Background ***
Taken from the band’s website:
“AVALAND is an Epic and Symphonic Metal Opera, written and composed by Adrien G. Gzagg, born in 1998 in Grenoble, France.
Inspired by fantasy, alchemy, legends and
History, Adrien have thought about 10 stories in different timelines, telling 10 important chapters of the magical place he baptized Avaland.
Adrien’s musical influences started very young with Alan Parsons Project. As a teenager, he discovered in his father’s vinyls Yes, Deep Purple, Genesis, Journey… His curiosity brought him step by step to hard rock and heavy metal, and of course to his today main influences : Avantasia, Ayreon, Savatage…”
Basic Description
Theater Of Sorcery turned up a notch.
Now, that doesn’t mean Theater Of Sorcery was awful by any means. If you recall from my review of TOS, I spoke really highly of it. I loved the storytelling, the instrumentation & vocals were spot on, and the overall production was great for a first time release. There was the issue with the guest vocals I had, but that one personal fault doesn’t impact what is an otherwise great experience! Legend Of The Storyteller takes everything that made the prior album great, and amps all of it up. The story is grander (And a little darker in places), the instrumentation is stronger, the vocal work is more operatic, and the recording & production is better! Even the cheese from the prior record has returned in abundance, yet it’s also more evenly placed to allow better musical flow. A victory for Avaland if you ask me!
Best Track
The album opener (Right after the intro) Crimson Tyranny was definitely a nice way to start things off. The track really shows off what this album was going for: immense instrumentation, epic vocal work, powerful presentation & storytelling, and just enough cheese to keep everything glued together. You would think that the cheese factor would be a bit too much, but it actually acts as a balancing agent in addition to being a glue. I wouldn’t pick any other track on this release to open things up for the listener!
Crimson Tyranny
Worst Track
Much like in my Theater Of Sorcery review from 2022 (Read here), the only issue I have that too many guest singers were brought on board this album! 7 guests, as a matter of fact, with the biggest name out of them being former Savatage vocalist Zak Stevens. Again, everybody puts in a lot of effort, and not a single one feels like a waste, but once again the amount of guest singers on Legend Of The Storyteller takes away some of the identity from Avaland. When the band gets to album no. 3, I hope they have just 1 or 2 guest vocalists (Maybe 3), and that’s it!
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:
The Legend Of The Storyteller
Overall Impression & Rating
The Legend Of The Storyteller was definitely a big step in Avaland’s evolutionary cycle. Sure, the amount of guest vocalists brought in might be annoying for some, but the overall advancement of recording, production, instrumentation, vocal work, and storytelling more than makes up for that fault. If you were a big fan of Theater Of Sorcery, but wanted it’s best points turned up a bit more, then you’ll not want to miss this!
The Legend Of The Storyteller gets a 8.5 to 9 out of 10.
And that was Legend Of The Storyteller everyone. A great improvement over Theater Of Sorcery, let it doesn’t lose sight of what the band’s first release was trying to be. Well everyone, we must leaving this mystical land, and travel over to Japan next week. There’s an old friend over there I’d like to say hi to. See you then!
***
I’m repeating this information from my Theater Of Sorcery review, as finding newer info is rather difficult.
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