such as Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paeth, drummer Eric Singer, and singers Bob Catley, Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan, Amanda Somerville and Oliver Hartmann. Tobias Sammet has announced that a new album will be released by the end of 2009.

Members

• Tobias Sammet - Lead vocals, Keyboards, Bass guitar (1999-present)
• Sascha Paeth - Guitars (2007-present)
• Eric Singer - Drums (2002-present)

A number of musicians have worked for Tobias Sammet's Avantasia from the project inception in 1999 until the present.

Vocalists

Vocalist	Associated bands	Avantasia	The Metal Opera	The Metal Opera Part II	Lost in Space Part I	Lost in Space Part II	The Scarecrow	The Scarecrow Part II
Tobias Sammet	Edguy	all tracks	all tracks	all tracks	all tracks	all tracks	all tracks	all tracks
Michael Kiske	Helloween	2	2, 5, 6, 9, 13	1, 2		2	2, 3, 5
David DeFeis	Virgin Steele	3	3, 13	1, 5
Ralf Zdiarstek			4, 7	9
Sharon den Adel	Within Temptation		6	10
Rob Rock	Impellitteri		7	1, 6
Oliver Hartmann	At Vance		7, 12, 13	1			10
Andre Matos	Shaman, Angra, Viper		11, 12, 13	1, 2, 8
Kai Hansen	Gamma Ray, Helloween		11, 12	1, 8
Timo Tolkki	Stratovarius		13	1
Bob Catley	Magnum			3, 4	4		3, 9
Jørn Lande	Masterplan, ARK				3	2	2, 6, 8
Amanda Somerville	Aina				1, 4	1, 6	5, 11
Roy Khan	Kamelot						1
Alice Cooper							7
Eric Singer	KISS, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper				6
Klaus Meine	Scorpions Musicians Musician Associated bands Avantasia The Metal Opera The Metal Opera Part II Lost in Space Part I Lost in Space Part II The Scarecrow Tobias Sammet Edguy Keyboards (all) Keyboards (all) Keyboards (all) Bass (10) Bass (all) Bass (all) Bass (all) Henjo Richter Gamma Ray Guitars (all) Guitars (all) Guitars (all) Lead guitar (3) Lead guitar (2, 3, 4) Lead guitar (2, 3, 6, 7, 8) Markus Grosskopf Helloween Bass (all) Bass (all) Bass (all) Alex Holzwarth Rhapsody of Fire, Angra Drums (all) Drums (all) Drums (all) Jens Ludwig Edguy Lead guitar (12, 13) Lead guitar (5, 9) Norman Meiritz Acoustic guitar (6) Rhythm guitar (10) Frank Tischer Piano (11) Piano (1, 4, 7) Timo Tolkki Stratovarius Lead guitar (1, 10) Sascha Paeth Aina, Heaven's Gate, Kamelot Guitars (all) Guitars (all) Guitars (all) Eric Singer KISS, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper Drums (10) Drums (all) Drums (all) Drums (all) Michael "Miro" Rodenberg Aina, Kamelot Keyboards (all) Keyboards (all) Keyboards (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11) Kai Hansen Gamma Ray, Helloween Lead guitar (3) Rudolph Schenker Scorpions Lead guitar (10) Discography Studio Albums The Metal Opera - 2001 The Metal Opera Part II - 2002 The Scarecrow - 2008 TBA - 2010 EPs Lost in Space Part I (EP) - 2007 Lost in Space Part II (EP) - 2007 Singles Avantasia (Single) - 2001 Lost in Space (Promo Single) - 2007 Carry me Over (Promo Single) - 2007 Compilations The Metal Opera: Pt 1 & 2 - Gold Edition - 2008 Lost in Space Part I & II - 2008 See also Edguy References External links Tobias Sammet's official (Edguy & Avantasia) website