Avantasia Biography

Avantasia 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 second studio album The Scarecrow. Two new albums, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon are due to be released on April 3, 2010.

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”.The Scarecrow is a new story, unrelated to the previous, and tells of a lonely scarecrow seeking company in friends. The album was released on January 25, 2008, and includes special guests Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paeth, drummer Eric Singer, and singers Bob Catley, Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan, Amanda Somerville and Oliver Hartmann.

In the fall of 2009, Sammet announced the release of two new albums, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon, to be released on April 3, 2010. The story is set as a continuation of The Scarecrow. Some of the special guests have been announced: drummers Eric Singer, Alex Holzwarth and Felix Bohnke, keyboardist Jens Johansson of Stratovarius, as well as vocalists Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Jørn Lande, Tim “Ripper” Owens, Klaus Meine, Russell Allen, and Andre Matos.

Members

Current members/The Scarecrow saga

Tobias Sammet

• Lead vocals (1999-present)
• Bass guitar (1999-present)
• Keyboards (1999-2002)

Sascha Paeth

• Guitars (2006-present)
• Producer (2006-present)

Eric Singer

• Drums (2002), (2006-present)
• Vocals (2007)

Miro

• Keyboards (2006-present)
• Orchestration (2006-present)

The Metal Opera members

• Henjo Richter – Guitars (2000-2002)
• Markus Grosskopf – Bass guitar (2000-2002)
• Alex Holzwarth – Drums (2000-2002)