Album Review: Avantasia - Moonglow

At this stage, every Avantasia album is an event. With them, we get the best collection of talent in the melodic metal world assembled under the care of one of its best songwriters. Between Edguy and Avantasia, Tobias Sammet has a lengthy catalog of music that has rarely let me down. I find it hard to believe that with as many albums as he has put out, there have been so few I don't regularly go back to. And considering that "Ghostlights" was one of his absolute best as a songwriter, the expectations for "Moonglow" are as high as they can be. Tobi wasted no time getting us ready, teasing us with the eleven-minute "The Raven Child" as the lead single. Was that a signal that Avantasia was doubling-down on being the epic force they are capable of? Or was it just a way of compensating for the more hard-core metal fans not enjoying the Meat Loaf worshiping "Mystery Of A Blood Red Rose" the way I did? That is what the album answers.

That flower once again opens this album, as does Tobi's shared love of Jim Steinman. This time, though, it's in the form of a ten-minute mini-epic that more fully integrates the angelic choirs into the melodic metal attack, rather than sounding like someone else's song turned into an Avantasia track. And Tobi takes a lesson to this song I remember hearing from Dave Grohl when "Wasting Light" was being released. "Ghost In The Moon" builds to a great hook, but then Tobi says he can do better, and throws in an even bigger one, just because he can. By the time we get to the true apex of the track, it is absolutely massive. Think "The Seven Angels", but with even more power. What's interesting is how this song, like "The Raven Child", don't feel the need to return to some of the great hooks when you would expect, they are that confidently written. This album takes no prisoners, right from the start.

Things don't let up with "Book Of Shallows", which is one of the heaviest songs Tobi has ever written. It thrashes along relentlessly, and somehow these five minutes are able to fit Hansi Kursch, Mille Petrozza, Ronnie Atkins, and Jorn Lande all alongside Tobi. And we get a nod and wink, with the bridge evoking the same feelings as Blind Guardian. If the opener upped the ante from the previous album, this song is an amped up brother to "Master Of The Pendulum".

I don't know what got into Tobi, but the whole album is heavier and more snarling than ever before. Even the title track, which would be an assumed ballad between Tobi and Candice Night, features some nasty, down-tuned riffing come the bridge. It sounds to me like Tobi breaking free of what Avantasia has become. While the project has evolved as it has moved along, certain tropes had become almost expected, and the name is big enough now to take whatever chances Tobi can conjure up. That's an attitude you have to respect.

But "Moonglow" is about so much more than that. It's one thing to take chances, it's another to make them count. Tobi is shifting Avantasia to new territory yet again, and it has revitalized him. The music sounds more energetic and lively than before, with the heavy attitude reflected in the songwriting. Tobi is punching like a heavyweight in a slug-fest, not holding anything back, as though he's fighting for his life. Avantasia has always been big, bold, and colorful. This album is darker and more single-minded, which in a way makes it sound even bigger. If some of the previous records were prisms reflecting the entire spectrum, "Moonglow" is a laser you can feel burning against your skin.

There's a line in "Lavender" where it's sung, "I see a magical world in sepia," which is rather fitting. There is something gritty about this album that eschews the technicolor we got from "The Scarecrow". As much of an achievement as "Ghostlights" was, "Moonglow" makes an even stronger statement. I don't know if it's the beginning of a new chapter, or an experiment that will be a one-off, but right now it stands alone in the Avantasia canon. "Moonglow" is another epic statement that no one does this better than Tobias Sammet, and he is still at the top of his game. "Moonglow" exceeds all expectations, and will surely be one of the best records of 2019.

Let's just forget that cover of the 80s song "Maniac" is even here, ok?