I’ve got a lot of time for Tobias Sammet. The Edguy front man has dived down a rabbit hole of mega proportions with his Avantasia project over the past 20 odd years, drawing in the cream of the rock world to sing on his elaborate and expansive albums. Having spent time writing, album number nine is another beautiful record of melodic hard rock.
A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society is the second album in the fourth chapter of concept albums and follows on directly from 2019’s Moonglow. Once more we journey with Sammet and the Avantasia family on another enchanted journey, exploring fantastic events and happenings. Over 53 minutes we experience more of the dramatic elements that are now part of the lore of Avantasia, a true rock opera.
As always, Sammet brings back numerous members of the family to provide the vocals. In this edition we have several returning singers as well as some who are making their Avantasia debut. It’s Sammet who takes the lead on the opening track “Welcome to the Shadows”, a stirring and dramatic start which leads to the powerful “The Wicked Rule the Night”. It’s a warm welcome to Primal Fear’s Ralf Scheepers who delivers a majestic performance on a track that fits him like a glove. Battering ram drumming, heavy riffs, and blistering pace work hand in hand with Scheepers screams, his interplay with Sammet explosive. There’s some sweet lead guitar work from regular member Sascha Paeth, who also contributes pass throughout the album. Paeth sits alongside Sammet as producer on the album and as you’d expect its crisp and high quality.
The first of two tracks to feature Nightwish singer Floor Jansen follows on “Kill the Pain”, with her fantastic vocals perfectly suited to another vibrant song. It’s got a bit of everything, including some delicious operatic elements and Jansen’s delivery is first class. A song that Sammet wrote quickly to fit Jansen’s vocals, it works well. The other track that Jansen sings on is the ballad “Misplaced Amongst the Angels”, which sees Sammet duet with the Nightwish singer.
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A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society is another album written in the past two years, allowing Sammet the luxury of time to craft and sculpt his songs. “I was faced with more time than ever before,” he said. “So, I was paying as much attention to details and little things as I had in my early years. On the last records, I outsourced certain things to my producer Sascha Paeth, mostly just to save time. However, now I didn’t have to save time. There hasn’t been a record that sounded so much like me.” It shows with a polished piece of work that stands amongst Avantasia’s best releases.
The enthusiasm flows through the record. There’s plenty of power. “The Inmost Light” sees Michael Kiske return, whilst stalwart Bob Catley brings his legendary voice to “The Moonflower Society”. And then there’s the epic “Arabesque” which ends the album. A ten-minute classic, featuring Kiske and Jorn Lande, it’s a rolling, Eastern infused track that draws another quality release to a close.
Sammet may well pinch himself about the way his life has evolved. “Even after 30 years, music is my favourite, biggest, only hobby. And the fact that I can make a living from it fills me with deep gratitude.” But this isn’t a career made of luck, but of hard graft and no little desire and drive. A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society is another fitting record from one of rock music’s most enigmatic, talented, and amazing musicians.
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A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society is out on October 21st
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