Review: Avantasia – Here Be Dragons
Napalm Records (February 28th, 2025)
Reviewer: Jason Hopper
Tobias Sammet is back with his band Avantasia and they are on the cusp of celebrating a quarter century of perfecting symphonic and cinematic metal melodies with their latest release, ‘Here Be Dragons’.
If you are reading this review, there is a good chance you are familiar with the band and their sound. There are no big surprises here, but Avantasia is practically its own brand, with a sound that taps into different genres without losing its melodic undertones. Nobody does what they do.
With opening track ‘Creepshow’ having been out for a few months, the only thing I will add is that it is the shortest and simplest song on the album and the closest to a pop hook you will find. Let’s begin this review with the “epic” song of the album, the nearly nine-minute title track. With Geoff Tate along for the ride, the song incorporates various melodies which is to be expected in a song of this length. I tend to not care for songs that overstay it’s welcome but found all parts of the song to be engaging, and that’s to the credit of Tobias Sammet. He has mastered the craft of the melody and never strays too far from what makes a song catchy, which can easily happen when you have a song with numerous tonal changes.
Most co-singers play it safe on the album. ‘Bring On the Night’ is right in Bob Catley’s wheelhouse and could easily be included on a Magnum album. Michael Kiske sings on ‘The Moorlands at Twilight’, which is right in line with his work in Helloween and has one of my favorite bridge/chorus sections on the album. Melodic speed metal at its finest. One that bucks this trend is ‘Against the Wind’, which gives H.E.A.T’s Kenny Leckremo the chance to cut loose on some power metal, which suits him just fine as he lowers his register a bit to fit the style. I would love to know if certain tracks were constructed by Tobias with certain singers in mind or if he gave them a choice in selecting tracks and let them make up their minds on which tracks to participate.
There are two tracks where Tobias goes it alone. One is the lead single ‘Creepshow’ and the other is ‘Unleash the Kraken’. With a title like that, you best be bringing the thunder, and Tobias does in spectacular fashion. A tremendous display of speed/power metal up there with the best Avantasia has ever released. The way he screams the title in the first chorus has such unbridled restraint that my mouth simultaneously dropped open and formed a Cheshire grin. It’s the track that stuck with me and bounced around my head hours after I listened to it. He only repeats the chorus twice and was hoping for a concluding one, but it never comes and that’s about the only negative aspect of the song.
The album closes with the piano-based power ballad ‘Everybody’s Here Until the End’, showing once again the versatility Tobias has with mastering various subgenres with ease. Hard rock, ballads, traditional metal, power metal…the man can handle it all. He and Roy Khan sound terrific together, adding a degree of compassion to the softer elements and giving the right amount of power in the crescendo. A beautiful way to end another great album in their collection.
Tobias has been at this for decades and has honed his skills along the way, improving his material output to the point where there is no doubt that you will get a spectacular recording from him. My favorite is still 2016’s ‘Ghostlights’ but this album comes close to that masterpiece. Tobias understands the dynamics of various metal genres and the importance of melody for a proper hook and chorus. Do you like the choruses of the songs that have been released thus far? There’s more of that where that came from. Another fantastic album from the band.
Tracklist:
- Creepshow
- Here Be Dragons (Feat. Geoff Tate)
- The Moorlands at Twilight (Feat. Michael Kiske)
- The Witch (Feat. Tommy Karevik)
- Phantasmagoria (Feat. Ronnie Atkins)
- Bring On the Night (Feat. Bob Catley)
- Unleash the Kraken
- Avalon (Feat. Adrienne Cowan)
- Against the Wind (Feat. Kenny Leckremo)
- Everybody’s Here Until the End (Feat. Roy Khan)
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