Avantasia – Ghostlights
Release Date: January 29th, 2016
Label: Nuclear Blast
The first time I ever heard Avantasia was on the Wicked Symphony album. That album blew me away so much and I absolutely loved the compositions and the special guests. I had never heard anything like that before and I was so excited by it. Avantasia was something so exciting for me as a lover of heavy metal music but with the following two releases (Angel of Babylon and Mystery of Time) I felt like maybe founding member/songwriter Tobias Sammett was saddling up on a one trick pony. Those releases did absolutely nothing for me so you can imagine my apprehension when going into Avantasia’s newest release, Ghostlights.
The first track from Ghostlights, “Mystery of a Blood Red Rose” left very little to be desired for me as I felt like I was listening to rehashed Meatloaf/Jim Steinman epic. This song in particular had me rolling my eyes a bit but then all of the sudden things just turned the corner for me. “The Haunting” featuring Dee Snider on vocals was just outstanding but it was “Seduction of Decay” that was hands down the highlight of this album. This song featured Geoff Tate and without a doubt solidified the fact that Tate, whether you hate him or not, fucking still has it. The dark, dreary undertone of this song suited his voice so well which was full of depth, strength, and that classic character that has made him a now legendary voice in metal. The title track, featuring Tobias, Michael Kiske, and Jorn Lande sounds like, once again, a long lost Helloween classic. Hearing these three sing together is a fucking dream and I would give my left nut to see these guys sing together live.
While there are some pretty great songs on Ghostlights, there are a few moments such as “Draconian Love”, “Master of the Pendulum”, and “Isle of Evermore.” This trio of songs just seemed to drain any kind of momentum or excitement that this album had generated with the previous tracks. As a matter of fact, not even one of my absolute favorites, Jorn Lande could save the song “Lucifer” from just sounding like dead weight. As a matter of fact, the rest of the album just seems to deflate very slowly like a balloon with a slow leak leaving me with this feeling of “meh.”
All in all, Ghostlights is pretty much a bummer. As a whole, the album seems to lack any kind of excitement and left me feeling that as an overall experience, it just seemed to lack any kind of cohesive flow. With that being said, it definitely doesn’t suck but I would challenge anyone that would say that as an album that it is anywhere near as good as Wicked Symphony. While the album may not be the strongest one as a whole, the tracks “The Haunting”, “Seduction of Decay”, and “Ghostlights” are hands down three of the greatest Avantasia tracks to date. Those three songs are definitely worth getting on their own but unless you’re a completist, I don’t think there will be much of a void, if any, in your life not having this album.
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