AVANTASIA — The Mystery of Time (review)

AVANTASIA — The Mystery of Time album cover Album · 2013 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
On The Mystery of Time, Avantasia assemble all the ingredients of something embarrassingly cheesy - it's a concept album! There's a choir/orchestra! There's Rodney Matthews cover art featuring goblins and treasure! There's an Ayreon-like cast of singers! - but arrive at an end product which certainly delivers all of that.

Power metal majesty, prog metal adventurousness, and rock opera ambition inform the compositions, resulting in a compelling sound which at its best makes me want to hear more from this project - and from parent band Edguy, for that matter. As with Ayreon's projects, the large number of vocalists can tend to make the project seem a little prone to stunt casting, though it's always nice to hear Michael Kiske doing his thing.

That said, whilst at some points Avantasia show a more subtle touch, at others they bring the full-on pomp and cheese turned up to 11, as is only to be expected - it will scratch the itch for a prog-tinged power metal rock opera when you're in the mood for that, but if you aren't in just the right receptive mood it will struggle to win you over.
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Warthur wrote:
more than 2 years ago
That's probably where the mistake came in - I did check the album's page on wikipedia to make certain I had the personnel right, but then I started browsing the rest of their discography and Ripper's name jumped out at me.
adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Tim may be heard on The Wicked Symphony though, if you haven't heard that one.
Warthur wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Nice catch, thanks.
adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Tim Owens isn't on this album.

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