Avalon (Finnish band)

Timo Tolkki's Avalon (also known simply as Avalon) is a Finnish metal opera project created by Timo Tolkki (formerly of Stratovarius, Revolution Renaissance and Symfonia) in 2013.[1]

Timo Tolkki's Avalon
OriginFinland
GenresSymphonic power metal
Years active2013–present
LabelsFrontiers
MembersTimo Tolkki
Websitetolkki.org

According to Tolkki "I find the Metal Opera concept fascinating and logical to me at this point of my career. I love classical music and just like in Classical Opera, in the Metal Opera you can also create stories and have almost limitless possibilities musically".[2]

History

Foundation and The Land of New Hope (2013)

The project, including its name, was conceived by Frontiers Records's founder Serafino Perugino in 2010. He called Tolkki back then and asked if he wanted to do a metal opera like that.[3]

The project's debut album, The Land of New Hope, was released on 17 May 2013 through Frontiers Records. The album features performances by vocalists Elize Ryd, Rob Rock, Michael Kiske, Russell Allen, Sharon den Adel and Tony Kakko, as well as the participation of guest musicians Alex Holzwarth on drums and both Jens Johansson and Derek Sherinian on keyboards.[4]

Tobias Sammet, German musician and mentor of Avantasia, another metal opera which had its 6th album released in March 2013, received the news of Timo Tolkki's own project with initial sarcasm, stating: "Wow, someone is extraordinarily creative here: the title, the guests, the timing... What a funny coincidence, isn't it?! But there have been thousands of Metal Operas, especially after Avantasia. Such is business...".[5] However, he later stated: "There are a lot of metal operas out there, and I have to deal with that. If something is very successful or even not successful then other people may feel inspired by it. It's Timo Tolkki (laughs) what can I say, he's a great guy and he does what he does. I wish him the best of luck."[6]

When asked about if he was aware that this project would be compared to Avantasia, Timo replied that "Nobody owns a franchise to 'metal operas' which is not really an operatic format because it doesn't have any real dialogue between the singers."[7]

Angels of the Apocalypse (2014)

In October 2013 Timo launched a news website for the project in which he announced the sequel to The Land of New Hope, which was provisionally titled Avalon II.[8] The cast of guest musicians will be revealed one by one.[8] Simone Simons of Epica fame is the first confirmed singer.[9] Floor Jansen will play the leading role.[10] It was also announced that Timo's former bandmates in Stratovarius, drummer Tuomo Lassila and keyboardist Antti Ikonen will play on this album.[11][12]

On 28 January Timo revealed title of the album (Angels of the Apocalypse) and the rest of the cast: Fabio Lione (Rhapsody of Fire, Angra), David DeFeis (Virgin Steele), Elize Ryd (Amaranthe) and Caterina Nix.[13] Timo also announced that there will be a contest for guitar and keyboard players, with the winners getting a chance to perform a solo with him in one of the songs.[13]

A European tour was planned for May 2014, coinciding with the release of the album.[10]

Return to Eden (2019) and The Enigma Birth (2021)

In early 2019, Timo Tolkki announced the third Avalon album and remaining part of the Avalon trilogy, Return to Eden, with the main working song, "Promises".[14][15]

The fourth Avalon studio album, The Enigma Birth was released on 18 June 2021, extending the Avalon conceptual saga.[16]

Members

Instrumentalists
Name Associated bands The Land of New Hope Angels of the Apocalypse Return to Eden The Enigma Birth
Finland Timo Tolkki Stratovarius, Revolution Renaissance, Symfonia, Allen-Lande guitar, bass guitar, bass guitar guitar
Germany Alex Holzwarth Rhapsody of Fire drums
Finland Mikko Härkin Sonata Arctica, Symfonia, Luca Turilli's Rhapsody keyboards
United States Derek Sherinian Dream Theater, Black Country Communion, Yngwie Malmsteen, Planet X, Sons of Apollo keyboard solo on track 8
Sweden Jens Johansson Stratovarius, Yngwie Malmsteen, Cain's Offering keyboard solo on track 8
Finland Sami Boman Silentium orchestration
Finland Tuomo Lassila Stratovarius drums
Finland Antti Ikonen Stratovarius keyboards
France Nicolas Jeudy orchestration
Italy Andrea Buratto Secret Sphere bass
Italy Giulio Capone Temperance drums, piano, keyboards
Finland Santtu Lehtiniemi additional guitar
Italy Aldo Lonobile Secret Sphere, Death SS guitar guitar
Italy Antonio Agate Secret Sphere, Icon & The Black Roses piano, keyboards, orchestration piano, keyboards, orchestration
Italy Andrea Arcangeli Concept, DGM bass
Italy Marco Lazzarini Secret Sphere drums, piano, keyboards
Italy Federico Maraucci additional guitar

Singers
Name Associated bands The Land of New Hope Angels of the Apocalypse Return to Eden The Enigma Birth
United States Rob Rock Impellitteri lead vocals on tracks 1–2, 4–5, 7-8
United States Russell Allen Symphony X, Adrenaline Mob, Allen-Lande, Star One lead vocals on tracks 1–2, 4
Germany Michael Kiske Unisonic, Place Vendome, Kiske/Somerville, Helloween lead vocals on track 10
Finland Tony Kakko Sonata Arctica lead vocals on track 5
Netherlands Sharon den Adel Within Temptation lead vocals on track 6
Sweden Elize Ryd Amaranthe lead vocals on tracks 1–4, 6, 9 lead vocals on tracks 9-10
Netherlands Floor Jansen Nightwish, ReVamp, After Forever, Star One, Ayreon lead vocals on tracks 3, 6–7, 10
Netherlands Simone Simons Epica lead vocals on tracks 9-10
United States David DeFeis Virgin Steele lead vocals on track 4
Italy Fabio Lione Rhapsody of Fire, Vision Divine, Angra lead vocals on tracks 1–2, 5 lead vocals on tracks 9, 12
Chile Caterina Nix Aghonya, Chaos Magic lead vocals on tracks 9-10 lead vocals on tracks 2-3
United States Zachary Stevens Circle II Circle, Savatage lead vocals on track 8 lead vocals on tracks 3, 6, 11
United States Todd Michael Hall Riot V lead vocals on tracks 2–3, 5
Netherlands Anneke van Giersbergen The Gathering, Anneke van Giersbergen lead vocals on tracks 4, 8
Italy Mariangela Demurtas Tristania lead vocals on tracks 3, 9, 12
Netherlands Eduard Hovinga Elegy lead vocals on tracks 7, 10
Italy Chiara Tricarico Temperance backing vocals on track 9
Canada James LaBrie Dream Theater, MullMuzzler lead vocals on track 5
Sweden Jake E ex-Amaranthe, Cyhra lead vocals on tracks 6, 10
Brazil Marina La Torraca Phantom Elite, Exit Eden lead vocals on tracks 7, 11
Canada Brittney Hayes Unleash the Archers lead vocals on tracks 3, 10
Brazil Raphael Mendes Icon of Sin lead vocals on tracks 4, 8
Norway PelleK lead vocals on track 1

Discography
Year Album Peak positions
BEL (Wa)
[17]		 FIN
[18]		 SWE
[19]		 SWI
[20]
2013 The Land of New Hope 102 7 42 59
2014 Angels of the Apocalypse — 42 — —
2019 Return to Eden — 7 — —
2021 The Enigma Birth — 46
[21]		 — 43

References
  1. Avalon - The Land of New Hope on May 17th March 14, 2013. Retrieved on March 29, 2013. Grande Rock.
  2. Timo Tolkki returns. Frontiers Records. Retrieved on March 30, 2013.
  3. Mäenpää, Arto (18 June 2021). Exclusive: Timo Tolkki interview about "The Enigma Birth". Chaoszine. YouTube. Event occurs at 4:10. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON: 'The Land Of New Hope' Details Revealed Blabbermouth.net. March 14, 2013. Retrieved on March 29, 2013.
  5. Nightangel (21 February 2013). "Exclusive Tobias Sammet (Avantasia) interview for Kiske Fanclub". Kiske Fanclub. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  6. Dean, Mark (23 March 2013). "Exclusive Interview with Tobias Sammet (Vocals) (Avantasia, Edguy)". My Global Mind. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  7. "Interview with Timo Tolkki". Metal Traveller. 11 May 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  8. "Launch of AVALON II". Avalon Opera.com. 5 October 2013. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  9. "First singer for Avalon II revealed!". Avalon Opera.com. 7 October 2013. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  10. "Floor Jansen is the main vocalist on Avalon II, the album and European tour planned for May 2014". Avalon Opera.com. 9 December 2013. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  11. "Tuomo Lassila Videogreeting". Avalon Opera.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  12. "Keyboardist Antti Ikonen joins Avalon line up and the Recordings of the new Avalon album start". Avalon Opera.com. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  13. "Timo Tolkki's Avalon reveals the album title and the rest of the cast". Timo Tolkki's Avalon official profile. Facebook. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  14. "TIMO TOLKki's New Album - AVALON - 'RETURN TO EDEN' to be Released 14th June | HEAVY Magazine". Archived from the original on 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  15. "TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON: 'Promises' Video Released". Blabbermouth.net. April 23, 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  16. "TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON Announces New Album 'The Enigma Birth' Feat. JAMES LABRIE, FABIO LIONE". Blabbermouth.net. April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  17. "Ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". Ultratop. Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  18. "Suomen Virallinen Lista". Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  19. "SwedishCharts.com: Avalon - The Land of New Hope - A Metal Opera page". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  20. "Swiss Charts - Albums Top 100 02.06.2013 - swisscharts.com". Archived from the original on 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  21. "Albumit 25/2021". Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
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