''The Land of New Hope'' is the first 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 ...

. 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 in the process of making this album. I wrote the story first and started composing the music after that. My aim was to write memorable songs with good melodies that would support the story...On this album you will find a lot of different dynamics...with some songs that are fully orchestrated and sound very very big." Tolkki plans to release a trilogy about this concept, and ''The Land of New Hope'' is the end of the story 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 ...

) and vocalist

Rob Rock Robert Rock (born June 29, 1959) is an American heavy metal singer who is best known as the longtime frontman of Impellitteri, a position he has held from 1987 to 1988, 1992 to 2000, and now from 2008 to the present day. Rock has also released ...

(

Impellitteri Impellitteri is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles formed and led by guitarist Chris Impellitteri, vocalist Rob Rock, and bassist James Amelio Pulli. The band has sold millions of albums worldwide. History Chris Impellitteri for ...

) appearing to be the main characters and singing on most of the songs. The remaining vocalists performing on the album were

Michael Kiske Michael Kiske (born January 24, 1968) is a German singer and lead vocalist for the German power metal band Helloween. Kiske has released four solo albums, two albums with the hard rock band Unisonic, has participated on various metal and rock ...

( Unisonic, ex-

Helloween Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weik ...

Russell Allen Russell Allen (born July 19, 1971) is an American singer best known as the vocalist of the progressive metal band Symphony X. He has also worked with the supergroups Star One, Allen-Lande, Level 10, and as one of fourteen vocalists in the pr ...

(

Symphony X Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994, the band consists of guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, drummer Jason Rullo, lead vocalist Russell Allen and bassist Michael Lep ...

, Allen-Lande), Sharon den Adel (

Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...

) and

Tony Kakko Toni Kristian "Tony" Kakko (born 16 May 1975) is a Finnish musician, composer and vocalist. He is known as the vocalist, primary songwriter, and creative lead of the band Sonata Arctica since 1996. Biography Kakko was born in Kemi, Finland and ...

(Sonata Arctica). The artwork was created by Stanis W. Decker and will be released in 2 versions - regular cd and deluxe edition with a 30-minute documentary plus a promotional videoclip for the song "Enshrined in My Memory".

Story

"It’s A.D. 2055 and most big cities of Planet Earth are either flooded with tsunamis or destroyed by earthquakes and fire. The whole infrastructure and communication system has broken down. The destruction is total. A small group of survivors leaves for a quest to find a sacred place known as ''The Land of New Hope''. It is an old fairytale that has been told since decades, but very few has actually ever believed of its existence. They travel far on a journey that is full of dangers and come across a seer who guides them further. She explains to them that ''The Land of New Hope'' does exist, but it is guarded by a Keeper and only those who are pure in heart can pass him. They wander further towards their ultimate destiny…."

Track listing

Personnel

- Guitar, bass, keyboards *

(

) - lead vocals on #01, 02, 03, 04, 06, 09, 11 *

(

, ex-

Axel Rudi Pell Axel Rudi Pell (born 27 June 1960) is a German heavy metal guitarist. Career Pell commenced his musical career with Steeler (1984–88) before leaving in 1988 for a solo career. During this time, he has played with such drummers as Jörg Micha ...

) - lead vocals on #01, 02, 04, 05, 07, 08 *

(

) - lead vocals on #01, 02, 04 *

- lead vocals on #10 * Sharon den Adel (

) - lead vocals on #06 *

(Sonata Arctica) - lead vocals on #05 *

Alex Holzwarth 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 ...

(

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 ...

) - drums *

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...

(ex-

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

, ex-

Black Country Communion Black Country Communion is an English-American hard rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2009, the band is a supergroup composed of bassist and lead vocalist Glenn Hughes, guitarist and second vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer J ...

) - Keyboards, keyboard solo on #08 *

Jens Johansson Jens Ola Johansson (born 2 November 1963 in Stockholm) is a Swedish keyboardist and pianist who currently plays in the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius and Ritchie Blackmore's rock project Rainbow. He is notable for his high-speed neoclas ...

(

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 ...

) - Keyboards, keyboard solo on #08 *

Mikko Härkin Mikko Härkin (born 25 May 1979 in Kuopio, Finland) is a Finnish power metal keyboardist, who has performed with Sonata Arctica and Kenziner. History Härkin begun to study piano at the age of 5. He joined ''Kenziner'' in 1998 and with them rec ...

(ex-

Sonata Arctica Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup ...

, ex-

Symfonia Symfonia was a short-lived symphonic power metal supergroup formed in 2010 by Andre Matos (vocals), Timo Tolkki (guitars), Jari Kainulainen (bass), Mikko Härkin (keyboards) and Uli Kusch (drums). On February 18 of 2011, the band made its debut ...

Luca Turilli's Rhapsody Luca Turilli's Rhapsody (often simply referred by itself as Rhapsody, LT's Rhapsody or Turilli's Rhapsody) was an Italian symphonic power metal band created and led by Luca Turilli after his split from Rhapsody of Fire, also including German, ...

) - Keyboards

Additional musicians

* Magdalena Lee - soprano voice * Kimmo Blom - backing vocals * Luca Sturniolo - backing vocals * Sami Boman - orchestrations

Chart positions

References

External links

Timo Tolkki's official websiteFrontiers Records Avalon page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Land of New Hope, The 2013 debut albums Rock operas Concept albums Frontiers Records albums Timo Tolkki albums