''Angels of the Apocalypse'' is the second full-length album by

Timo Tolkki Timo Tapio Tolkki (born 3 March 1966) is a Finnish musician best known as the former guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of the power metal band Stratovarius. With his tenure lasting for more than twenty years, he was the longest standing ...

's Finnish

metal opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been a ...

project

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

, released on May 16, 2014 in Europe and four days later in North America. It is the second part of the trilogy created by Tolkki, written as a prequel to the previous album ''

The Land of New Hope ''The Land of New Hope'' is the first full-length album by Timo Tolkki's Finnish metal opera project Avalon. The album was released on May 17, 2013 in Europe and May 21, 2013 in the US. According to Tolkki "I sort of rediscovered myself musically ...

''. As with the previous effort, several heavy metal singers were invited to play the characters of the story of the album, with female vocalist

Elize Ryd Hanna Elise Isabell Maj Höstblomma Ryd (born 15 October 1984), known professionally as Elize Ryd, is a Swedish singer, best known as one of the three vocalists and co-lyricist in the metal band Amaranthe. She also gained some popularity prior to ...

Amaranthe Amaranthe is a Swedish metal band originally known as Avalanche. The band is notable for their blend of various metal genres and having three lead vocalists. History Formed by Olof Mörck (Dragonland, Nightrage) and Joacim "Jake E" Lundbe ...

reprising her role and

Floor Jansen Floor Jansen (; born 21 February 1981) is a Dutch singer and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. Jansen first became known as a member of symphonic metal band After Forever, standing as their lead vo ...

(

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...

ReVamp Revamp may refer to: Changes *Revamp, informal term for maintenance, repair, and operations *Revamp, informal term for editing of natural-language text * Revamp (gaming), informal term for boost or renovation of a game's UI, system stats, items, ...

) playing the main character. The rest of the cast includes

Fabio Lione Fabio Tordiglione (born 9 October 1973), known professionally as Fabio Lione, is an Italian singer and lyricist who has worked with many bands in the metal genre. He was known for being the singer of Italian power metal band Rhapsody of Fire fo ...

(

Rhapsody of Fire Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody) is an Italian symphonic power metal band formed by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre. Since forming in 1993 as Thundercross, the band h ...

, Angra), David DeFeis (

Virgin Steele Virgin Steele is an American heavy metal band from New York, originally formed in 1981. The band released a few career highlights albums (''Noble Savage'', ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I'', ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II'' ...

Simone Simons Simone Johanna Maria Simons (born 17 January 1985) is a Dutch singer. She is best known for being the lead singer of Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, which she joined at the age of seventeen, releasing eight studio albums and touring the world ...

(

Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band), a Dutch symphonic metal band * ''Epica'' (Kamelot album), 2003 * ''Epica'' (Audiomachine album), 2012 * The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) * The Epica Awards (International Adver ...

), Caterina Nix (solo Chilean singer who is having her debut album produced by Timo Tolkki) and

Zachary Stevens Zachary Trussell (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Zachary "Zak" Stevens, is an American singer, best known as the second lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage. He currently performs with the heavy metal band Circle II Circ ...

(ex-

Savatage Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album ''Sirens'' (1983), they changed thei ...

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Background and recording

The album started to be composed in August 2013 in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, to where Timo travelled to seek inspiration. In October 2013, Timo Tolkki launched a news website for the project in which he announced the album, which was provisionally titled ''Avalon II''. Tolkki also announced he would be working with former Stratovarius bandmates

Tuomo Lassila Tuomo Lassila (born 1965) is a Finnish musician best known as the former drummer, founder member and co-songwriter of the power metal band Stratovarius and currently the drummer and percussionist for the Finnish metal band Conquest. Music caree ...

(drums) and Antti Ikonen (keyboards). In late January, Tolkki revealed the name of the album and the remaining singers. Timo also announced that there will be a contest for guitar and keyboard players, with the winners getting a chance to perform a solo with him in one of the songs. Once again, the artwork was created by French artist Stanis W. Decker. Timo stated he created some songs with a specific singer in mind. The title-track will clock around 10:00. He also described the music of the album as "darker and heavier" than its predecessor, which was necessary due to the "Apocalyptic scenes described in the lyrics".

Track listing

Personnel

;Instrumentalists *

(ex-

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

) — lead and rhythm guitars (Fender), bass, add. keyboards *

(ex-

) — drums * Antti Ikonen (ex-

) — keyboards ;Vocalists * David DeFeis (

) *

(

) *

(

Vision Divine Vision Divine is an Italian power/progressive metal band formed in 1998. History Originally a solo project from Olaf Thörsen (born Carlo Andrea Magnani). Soon, Fabio Lione rejoined him after the first Labyrinth period ("No Limits"), and the ...

, Angra) *Caterina Nix (Cati Torrealba) *

(

) *

(

) *

(ex-

) ;Additional cast *Nicolas Jeudy - orchestrations

References

External links

Avalon official websiteFrontiers Records website
{{Authority control 2014 albums Rock operas Concept albums Frontiers Records albums Timo Tolkki albums