Avantasia - Moonglow (2019)

Avantasia is the market leader for making metal opera concept album, since their first debut in 2000. Moonglow is their 8th studio album, relased in 2019. As a big fans for Avantasia, I expected much that this album will still contained epic power metal stuffs. Sure it still does. Tobias Sammet continued to bring along his legion of Avantasian singers such as Jorn Lande, Bob Catley, Michael Kiske and others. The highlight is the addition of Candice Night that sing in their album title song, Moonglow.

My favorite is the first song, Ghost in the Moon and Moonglow . All songs written in the spirit of Avantasia operatic power metal style. Memorable choruses. Songs are more varied in this album than ever, from epic 11 minutes The Raven Child that sounds like Blind Guardian song, to the ballad piano Invincible performed by Geoff Tate, that sounds like Queensryche stuff.  Fans of Michael Kiske can cry joyfully for the song, Requeim for a Dream, which is one of the heaviest in the album. Another catchy song is Starlight, which have one of the best creative guitar riff that outstanding to the ear.

Moonglow is another epic continuation for Avantasia universe. Even though the same formula has been applied in numerous studio albums, the band still have brazen ideas to be baked into enjoyable power metal songs.

by @jullbei  for  metalharem.blospot.com

Avantasia - Moonglow (2019)
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 1. Ghost in the Moon
  2. Book of Shallows (feat. Hansi Kürsch , Ronnie Atkins , Jorn Lande & Mille Petrozza)
  3. Moonglow (feat. Candice Night)
  4. The Raven Child (feat. Hansi Kürsch & Jorn Lande)
  5. Starlight (feat. Ronnie Atkins)
  6. Invincible (feat. Geoff Tate)
  7. Alchemy (feat. Geoff Tate)
  8. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (feat. Ronnie Atkins, Jorn Lande, Eric Martin, Bob Catley & Geoff Tat
  9. Lavender (feat. Bob Catley)
  10. Requiem for a Dream (feat. Michael Kiske)
  11. Maniac (feat. Eric Martin)

    Tobias Sammet – lead vocals, additional keyboard, bass guitar
    Sascha Paeth – guitar, bass guitar
    Michael Rodenberg – keyboard, piano, orchestration
    Felix Bohnke – drums

Guest vocalists
    Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids)
    Jørn Lande (Jorn)
    Eric Martin (Mr. Big)
    Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche)
    Michael Kiske (Helloween)
    Bob Catley (Magnum)
    Candice Night (Blackmore's Night)
    Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian)
    Mille Petrozza (Kreator)

Avantasia's Tobias Sammet Moonglow album review

Dream Theater - Distance Over Time (2019) Album Review

This is in fact my major metal album in 2019. I rarely listened to full album lately, so this new Dream Theater's album, Distance Over Time, sounds quite fresh. As we all know, this progressive metal band is reaching their "late year" with fourteen albums so far, last one counted. Dream Theater fully aware of their creativity struggle. As I read their reviews elsewhere, the band works hard to create new sounds, including putting the band together in solitude studio album to produce new ideas. The result is Distance Over Time sounds faithful to Dream Theater, there are new ideas in the album but for regular listeners, there might be too little.

Statistically speaking first, Distance Over Time is : the first album that run "just" an hour, the last one are Images and Words (1992) and When Dream and Day United (1989). No 10 minutes songs, kind of a relieve. This is a "short" album that hopefully able to continued Dream Theater legacy. This is also the first album to have Mike Mangini material, he write lyric for Room 137.

The album started with Untethered Angel, it is a mixed of As I Am with several other DT songs, so a safe play from the band to kick off the album. Barstool Warrior is the point in the album where they starting to sound fresh, imo. The songs are more memorable instead of some "generic" progressive metal riff in the first three songs. The two following songs are contributed by their rhythm department, Room 137 must be influence by Mike Mangini, while S2N is started with blasting bass intro, both are added different color to the album. Out of Reach is their slow song with sweet guitar works by Petrucci. Although the album finished with another generic song as in Pale Blue Dot, but the bonus track Viper King is another interest of the album. Viper King sounds in blues-a-like style, written by La Brie, which is a cool track in deed. Jordan Rudess just having fun with his old school organ solos in this song.

Distance Over Time is another continuation of Dream Theater. Nothing is lost in this album, yet if you expected a major outstanding "benchmark song" to re-introduce Dream Theater, there are not much also. One must respected that even though this is their fourteenth album, they still play their game in very intense composition technically. The technical skill displayed in Distance Over Time is still f*** mind blowing. Enjoy this while the band still active, in the distance over, we might not able to hear this any more.

Dream Theater - Distance Over Time (2019) 
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1. Untethered Angel (6:14)
2. Paralyzed (4:17)
3. Fall Into The Light (7:04)
4. Barstool Warrior (6:43)
5. Room 137 (4:23)
6. S2N (6:21)
7. At Wit's End (9:20)
8. Out Of Reach (4:04)
9. Pale Blue Dot (8:25)
10. Viper King (4:00) (Bonus Track)

Total Time: 60:51

- James LaBrie / Vocals
- John Petrucci / Guitars
- John Myung / Bass
- Jordan Rudess / Keyboards
- Mike Mangini / Drums