?Classics? of power metal #11: AVANTASIA - The Scarecrow (2008), early and late impressions and review
Since I've done Avantasia before, I ended up forgoing the usual two-posts thing. So, this'll be it. When does The Scarecrow generate excitement for a listener of my particular tastes. Pretty much from minute one. The moment "Twisted Mind" hit, I was grinning. Yeah, this is what I came for Da-da-da-daDAH! The main riff is positively groovy, sounds heavy, sounds electronic. Instantly memorable. Speaking of memorable, Roy Khan's unmistakable vocals immediately set the mood to go to the slightly darker side of power metal, sticking to his great low range to let Tobias handle the high stuff in a way that quickly turns up the intensity higher than you get with Kamelot. So I was intrigued pretty early. Now, when does that buzz fade? It was a little later each time. On the first listen it was at the chorus of that song. My mind started wandering early. The record seemed more full of downtuned meanderings than ...