Avalon - Eurasia

Year of Release: 2000
Label: Sensory
Catalog Number: SR3010
Format: CD
Total Time: 51:43:00

I've been eagerly awaiting this new CD by these "Germans" Avalon as I found their last CD Vision Eden to be a nice slice of melodic power/prog. As I knew the band were working with super-producer Sasha Paeth, I knew there were great things to come!

Eurasia is their fourth album and I personally think this is their best and most consistent release to date! You get juicy, crunchy guitars, a wonderful rhythm section and a mid-ranged superb vocalist in Chitral Somapala from Sri Lanka. Into this sizzling style of Euro power/prog they have incorporated traditional Asian sounds, and it works out very well. The melody-lines and choruses are very accessible and with the huge catchy hooks, these songs are simply irresistible. The songs are very well orchestrated and with plenty of variation from song to song make this a highly interesting album. Songs like "Burning Souls," "Black Hole Wisdom" and "The Stranger" are all killer songs and perfect examples of the quality that lies within this band. Some songs remind me a bit of Vanden Plas and even Queensr?che comes to mind at times. On top you have the powerful and tasty production from Sasha Paeth to complete this wonderful CD.

My only concern is that the acoustic songs don't come up the quality of the heavier songs, although the lack of heaviness in those songs are accounted for by the Asian influences that are seldom heard in metal. Also the cover song of "Kyrie" by Mister Mister is OK, but nothing more. Having that said, the heavy songs are without doubt the best and there are lots of killer songs to be found which makes this a worthwhile purchase. Fans of the band will not be disappointed and I simply urge every fan of crunchy, melodic power/prog to buy this album. Avalon has made their best album to date!

[This review originally appeared at the ProgPower Online review site November 2002 -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Aurora (2:11) / Burning Souls (4:31) / Temujin (4:52) / Black Hole Wisdom (4:27) / Eternal Flame (7:23) / Save The Holy Land (4:29) / The Last Call (5:19) / Eurasia (3:07) / The Stranger (4:59) / The Painting (4:09) Kyrie (3:29) / Semaruma (2:47)

Musicians:
Chitral Somapala - vocals
Sebastian Eder - guitars
Petra Delorian - bass
Jens Kuckelkorn - keyboards
Jacques Voutay ? drums

Discography:
Why Now (1995)
Mystic Places (1998)
Vision Eden (1998)
Eurasia (2000)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin DE

Added: November 1st 2002
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website: www.omegarecords.de/avalon/
Hits: 2590
Language: english