Review Summary: Not quite made for me this time, indeed. But it doesn't have to be.
Tobias Sammet is hardly the model of consistency. Over the course of his career in both Edguy and Avantasia he’s been known to produce some illustrious masterpieces, only to follow them with a string of mediocre albums. But you know what, consistency is overrated. Consistency is boring. Yes, Toby overestimates himself sometimes, which leads to him releasing two tired and worn-out albums on the same day, instead of a single great record. Yes, there were times when he ventured too close to the dangerous bogs of butt-rock where many a great musicians traveled never to return. But all of that is just a by-product of the guy’s single most admirative quality: a staunch refusal to stay in one place. After all those years, Toby’s spirit remains restless, and the quest for nexus that he referred to in the second Avantasia record still goes on.
Tobias knew that it was time for some changes in Avantasia sound which has become a little too established and comfortable by now. “Here Be Dragons” was announced as the beginning of a new chapter after completion of the Moonglow cycle. I’m sure he also knew that his fans would expect nothing else from him but continuation of the same “Disney musical meets soundtrack to a Tim Burton movie with guitars added at leisure” sound. Which is why Toby decided to open his new album with a prank.
“Creepshow” gets things going with a ghostly piano melody strongly reminiscent of the one that can be heard in “Welcome to the Shadows,” a song that opened Avantasia’s previous record… only for it to be cut off abruptly after a few seconds and for the song to explode into happy-go-lucky hard rock riffs and Toby’s cheerful yelling “Get up, get up, come out!” Honestly, the last thing I would expect from an Avantasia record is for Toby to revert to Edguy’s “Tinnitus Sanctus” era sound. I am not the biggest detractor of that album, but it’s hardly anybody’s favorite. Still, I must admit that “Creepshow” works wonders as a practical joke aimed at the fans who expected Toby to just make the same album for at least the third time in a row.
That daring and puzzling venture into cock rock does not continue further on (although it still screwed up my initial perception of the album), but “Creepshow” surely contains some hints about the album’s overall sound. For “Here Be Dragons,” Toby removed a lot of the usual flourish and made a bunch of streamlined, guitar-driven songs. In a way, this is the closest Avantasia ever sounded to Edguy.
Which is not a bad thing in itself, especially since Edguy is no more. However, when the smoke has cleared, I’ve realized that I can see quite an unexpected issue with the album. It is commonly accepted that, be it Edguy or Avantasia, Toby’s music works best when he steers closer to his Power Metal roots. And there are quite a few classical, fast-paced Power Metal songs on “Here Be Dragons.” I can’t say that they’re bad songs, not really. All competent, well-written tracks, but none of them are very memorable or exciting.
You know how every time Toby writes a duet with Michale Kiske, he ends up re-writing “Reach Out for the Light” over and over again? Well, “Moorlands at Twilight” is yet another example of that phenomenon. I would say that
all the previous iterations of that song worked better than this one, including “The Inmost Light” from the preceding LP. Elsewhere, “Unleash the Kraken” is probably the most intense song on the album, but at the same time it feels rather forced, while “Phantasmagoria” and “Against the Wind” have reasonably catchy choruses and… not much else of note. Again, all these songs are fine, but they lack a certain spark. Toby wrote a whole bunch of good fast-paced songs over the course of his career, so he knows how to do it, but it seems like his heart is no longer in it.
Especially since (almost) every deviation from that classic Power Metal sound yields better results this time around. For all my talk about how an artist has to change, “The Witch,” the first single and my early favorite, is the one song that most obviously harkens back to that eerie sound of the “Moonglow” era. Not to mention that it features a chorus that actually gets stuck in your head, clever and intricate lyrics, and a great guest appearance by Tommy Karevik. My only gripe is that said guest appearance should’ve been more substantial. You don’t invite a singer of Tommy’s caliber just to give him a few lines to sing in the first verse and then push him all the way into backing vocals.
Speaking about great guest appearances, let’s talk about how nice it is to have a Bob Catley song on every Avantasia album bar the first one. This time, the song is called “Bring on the Night” and it is not the usual Toby’s piano-driven ballad which I never was a big fan of (yes, even this album’s “Everybody’s Here Until the End” does not impress me much, although glorious Ray Khan returns for the first time since 2008 to sing on it). Instead, “Brings on the Night” starts off slowly, but proceeds to display some brisk, eighties-inspired melodies that give you a glimpse at how a disco song written by Tobias Sammet would’ve sounded. This old-school vibe reinforced by Bob Catney’s warm and balanced performance works great for me, but I also enjoyed that “Maniac” cover from “Moonglow,” so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
But please don’t think that I only like non-metal songs on “Here Be Dragons.” Remember, going fast is only one obvious option for a Power Metal song. The other option is going epic, although it also yeilds different results. I find the title track to be a bloated and overwritten song, although it contains some interesting parts, but “Avalon” is a genuinely excellent number. I was expecting to hear another cheesy ballad, but it is a powerful and layered song with great performance from Adrienne Cowan. Every Avantasia album normally leads me to discovery of a new superb singer (I think “Twisted Mind” is the perfect song to hear Roy Khan for the first time) or re-evaluation of someone I already knew (like the way Floor Jansen surprised me with her emotional and heartfelt performance on “Kill the Pain Away”). Adrienne will be my main takeaway from “Here Be Dragons” and I will surely take some interest in her main gig.
Well, seems like it’s time to wrap things up. I would say that Tobias still did not shake off some constraints of his established sound, but this is an earnest attempt. “Here Be Dragons” is not going to be my favorite Avantasia record, but it shows that Toby is not content with resting on his laurels and keeps looking for ways to avoid repetition and self-plagiarizing. Besides, maybe I’m not seeing the bigger picture yet. The classic “Metal Opera” albums focused on imagination and quest for knowledge, the main topic of the follow-up trilogy was human emotions, while the next two eras covered the matter of time and… I guess spirits. My point is that sometimes an album opens up when put in a different context, like I didn’t really get “Ghostlights” until I’ve heard “Moonglow.” “Here Be Dragons” is an official start of a new era, but for now its subject is unclear for me. Let’s hope that the next chapter comes along in a few years and clears that up. Until then, there are dragons, and witches, and krakens… Take your pick.
