Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to Tobias Sammet about his upcoming album AVANTASIA album HERE BE DRAGONS which will be released on Feb 28, 2025 on NAPALM RECORDS.
Also in the chat Tobias talks about Avantasia’s origins and guest singers over the years.
When asked about why he first started Avantasia
“I wanted to work with other people, not that I didn’t like working with my band fellows. I wanted to look outside the box and see what else I could experience and learn. I wanted to work with Michael Kiske (Helloween) because he had turned his back on heavy metal and apparently they didn’t want to reunite with Helloween (Laughs). They didn’t want to make a reunion so I said okay somebody’s gotta do it so let me do it. I was a huge fan of Michael Kiske. I’m still to this day and so that was one of the reasons why I did it was because I wanted to have Michael Kiske sing my songs. Classical double bass beat power metal songs. I also wanted to work with Bob Catley and David DeFeis and yeah just do an album and look outside the box. I knew his (Micahel Kiske) fan club president and I said like if you could pass on the message that that I have a couple of songs, I’m a real nice guy, I’m not a Satanist and also have a little budget so um if he here’s my number. And he called me we just talked and we liked each other. He’s a very lovely person and he’s a very good friend now. We hit it off really well and that was the starting point. That was a big important thing about the first Avantasia album. Michael Kiske is the only one who’s been on every Avantasia record so far except for me Bob Catley who was on everyone since the second one which was recorded at the same time as the first one so technically Bob Catley has been there from the start.”
When asked why Michael Kiske wanted to be called Ernie on the first album
“That was his own idea back in the day. I wanted to have Michael Kiske and I said I want you to be on the record because you mean so much to me and I made the big mistake telling him like even if I didn’t have your name it’s not because of your name it’s you could be called anything. I just want you and your voice and he said okay then let’s call me Ernie on the record and he put it in the contract. I said are you serious, Ernie? I mean why don’t we just call you Joe Vocal or whatever but no no let’s do it Ernie, that’s his sense of humor. I said okay Ernie and Bert, great let’s do it. He (Michael Kiske) was hesitant I believe back in the day because he had announced in advance that he would never return to metal again and metal was music of the devil and you know and it was all said and done back in the 80s. He will never return, his heart is elsewhere and all of a sudden he returns to the metal scene appearing on a Metal Opera with Kai Hansson and Markus Grosskopf appearing on nine songs singing Speed metal songs. He probably thought people would think that’s weird with everything he said in advance so he said let’s call me Ernie. So we did it and everybody knew oh Michael Kiske (on the record). So on the second record I asked him like I mean it’s still in the contract but do you seriously want to be called Ernie again everybody knows and he said and why don’t we just go with Michael Kiske (laughs).”
Here Be Dragons Tracklist:
1 Creepshow
2 Here Be Dragons
3 The Moorland At Twilight
4 The Witch
5 Phantasmagoria
6 Bring On The Night
7 Unleash The Kraken
8 Avalon
9 Against The Wind
10 Everybody’s Here Until The End
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 