Ayreon's New Album...and Metal Epics for $500

So Arjen is in the midst of recording the next Ayreon epic. Right now Arjen is releasing samples of the vocalists, giving fans a chance to guess at their identity in a contest. The following vocalists have been confirmed (samples have had most music removed):

01. Magali Luyten (Beautiful Sin)
02. Simone Simons (Epica)
03. Ty Tabor (King's X)
04. Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, duh!) *
05. Liselotte Hegt (Dial) *
06. Tom S. Englund (Evergrey)
07. Jorn Lande (ex-Masterplan)
08. Jonas P. Renkse (Katatonia)
09. Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering)
10. Bob Catley (Magnum)
11. Phideaux Xavier (Phideaux)
12. Floor Jansen (After Forever)
13. Steve Lee (Gotthard)
14. Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian)
15. Wudstik (A Dutch hip hop/soul artist) *
16. Marjan Welman (Elister) *
17. Daniel Gildenlow (Pain Of Salvation)

* Same samples.

There will be a total of 17 vocalists, 9 lead singers (characters), 8 supporting singers (characters). I'll update this as vocalists/musicians are confirmed.

Looks like a killer list so far. One thing that blew me away was the vocal work of Magali Luyten. Wow! I've not heard any of her other bands before, so I first thought it was a guy that just had a somewhat female tone to his voice, but then checked online. That woman's voice is sick! It is so powerful. She's like the metal version of Janis Joplin! Ty Tabor is a pleasant surprise, too. I've never heard the band Dial, so I don't know about that singer. And Anneke was posted today and remains unconfirmed, but I think it's fairly obvious. No one sounds like her.

The following musicians have been confirmed:

01. Ed Warby on Drums (Gorefest)
02. Ben Mathot on Violin (Dis)
03. David Faber on Cello (????)

Other tidbits:

01. It'll be a double album, around 100 minutes of music.
02. There will be a sci-fi theme.

I personally cannot wait for this album! I'm a huge fan. Anyone else looking forward to this?

I dont forward to this eyesore because i only bought the debut album when it came out. I liked it but i never realy got into the story and even some part of the songs. Is their any AYREON album that is easier to listen to, not so complex???? Just straight metal like he did in the past with BODINE for exemple.

krokus wrote:

I dont forward to this eyesore because i only bought the debut album when it came out. I liked it but i never realy got into the story and even some part of the songs. Is their any AYREON album that is easier to listen to, not so complex???? Just straight metal like he did in the past with BODINE for exemple.

Um...I don't think so. Maybe Flight of the Migrator, part two of the Universal Migrator double album (they can be bought together or separately). Basically, though, all Ayreon albums are epics.

Ayreon is pretty cool! I like all of his projects.... Arjen lives like 25 mins from where I live. Great musician for sure.

I love Ayreon. Thanks for the info Eyesore. I have all of the albums, so this one is a no brainer.

Ayreon is a project I need to explore to a much deeper level. I heard a few tracks off The Human Equation and was blown away.

Smindas wrote:

Ayreon is a project I need to explore to a much deeper level. I heard a few tracks off The Human Equation and was blown away.

The only problem I've ever had with Ayreon is that sometimes the lyrics are really cheesy. Haha. Music is killer, though.

I highly recommend everyone check out the song "Loser." Devin Townsend's performance on that song is simply brilliant. He's the only musician that Arjen has ever let write his own lyrics and melodies, and the three tracks Devin is on are awesome. Devin recorded 25 vocal tracks per song, so he sounds monstrous! I really wish his character had more singing time on the album, though. Still, "Loser" is the track to here. It's basically just this proggy medieval-sounding piece and then it just explodes. I remember the first time I heard it, my jaw litterally fell to my chest! It brings tears to my eyes when I hear it. It's one of those moments, for me, that just blows me away every time.

EDIT:

Hear "Loser" with Devin here: http://www.myspace.com/ayreonlol
Hear "Pain" and "School" with Devin here: http://www.myspace.com/thedreamsequencer

The man is amazing! That's the extended version of "Loser,"with the insanely wanky keyboard mid-section! It's from the single. I love it, though.

Yeah, Loser and Pain were the two tracks I was already familiar with and seem a good enough reason to pick up The Human Equation. I looked into Aryeon originally solely because of the Devin link. I saw a little clip from some behind the scenes thing, with Arjen explaining how Dev insisted that he wouldn't sing other people's melodies and lyrics. Guess things have changed since his days with Vai. Still, makes for interesting music.

Eyesore wrote:

krokus wrote:

I dont forward to this eyesore because i only bought the debut album when it came out. I liked it but i never realy got into the story and even some part of the songs. Is their any AYREON album that is easier to listen to, not so complex???? Just straight metal like he did in the past with BODINE for exemple.

Um...I don't think so. Maybe Flight of the Migrator, part two of the Universal Migrator double album (they can be bought together or separately). Basically, though, all Ayreon albums are epics.

I already thought that. Thanksssssssssss for the info.

Smindas wrote:

Yeah, Loser and Pain were the two tracks I was already familiar with and seem a good enough reason to pick up The Human Equation. I looked into Aryeon originally solely because of the Devin link. I saw a little clip from some behind the scenes thing, with Arjen explaining how Dev insisted that he wouldn't sing other people's melodies and lyrics. Guess things have changed since his days with Vai. Still, makes for interesting music.

Yeah, the whole Vai thing seriously jaded him. He felt like a puppet. I mean, he said they tried to make him into a sex symbol. Even Devin's not that stupid! Haha. I really think the whole Vai thing was the catalyst for all that came after.

Anyway, I first heard Ayreon back when Luca Turilli put out Prophet Of The Last Eclipse. That album was labeled as Space Metal or Cosmic Metal, which I thought odd. So I did a little research on "space metal," and sure enough, there are a lot of bands listed under that label. Haha. I don't think it's a legit genre, just something of a secondary label. So I discovered Ayreon, Oratory, Star One, Space Odyssey, and a few others. Good stuff.

Eyesore wrote:

Yeah, the whole Vai thing seriously jaded him. He felt like a puppet. I mean, he said they tried to make him into a sex symbol. Even Devin's not that stupid! Haha. I really think the whole Vai thing was the catalyst for all that came after.

Oh really? I've never been able to find much information regarding that period bar the fact that Vai wanted to created a band and it fell apart miserably. Do you have any sources I can check out? Also Devin Townsend is the wrong person to try and turn in to a sex symbol - I guess that explains the cover art to Sex & Religion.

Smindas wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Yeah, the whole Vai thing seriously jaded him. He felt like a puppet. I mean, he said they tried to make him into a sex symbol. Even Devin's not that stupid! Haha. I really think the whole Vai thing was the catalyst for all that came after.

Oh really? I've never been able to find much information regarding that period bar the fact that Vai wanted to created a band and it fell apart miserably. Do you have any sources I can check out? Also Devin Townsend is the wrong person to try and turn in to a sex symbol - I guess that explains the cover art to Sex & Religion.

Just Devin. He posts ocassionally on his forum, but doesn't like to because whatever he says ends up on Blabbermouth. Back in the day, however, he and his wife Tracy always used the Yahoo! mailing list. Once the forum came online a few years ago, though, Devin and Tracy stopped using the mailing list.

But anyway, Devin is the one that said all this stuff. He and Vai weren't on very good terms either, for a while.

Really loocking forward to yhis one!!
AYREON is a Fantastic band, I have all albums!
And yes Eyesore, I also think that Magali Luyten is an amazing singer!!
I have Beautiful Sin - The Unexpected, killer album

The only one I own is Universal Migrator Parts 1 & 2. Really cool, although I have to be in the right mood to listen to it. Good music to listen to with big old headphones too.

I'm a little overwhelmed by the output of what I could only call the "Euro Melodic Prog/Metal cartel" (Ayreon, Swano, Norlander, etc.) that seems between various solo projects and all-star collaberations to be extremely prolific. Maybe there isn't as much as I think there is; but if you (Eyesore) could do us a favor; would you list the best five or so CD's from this genre to come out in the past five years or so? It would help people like me get a better handle what's out there. If anybody else has a list, I'd like to see that too.

Let me get back to you when I get home in a few hours...

Ok, here goes. There really is a lot of bands doing this sort of thing and doing it well. Instead of listing my favorites, which would be hard to do, I’m just going to list some of my favorites from the past few years. I won’t include Ayreon, or some of the more known epics like Avantasia and Star One, but will focus on some of the lesser-known acts. I threw in a few that stray a bit from the power metal/heavy metal genre and incorporate some other styles like thrash, prog-metal, and death metal.

Please, though, I’ve posted many links to bands and songs here before and they’ve not been downloaded, or listened to, or just commented on. No big deal, really, but since you asked, please at least pretend like you listened! Haha.

AINA – DAYS OF RISING DOOM


This one is pretty epic. It was put together by Sascha Paeth and a few other guys. There is story that goes along with this one, it’s not just a themed album, or a vague concept album, this is the real, full-blown deal. Guests include the professional guest vocalist Michael Kiske, Damian Wilson, Glenn Hughes, Tobias Sammet, Candace Night, Sass Jordan (seriously), Marco Hietala, Simone Simons, and many more. There are also many well-known guest musicians such ass Emppu from Nightwish and Derek Sherinian. The album is outstanding! The limited edition came in a hardcover digibook with a bonus CD of non-LP tracks, a DVD, and close to a 100-page booklet. It’s killer and well worth finding.

Here are some samples:

The Beast Within (Fan-made Video from Days Of Rising Doom)
http://www.myspace.com/ainathemetalopera

ANTHROPIA – THE EREYN CHRONICLES, PART I: THE JOURNEY OF BEGINNINGS


Excerpt from my review of this album (the full mini-review can be read at this location):

Anthropia is a French progressive power metal band, the creation of a young man by the name of Hugues Lefebvre (Hugo, for short). The Ereyn Chronicles, Part I: The Journey Of Beginnings is, as one might assume, a fantasy-based concept album, the first of three installments. The story takes place in the fictional world of Ereyn, ruled by Queen Lunne. As with most fantastical concept albums, the land has fallen into chaos. The main character, Amryl, is on a mission to find the “all-knowing oracle” which will save his people. A disastrous shipwreck, however, sets him on a separate course; one that sees him searching for self-discovery, as he rose from that near-fatal shipwreck with amnesia. Amryl is a hero in the loosest sense; he’s naïve and not so much a warrior, the typical character trait for a story such as this. Of course, the story is secondary; what of the music?

Here are some samples:

Question Of Honour (Video)
http://www.myspace.com/anthropiachronicles

FRAGILE VASTNESS – A TRIBUTE TO LIFE


This band blew me away when I first heard this album. This double album is an epic progressive metal masterpiece, if you ask me. Simply brilliant from beginning to end; and one of the best parts is that the dialogue on the album is excellent! It features a young girl reading from (or writing in, as it’s likely meant to be) a diary, and she does a great job, nothing cheesy, no bad acting syndrome. It’s great! The band hails from Greece, they’ve released two albums so far, and they got pretty ambitious on A Tribute To Life. The concept of the album is not story-oriented, but rather more of a theme. This is what is says on the band’s website about what A Tribute To Life is: The story of a man who learns that his life approaches to its end. A journey to the far edges of the world full of pictures and different colours. The lonely quest of a person to find his inner self and a reason to continue on. The search of a desperate mind for the true purpose of existence. A light in the dark. Hope, love and loss. Sorrow and joy. The passing of a life and the beginning of another. These and many more is what A Tribute to Life is about.

Here are some samples:

Somewhere (Video from A Tribute To Life)
Weep No More (Video from Excerpts…)
http://www.myspace.com/fragilevastness

MYLIDIAN – BIRTH OF THE PROPHET


Excerpt from my review of this album (the full review can be read at this location):

That synopsis may sound a bit ridiculous, but the lyrics are well-written and flow smoothly. Musically, Mylidian sound like a heavy mix of Therion (all eras, but the earliest), Dimmu Borgir, After Forever, and latter day Blind Guardian. Birth Of The Prophet kicks off with “Chaos Prophet,” a fast-paced, aggressive power metal anthem with amazing symphonic elements and a brilliant choir-filled chorus, similar to the most recent output from Therion. The song’s—and, for that matter, the album’s—only problem are the vocals of Armendar, the sole male vocalist who utilizes a different style for four separate characters: Antoine, Clyde, the narrator, and a demon. It’s a minor problem overall; the clean vocals and the death/black metal rasps are outstanding, it’s the mid-range aggressive vocals that occasionally sound out of place, especially the accent when reading along with the lyrics. However, “Chaos Prophet,” and the other songs, are simply too good to be greatly diminished by this minor flaw. Vocally, “Lust With Succubus” takes a step toward a more Broadway feel with back-and-forth vocal work from Antoine and Lillith, but musically it starts mellow and leads into a choir-laden, blastbeat-ridden symphonic masterpiece! “Pleasures Of Pain” rides atop a fierce thrash riff, double-bass, and subtle orchestral touches accompanied by slightly less bombastic choir work. Death/black metal bleeds from “Monastery Slaughter,” again punctuated by the symphonic elements and a killer mid-section groove, while the remaining tracks, including the epic three-part closer, “The Cursed Son” (better heard than spoken about), take and exploit the best elements already offered on the previous tracks, except the short, lulling instrumental, “Litany”; all making for one amazing album.

Here are some samples:

Chaos Prophet (from Birth Of The Prophet)
Monastery Slaughter (from Birth Of The Prophet)
http://www.myspace.com/mylidian

ORPHANED LAND – MABOOL: THE STORY OF THE THREE SONS OF SEVEN


Epic! Many of you probably know this brilliant band and album. Orphaned Land hails from the unlikely place of Israel. Many people out there in the media constantly talked about System Of A Down’s incorporation of Middle Eastern flavor in their music, which is ridiculous because there was very little of it. Orphaned Land, however, really incorporate it. And they mix it up with so many other styles from death metal to folk it’s hard to even categorize the band. They call themselves “World Metal.” Works for me. Mabool is an epic in every sense of the word, and tackles the concept of Noah’s Ark. There’s really no sense in trying to describe the album in just a short blurb, so just check out these samples if you’ve not heard the band before.

Here are some samples:

Ocean Land (from Mabool)
Norra El Norra (from Mabool)
http://www.myspace.com/orphanedmyspace

TOWERSOUND – TOWERSOUND


I wasn’t impressed with this band initially. Towersound is a young French band and their debut is an epic concept album that just struck me as weak initially. And it is. But after a while I gave it more chances and I started to like it, there’s some good music here underneath its rough surface. The production is where it mostly suffers; the guitar sound is just way too weak here. The English lyrics are also pretty bad. My comments from 2005 tell you what I thought at the time. Haha. But the album is a very ambitious album, and I’ve learned to respect it. I think had the band waited a few years before releasing this one it could have been killer. Today, this sort of album would have been a local, underground demo tape. But these days bands are able to release demos like they’re the real deal. Anyway, I only bring the band up because I think they’re deserving of attention. The album isn’t a favorite of mine, but I do enjoy it, and I like when bands think big like this. Towersound simply jumped too soon.

Here are some samples:

Shine Over Me (from Towersound)
Towersound (from Towersound)
Inside The Heart Of Stone (Clip from From Tears To Smile)
http://www.myspace.com/towersound

Rest assured Eyesore, when I get a chance later today, I will explore all those epics. I actually already have Aina, complete with the DVD (£5 off eBay, boo-yeah) and whilst I think it's good, I don't think it's amazing. There's a few moments where I lose interest, however it does tend to make up for it. Also, are you sure that video is fan made? I was understanding that it was the official video, or at least that's what the Aina DVD led me to believe.

That Orphaned Land disc rules.

Smindas wrote:

Rest assured Eyesore, when I get a chance later today, I will explore all those epics. I actually already have Aina, complete with the DVD (£5 off eBay, boo-yeah) and whilst I think it's good, I don't think it's amazing. There's a few moments where I lose interest, however it does tend to make up for it. Also, are you sure that video is fan made? I was understanding that it was the official video, or at least that's what the Aina DVD led me to believe.

I was thinking it may be "official," too, but their site is gone. But you're right, it's on the damn DVD. Haha. So, yeah, it's official, just really cheesy.

Thanks for the reviews. Rest assured you aren't wasting your time...I've bought lots of stuff based on your reviews, from Stonegard to Mechanical Poet, which I just ordered yesterday.

SAHB Healer wrote:

Thanks for the reviews. Rest assured you aren't wasting your time...I've bought lots of stuff based on your reviews, from Stonegard to Mechanical Poet, which I just ordered yesterday.

Oh? Sweet!

You're costing me money!!! Why did I click?? I knew if I heard good, power-epic stuff I'd want it!!

































Thanks

Haha. What did you dig? It'd be cool if people liked that Mylidian disc. I really like that one. And Fragile Vastness, they're also pretty killer.

That's the one! (actually, due to Thrusday Night Football just minutes away I haven't gotten around to the others)

I do have Hamka that you suggested from the other thread pulled up on myspace for some half-time listening! More $$$$$!!!