Avantasia – Lost In Space (Chapter 1 & 2)
Nuclear Blast Records

(4/5)

If you liked Avantasia’s EPs Lost in Space Chapter 1 and Lost in Space Chapter 2, you will love that they have been combined to create this aptly titled album Lost In Space (Chapter 1 & 2)! Featuring Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet as singer and bassist, Avantasia takes a slightly more Symphonic Metal approach to their music as opposed to the Power metal style of Edguy. Incorporated on this album is the help of many talented musicians and singers involving an all-star cast including producer Sascha Paeth on lead & rhythm guitars, Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray) on lead guitar, Michael Rodenberg (Aina and Kamelot) on keyboards, Eric Singer on drums and singing (KISS), Amanda Somerville singing (Aina), Jørn Lande singing (Masterplan and ARK), Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween), and Bob Catley (Magnum) singing. Together, all of these people recorded an amazing set of songs. Included in the tracks for this album are the regular version, and alternate version, and an extended version of the title track “Lost in Space” (Tracks 1, 11, and 12), “Lay All Your Love on Me” (ABBA cover also covered by Helloween) (Track 2), “Another Angel Down” (Track 3), and “Ride the Sky” (Lucifer’s Friend cover) (Track 6). All of these tracks add their own aspects to this great album and help make Avantasia an excellent Symphonic metal band. Overall, Lost In Space (Chapter 1 & 2) is a great album and a great addition to your Metal arsenal!

Edguy – The Singles
Nuclear Blast Records

(4/5)

Having an extensive career dating back to the early 1990s, Edguy has released eight studio albums as well as multiple demos and other albums. This “new” album entitled The Singles is just as the title says; a compilation featuring all singles from the EP’s King of Fools, Lavatory Love Machine and Superheroes(with the exception of the song “Reach Out” from the Lavatory Love Machine). Being a newer Edguy fan myself, this is a great album to have to hear 14 songs that helped launch Edguy into the high ranks of the Heavy metal/Power metal world. Listening to this album over and over again really helped me figure out the humor that this band really brings to their genre with comedic lyrics in songs such as “Lavatory Love Machine” and “Life and Times of a Bonus Track”. It’s really great to see that that kind of stuff isn’t lost in the music business. Although all of the songs on this album are great representations of the great Edguy sound and talent, some of the ones I enjoy the most are “Superheroes” (Track 1), “Judas At the Opera” (Track 4), “Lavatory Love Machine” (Track 7), “New Age Messiah” (Track 11), and “Life and Times of a Bonus Track” (Track 14). All of these songs are great songs in their own manor. Edguy fans who enjoy extra versions of songs are certainly not left out as The Singles also has “Superheroes (Epic Version)” (Track 6) and “Lavatory Love Machine (Acoustic Version)” (Track 8 ) which both offer a different element than in the original version of both of those great songs. Just to keep spicing things up, in “Judas At the Opera”, ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske pitches in to add more vocal power. Overall, The Singles is an absolute “must have” album for any hardcore Edguy fan or any new Edguy fan who wants a quick look back over the years before purchasing previous studio albums and/or EPs!

Edguy – Tinnitus Sanctus
Nuclear Blast Records

(4.5/5)

Continuing the traditional Heavy metal/Power metal sound of bands such as Iced Earth, Helloween, Blind Guardian, and Iron Maiden, Edguy has created another great example of this style of music titled Tinnitus Sanctus. Although Tinnitus Sanctus is the first Edguy album I have heard, it will certainly not be the last! The musical and lyrical genius known as Tobias Sammet has arranged an insanely good album as well as lead this band with his Opera-like vocals. With a vocal range not too high for the music and certainly not too low, Tobias really pushes the sound of Edguy over the edge. Even though he wrote the music and lyrics for this new album, you can’t over look the incredible musicians performing it. The team of Dirk Sauer and Jens Ludwig provides an intense feeling presented by shredding guitar riffs and solos. Helping push the intensity and speed of this album is drummer Felix Bohnke who provides the perfect speed of the double bass drum technique when needed and knows when to cut it back to a single bass drum. Helping all three of the other musicians create rhythmic sense to this album is bassist Tobias “Eggi” Exxel. Together, all five members of Edguy take you through an incredible musical journey that is Tinnitus Sanctus. The overall album definitely has it effect, but there are a few tracks I would like to point out as “favorites” of mine. The main ones I like the most are “Ministry of Saints” (Track 1), “Sex Fire Religion” (Track 2), “Dragonfly” (Track 6), and “Speedhoven” (Track 9). Every track on this album has its own personality and effect for the overall excellence of the album, but the tracks listed above shows the many talents of Edguy with mixtures of speed, heaviness, and even more mellow and melodic parts. Overall, this album is a great choice for anyone looking to get into Power metal and Heavy metal around the style of the bands mentioned before.

HammerFall – Masterpieces
Nuclear Blast Records

(4.5/5)

HammerFall has done it again! Technically, this is the first time they’ve put together an album constructed of all their covers (including a few that were previously unreleased), but Masterpieces should not be looked at as any less of an album than any of HammerFall’s other great albums. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve reviewed or even heard an album that was all covers, but you can’t go wrong with HammerFall. Masterpieces is made up of an all-star track list that has songs by bands including Judas Priest, KISS, Skid Row, Twisted Sister, Rainbow, Helloween, and many more! The overall final product of this album is excellent, but there are a few songs in particular I really like. Most of these songs are on the list because I’ve heard their original recordings and I like the way the cover came out. The songs are “Breaking the Law” (Track 10), “Detroit Rock City” (Track 13), “Youth Gone Wild” (Track 17), and “Child of the Damned” (Track 1). “Child of the Damned is the one on the list that I’ve never heard the original recording (originally recorded by Warlord), but I really like the way it sounds. If I had no idea that this was a cover, I would swear that this was written by HammerFall in the first place. “Breaking the Law” (originally recorded by Judas Priest) is on the list because of the great way it turned out and the fact that the band members switched instruments to give the recording a special feel. This cover in particular was hard for the band since everyone knows the original sound, but I think it sounds great either way. Once again, the overall final product of Masterpieces is awesome and I definitely recommend it to any HammerFall fans like myself!