Avantasia - Another Angel Down

There aren’t enough bands these days with the founder's name stuck on the front. It adds a touch of class, in a strange way, and certainly a slight intimidation factor, like a club bouncer with a pearl earring. Who is going to argue with the man who has his name literally on the band? Certainly not his bandmates, whose names are relegated to the album liners like a shameful secret, that’s for sure.

Of course, this is in jest; you’d be hard-pushed to find someone more fervently loving of his band and his craft than Tobias Sammet. Hell, when the German supergroup started back in 1999 with the former Edguy man (or Edman guy) at the front of it, it was supposed to be a fairly small scale affair. Two albums, studio only – knock that out and call it a day before whichever German soap opera starts the earliest. However, it is literally impossible to do anything related to the words “power metal opera supergroup” and it still remain small and Sammet created a beast that kept rearing its head and simply would not stop singing about angels.

With nine studio albums under their belt and still going strong as of 2022s A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society, Avantasia are a product of absolute passion and don’t look to be going away any time soon (thankfully). Along the way, they’ve performed with a veritable army of guest performers from all manner of crafts – vocalists, guitarists, drummers, probably a triangle player at some point. The most notorious of the lot is Jørn Lande, the immensely talented vocalist of Masterplan whose name must translate from Norwegian to “paid by the hour”. Quite why he hasn’t been considered a full-time member of the band when he probably has a car parking spot at the studio is anyone’s guess, but very few names spring to mind when you think of anyone you’d rather have keep turning up and making your music more epic.

Onto a pick more soaring and majestic than a large bird taking off from a symphony orchestra, then, Another Angel Down is guaranteed to get you through that Friday morning slump with a smile on your face. This one is about as power metal as it gets, folks – duelling, wailing guitars, huge vocal performances and more than one use of the word “tower”, repeated listens to this one might make your hair grow out and your trousers grow a few more buckles. Try to hit some of the high notes in the office, we dare you.