Timo Tolkki’s Avalon - Angels of the Apocalypse

Timo Tolkki’s Avalon Angels of the Apocalypse cover
Timo Tolkki’s Avalon
Angels of the Apocalypse
Frontiers Records
2014
3.5
Timo’s personal Waterloo… this could have been the subtitle of this album. Timo did very well on the debut and while all the fans were expecting something way stronger and updated he comes up with this totally insipid & uninspired work. How can a gifted guy like Timo feature all the wrong & bland elements in one album? This is to wonder! How Frontiers agreed to release such an album is also weird. Did they even listen to the album they were about to release?!
 
I remember that the expectations were high due to the fact that Timo’s old-folks (from the early Strato days) would take part in; Antti Ikonen (ex-Stratovarius, ex-Cartes Art Machine, ex-Juhlavammat) on keyboards and Tuomo Lassila (Conquest, ex-Black Water, ex-Chrism, ex-Stratovarius) on drums. The guest appearances include some of the most renowned vocalists of metal music. We have: Floor Jansen (Nightwish, ReVamp, ex-After Forever etc.), Fabio Lione (Rhapsody of Fire, Hollow Haze, Vision Divine, ex-Symmetry, ex-Labyrinth, ex-Athena etc.), Simone Simons (Epica, ex-Sahara Dust), David DeFeis (Virgin Steele, ex-Exorcist, ex-Jack Starr’s Burning Starr etc.), Elize Ryd (Amaranthe), Zak Stevens (Circle II Circle, ex-Savatage ex-Machines of Grace, ex-Wicked Witch, ex-Trans-Siberian Orchestra etc.) & Caterina Nix (a new singer from Chile). Great voices all of them… but the “one million dollar” question remains: how could Timo release something so appalling & repelling at long last?
 
The mixing, production & mastering are terrible. A big Waterloo! DeFeis sounds very bad like 90% of the vocalists here. “Rise of the 4Th Reich”, the track where DeFeis sings, is barely listenable. The same goes for “Stargate Atlantis”. I could easily go on with almost every track here. The album’s production reminded me of those “glorious productions” that 99% of the Greek heavy/power metal bands have! Yeap, it is that ludicrous! The songwriting is very lame too. Timo seems to have had a bad time while writing this album. Totally uninspired, it only has the basics and nothing more. Bland melodies, poor hooklines and weak symphonic parts. Did I say that this is Timo’s personal Waterloo?!! Sure, but believe me one time is not enough! I can’t believe it myself. He even has a guy for the orchestrations! What? Are we even serious?!! This is Timo’s most horrible release ever. The best thing Timo has to do is renounce this release after a while. This ain’t fair for his talent and his music legacy. Ohh and something else… Timo quit this music project now and take over your own and beloved music child – Stratovarious – before they become a shadow of themselves. Stratovarious is Timo Tollki… bring Antti and Tuomo over as well… hurry up dude…