Review: Avantasia - The Mystery of Time (2013)

Artist: Avantasia

Album: The Mystery of Time

Genre: Power/Symphonic Metal

Released: April 2013

Album length: 62:00/10 tracks

Background

Avantasia was formed by vocalist Tobias Sammet (of Edguy fame) in 1999, and is considered a supergroup metal opera project. Most Avantasia songs feature other artists along with Sammet's vocals.

The Mystery of Time is the band's sixth album, and features the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg. The album follows the struggles of a "young agnostic scientist who is forced to explore the coherencies of time, God and science." Every artist plays a role in this rock epic, from science and reason to antiquarian.

The track breakdown

On repeat: Invoke the Machine, The Watchmaker's Dream, Saviour in the Clockwork

Skip it: If I had to choose one, Black Orchid

For the gym (150+ BPM): The Watchmaker's Dream, Where Clock Hands Freeze

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Spectres features Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow). This track gets the album off to an amazing start with a wonderful orchestral intro, complete with powerful drumming. The vocals throughout are strong; Sammet and Turner have incredible voices which work so well together.

I like the descent into the guitar solo, and whilst I usually prefer faster guitar, slower is a good fit for this song. The array of instruments used after the solo and for the outro sound fantastic. Sammet closes Spectres with a powerful chorus, is great. Generally, I love how the song throws you into a fairy-tale setting with incredibly descriptive lyrics.

The Watchmaker's Dream also features Turner. This is a personal favourite of mine, which was solidified when I saw it performed live. Turner's vocals have a beautifully gravelly aspect to them, which is contrasted by the highly tuned guitars and his break into higher vocals in the chorus. The guitar solo is absolutely awesome, and builds up perfectly for Ferdy Doernberg's Hammond organ solo. Amazing track!

Black Orchid introduces Biff Byford (Saxon). It starts off with intense drumming and orchestra, and it really drags you into the song. Byford's vocals on this really fit with the darker feeling of the song. The bridge is one of my favourite parts of this song, including the build up to the chorus. I love the way Sammet shows off his range throughout.

I really like Byford's vocals opening up the second verse, as well as their to-and-fro before the solo. The dip in the solo is, quite frankly, gorgeous. The lyrics in this song are thought-provoking too, although this is a theme throughout the entire album. I feel like the song is a little too long, but it's a masterfully crafted track nonetheless.

"Everybody's praying, but what if God is just a threat?"

Where Clock Hands Freeze is an awesome duet with Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween). The intro to this song is the amazing, soaring guitar you get used to from Avantasia. It quickly breaks into Kiske's impressive vocals, his range is beyond reproach! The chorus is really catchy, and the guitar solo is a really captivating duet between Paeth and Oliver Hartmann. The drumming throughout is exceptional. A truly brilliant song.

Sleepwalking is a beautiful duet with Cloudy Yang. This is one of the ballads on the album. The intro and first verse is a change from the pounding power metal, until the pounding power metal gets reintroduced in the chorus! Yang and Sammet's voices go perfectly together, and the more upbeat drumming in the second verse adds an extra element to the song. Paeth's solo is so pretty, and it's perfect for the song. The vocalisations by Yang, together with fading drums create a beautiful outro.

Saviour in the Clockwork features Turner, Byford and Kiske and is an absolute symphony of a record. It's almost 11 minutes long, and worth every second you spend listening to it. The intro alone is two minutes long, and is the perfect build up to the song. The drumming is incredible. Turner's gravelly vocals to start the song, again showing off his range as he builds up to the chorus.

The second verse is one of my favourite parts of this entire album; the way Sammet uses his voice here is beautiful. There's an awesome back and forth between Byford and Sammet before the guitar solo by Bruce Kulick. Sammet comes back in with what can only be described as a flex on his vocal ability, before Byford delivers contrasting vocals. Kiske is thrown into the mix with beautiful backing vocals, another favourite part of the song for me. It then builds up again for the chorus. It's like a journey in a song!

One of my top 5 Avantasia songs of all time, and that's a real compliment considering the quality of their music for two decades.

Invoke the Machine is a duet with Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids). It starts with intense drumming and a sexy little riff, which builds up to begin the song. Sammet again shows off his vocals. Whilst Atkins' vocals took some time to grow on me, he's great on this track. Their voices contrast in an awesome way. His vocals on the second verse are wonderful, and I enjoy the way he slowly brings in a growl to add depth to it. The solo by Hartmann and Paeth is a real bit of power metal magic. Again, the drumming is exceptional. A high energy song and I love listening to it every time.

What's Left of Me is a balladic duet with Eric Martin (Mr Big). Martin plays the role of a homeless beggar, and the lyrics are really, really powerful even without knowing it's from that perspective. He's rightly questioning not only what God has done to him, but also his faith. The way Sammet comes into this song is amazing, and his vocals on this track are breathtaking, especially the final verse. The solo is stunning, and fits the song so well. The build up to the final chorus is superb too, and the outro is beautiful.

Dweller in a Dream is a fabulously upbeat song with Kiske. Sammet's first verse is awesome, and Kiske is introduced in the chorus showing off his amazing range as usual. Paeth delivers another delightful solo. This is a really solid track, which adds much needed spirit to the album between two fairly emotionally heavy songs.

The Great Mystery features Bob Catley (Magnum), together with Turner and Byford. This one took a while to grow on me, but let me tell you, it grew! On first listening to this song, I thought it was two songs because of the enormous contrast between the two halves.

It starts with a gorgeous duet between Catley, who is the perfect fit for this song, and Sammet. The end of the chorus is beautiful, with Sammet almost whispering the lyrics. Turner delivers a pounding verse with the perfect segue into the chorus. Sammet drives home a heartfelt verse before a beautiful, lengthy rendition from Catley.

Then silence. Then soaring guitar.

"What happened to The Great Mystery?" you may ask.

This is still The Great Mystery. It's really quite the rollercoaster with the to-and-fro between Catley's sombre tones and upbeat, orchestral breaks, with a stunning crescendo. Sammet's vocals at the end are beautiful, and the outro is delightful. A perfect end to an almost perfect album. I'd love to have heard Kiske on this track.

In summary

The Mystery of Time is absolutely stunning. However, it loses a point purely because it doesn't feature my favourite guest vocalist, Jorn Lande. I look forward to his additions to every album, and I did notice the difference without his powerful vocals.

However, this is one of my favourite Avantasia albums. Listening through every song is still a delight over 7 years on. It's also a very thought-provoking album, which questions religion throughout, as well as its impact upon science. As usual, the artwork is full of intriguing subjects.

Sasha Paeth is not only the maestro behind the majority of Avantasia's insanely good guitar work, but also produces of all the band's albums alongside Sammet.

It surprised me that this album wasn't as well received by fans as their other albums, but there are less dark elements to The Mystery of Time, quieter tracks and it's far more theatrical and symphonic than their other albums. I really enjoyed the orchestral elements to it, and there are some seriously solid tracks on this album even if you're not into symphonic metal.

Album rating: 9/10

You can read my review for Avantasia's latest release, Moonglow here.