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The Mystery of Time is the sixth full-length album by German Metal Opera project Avantasia. The album was released in 2013 and is the start a new story by creator Tobias Sammet and his collaborators, completely unrelated to the original two part concept The Metal Opera or The Wicked Trilogy which concluded in 2010 with the release of two albums simultaneously, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon. Avantasia was very nearly laid to rest after this, as it had been once before, however Tobias changed his mind and so The Mystery of Time was born. Guests this time around include some Avantasia veterans such as Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween, Unisonic) and Bob Catley (Magnum), as well as some newbies, including Saxon’s Biff Byford and Ayreon mastermind Arjen Anthony Lucassen (playing a guitar solo). The core band has changed a little with drummer Eric Singer being replaced by Russell Gilbrook (Uriah Heep).
If you’re at all familiar with the last couple of Avantasia releases, then The Mystery of Time will likely come across as being quite the typical sounding Avantasia release. Essentially refusing to stick to any one particular genre, the album mixes elements of melodic heavy metal, power metal, symphonic metal and hard rock, with very occasional and subtle progressive influences (especially in the first couple of tracks), as well as one unashamedly pop/rock song in the form of Sleepwalking.
The end result sounds like the natural continuation of the last couple of albums. There are a few clear power metal songs which are a throwback to the original Avantasia sound, but there always has been on the post-Metal Opera albums so that’s not anything new. The Mystery of Time most definitely isn’t the return to playing power metal that I’m sure the fans of the first two albums would have been hoping for, nor is it even a mostly power metal affair as with The Scarecrow, as aside from the occasional burst of speed there are only actually three clearly defined power metal songs here (The Watchmakers' Dream, Where Clock Hands Freeze, Invoke the Machine). The majority of the music is melodic heavy metal which has a near constant hard rock sort of vibe to it, a sound that Avantasia has become rather adept at by this point, and this is something which works very much in the album’s favour, although what power metal songs are here do stand out as clear highlights.
The compositions themselves don’t manage to rival the best work of Avantasia, but The Mystery of Time easily stands as the most consistent release since The Scarecrow. I did enjoy The Wicked Symphony but felt that it was a step down in terms of overall quality, while Angel of Babylon come over as being very patchy; a weak way to end The Wicked Trilogy, as if Tobias had stretched his ideas too thinly by releasing two albums at once. The break between albums seems to have worked wonders though. While there are still a couple of songs which don’t stand up to the best the best of the bunch (Sleepwalking, What’s Left of Me), we’re talking many more really good ones than not, especially The Watchmakers' Dream, Invoke the Machine and the two epics of the album, Savior In The Clockwork and The Great Mystery.
It has taken me a few listens to get into, but that’s a good thing as the returns have been increasingly better, whereas The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon left good first impressions and had diminishing returns. I’d actually say that The Mystery of Time is the third strongest Avantasia release to date. Let’s just hope that if Tobias has a sequel planned for this one it isn’t another case of diminishing returns as with The Metal Opera and The Wicked Trilogy. An exceptional grade rating is deserved.
85/100
(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/avantasia-the-mystery-of-time-t2887.html))