ALBUM REVIEW: Here Be Dragons – Avantasia

February 26, 2025 Sam Khaneka

With a relatively on the nose album name and song titles referencing everything from witches to moorlands, you might be forgiven for expecting Here Be Dragons to be a return to AVANTASIA’s early power metal years. In the two decades since The Metal Opera duology, Tobias Sammet has shaped his ambitious project into something much more idiosyncratic – a unique meld of symphonic metal, prog and modern hard rock, all underpinned by ostentatious, musical-esque songwriting. Yet, while Here Be Dragons feels in step with the version of AVANTASIA that has developed since 2008’s The Scarecrow, it’s an album that seems to incorporate flashes of Sammet’s wider musical history all the same.

Those allusions to the past begin in a surprising way with the opening track, Creepshow. Perhaps the most arena rock cut to ever appear under the AVANTASIA banner, the short and upbeat number has more than a hint of Sammet’s formative band EDGUY circa Hellfire Club and Rocket Ride. While less musically intensive than your typical AVANTASIA fare, it’s a surprisingly rousing kick off to the record. It’s also the stylistic opposite of its follow up track, the titular Here Be Dragons – a nine-minute progressive epic. Sammet and fellow vocal powerhouse Geoff Tate carefully shepherd the song from contemplative radio-friendly rock to huge symphonic choruses and anything in-between. There’s a medieval tinge to the whole thing thanks to its dramatic choral parts and sweeping orchestration, but ultimately this is the kind of multi suite opus that AVANTASIA have become increasingly skilled at delivering.

If Here Be Dragons is a manifestation of modern AVANTASIA, then it’s with The Moorlands At Twilight where we really see Sammet and company start to pull at their power metal roots. With the definitive voice of the genre, Michael Kiske, joining Tobias at the helm, the vocals soar over a bedding of sewing-machine drums, prominent guitar leads and hallowed synths. Between some of the guitar gymnastics and a neoclassically-tinged bridge section (replete with clavier), there’s just the hint of some of those really early EDGUY and Metal Opera epics in there. The quick pace mercifully drops with the brooding The Witch, which has more than a little of KAMELOT’s pensive delivery in its verses – not in the least thanks to the presence of Tommy Karevik himself. With a suitably big chorus to offset things, The Witch truly comes in to its own in its middle eight, where chugging guitar parts are swapped for proggy synths and a restrained organ – like if STYX ever decided to embrace metal.

After a confident and varied first half, it’s in the middle that Here Be Dragons hits a bit of a lull. Despite some strong performances, particularly from long-term AVANTASIA guest Ronnie Atkins, Phantasmagoria feels a little bit like AVANTASIA-by-numbers. Not bad by any stretch, but notably the album’s most inessential track. Bring On The Night treads a similar path, feeling like a lesser version of the other Bob Catley-fronted ballads in AVANTASIA’s repertoire – The Story Ain’t Over this ain’t.

Thankfully then, follow up track Unleash The Kraken lives up to its punchy title and injects a much-needed shot of energy to the proceedings. With masterfully articulate, spinning guitar leads that spiral into another momentous chorus, the song is perhaps the thrashiest in AVANTASIA’s history and additionally provides Sammet a showcase for his own impressive vocal chops. Avalon sees AVANTASIA shift gears again, its recurring harmonised guitar lead bringing a touch of folkish melody with it. As the song’s call-and-response vocals keep building, Sammet has his work cut out for him matching the force of guest singer Adrienne Cowan. It’s a memorable track overall, further lifted by its middle section of orchestra and guitars vying for centre stage.

It’s with the penultimate track that Here Be Dragons finally reaches its ultimate peak however. Against The Wind takes notes from the Metal Opera school of songwriting again thanks to its never-relenting double kicks and huge, uplifting chorus. But it’s the splicing in of moments of piano delicateness and power balladry amongst the intensity that makes it stand out musically. Additionally, the album’s standout vocal performance comes from H.E.A.T’s Kenny Leckremo, whose unashamedly powerful delivery is a masterclass of melodic aggression. Seeing the album out is the slow and slightly mournful Everybody’s Here Until The End, a more reflective track that has all the finality of ending number in a musical.

As the curtain draws on Here Be Dragons, there’s a slight sense of nostalgia left in its wake. Where its predecessor, the verbosely named A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society, saw Sammet and company expand into different territories and exploring new sonic landscapes, Here Be Dragons instead traverses through a few previously trodden paths. And yet, despite revisiting elements of the past, Sammet does so with a different approach than back then. In turn, the results remain exciting. Here Be Dragons excels when it taps in to the energy and attitude of the band’s early days, but coats it in the lavish and more mature aesthetic of their last few albums. Its merging of AVANTASIA’s and indeed some of Tobias Sammet’s wider musical history turns Here Be Dragons in to its own uniquely contradictory beast – a compellingly modern slab of fantasy-focussed melodic metal.

Rating: 7/10