Bloodstock

Playing: Bloodstock 2013 Saturday 10, Ronnie James Dio Stage - Buy Tickets

He has sold more than 3 million discs worldwide, he has played more than 600 concerts in almost 40 countries in Asia, North America, Central America, South America, Australia and Europe: composer and vocalist Tobias Sammet is one of Germany's biggest internationally acclaimed artists in recent music history. Tobias first became known as the singer and songwriter of the band Edguy that he co-founded in 1992. In 1999 he founded his side project "Tobias Sammet's Avantasia", an all-star Rock Opera that would allow him to collaborate with superstars such as Alice Cooper, Klaus Meine & Rudolf Schenker (Scorpions), members of other legendary bands such as Kiss, Mr. Big, Magnum, Helloween, Uriah Heep, Rainbow and many more throughout the years. All of his recent albums entered the top ten charts in countries all over the world. His latest AVANTASIA-release "The Flying Opera - Around The World In 20 Days" went straight to number 1 in Germany, Sweden and Austria!

Now the 35 year old German is back with another monumental epic. “The Mystery Of Time“ marks the first AVANTASIA release since the 2011 Live-DVD “The Flying Opera“ (which charted all over Europe, topping the charts in Germany, Austria and Sweden).

In 2011 Tobias announced the end of the project into TV-cameras that shot footage for a live broadcast of Avantasia‘s headlining performance as one of the main acts at the prestigious Wacken Open Air Festival. Now Tobias says about the unexpected comeback of Avantasia:

“During our summer tour in 2008 we played to more than half a million fans worldwide. We had fought our way into the upper regions of the charts with hard work, despite the fact we didn‘t have major radio support. We were headlining some of the biggest festivals on the planet. Even before that Wacken performance I knew there wasn‘t much headroom left and that I should focus on something new to spare me the descent. But it was impossible to quit. I am an artist, I had ideas and felt that I wanted to keep going as long as I saw challenging targets and as long as I could hit new goals. So I hired an orchestra and tried to push the dreamy and fairytale-ish atmosphere to the limit and beyond. I wanted to create a real grown up Rock Opera, but I wanted to keep my music ‘into-your-face‘, first and foremost appealing to true Rockers. I just wanted it to be a little bigger and more opulent than it had been in the past. Something between Richard Wagner, Meat Loaf, Queen and a freight-train at high speed!“

„THE MYSTERY OF TIME“ - ALBUM & TOUR FACTS:

- the new Rock Opera from German musician Tobias Sammet

- New album featuring a 60-piece-symphonic-orchestra, the German Filmorchestra Babelsberg (Rammstein, Celine Dion, Bryan Adams)

- recorded at Vox Klangstudio (Guano Apes, Rammstein, Udo Lindenberg) & Gatestudio

- guest stars from Germany, USA, UK, Netherlands and Denmark

- cover artwork from British painter Rodney Matthews (Asia, Magnum, Thin Lizzy, Nazareth)

- produced by award winning producer Sascha Paeth once again

- Mystery World Tour in April (Germany, England, Switzerland, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Russia, Japan, Columbia, Spain, France, Sweden, Czech Republic and more...)

- single “Sleepwalking“ incl. video clip

TRACK LIST (all music and words by Tobias Sammet):

- Spectres (6:20) - Tobias Sammet & Joe Lynn Turner

- The Watchmakers‘ Dream (4:20) - Joe Lynn Turner & Tobias Sammet

- Black Orchid (6:55) - Tobias Sammet & Biff Byford

- Where Clock Hands Freeze (4:35) - Michael Kiske & Tobias Sammet

- Sleepwalking (3:45) - Cloudy Young & Tobias Sammet

- Savior In The Clockwork (10:40) - Joe Lynn Turner, Tobias Sammet, Biff Byford & Michael Kiske

- Invoke The Machine (5:30) - Ronnie Atkins & Tobias Sammet

- What´s Left Of Me (5:05) - Eric Martin & Tobias Sammet

- Dweller In A Dream (4:45) - Tobias Sammet & Michael Kiske

- The Great Mystery (10:05) - Tobias Sammet, Bob Catley, Joe Lynn Turner & Biff Byford

ARTIST-FACTS

- Tobias Sammet has been successful as vocalist and composer for more than 20 years

- more than 3 million discs sold with his bands Edguy & Avantasia

- with his Avantasia project the 35 year old created his own trademark sound, breathing new life into an almost extinct genre of Metal Opera/Rock-Opera and becoming a figurehead of the scene

- Top-10 chart positions worldwide

- collaborations with high profile stars such as Alice Cooper (USA), Klaus Meine & Rudolf Schenker/Scorpions, Eric Singer & Bruce Kulick/Kiss, Eric Martin/Mr. Big

- many world tours, mainly headline tours but also joining forces with Scorpions, Deep Purple, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden

- repeatedly headliner at most major European festivals (eg. Wacken Open Air 2008 and 2011)

AVANTASIA-DISCOGRAPHY:

Avantasia - The Metal Opera Part I (2001)

Avantasia - The Metal Opera Part II (2002)

Lost In Space Part 1 & 2 (Single, 2007)

The Scarecrow (2008)

The Wicked Symphony (2010) & Angel Of Babylon (2010)

The Flying Opera (DVD & Live-CD, 2011)

The Mystery Of Time (March 2013)