Aina Choir, Glenn Hughes, Thomas Rettke, Tobias Sammet
http://www.thestoryofaina.nl/
Rock operas were already around at the end… Read Full Bio ↴http://www.thestoryofaina.nl/
Rock operas were already around at the end of the 60’s; you just have to think about the classics like “Tommy” or “Jesus Christ Superstar,” that seem to have long been forgotten. At some point, concept albums took over in place of the actual Rock Opera without actually having either the intention of intertwining classical and rock music or the ability to pay attention to detail, such as bands like The Who had made in their glory days.
On the other hand, in the metal scene there have been several projects piloted from the acclaimed “Avantasia” Series from the pen of Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet, or Nikolai Kotzev’s work “Nostradamus,” both of which function similarly; namely by using a whole line of prominent singers given different rolls to bring alive with their wonderful voices. Also Arjen Lucassen’s „Ayreon“ records are thematically comparative, however take a completely different direction with their progressive direction and the diverse use of the guest singers.
In the past couple of years, shortly after Sammet’s albums successfully slammed into the market and even Ayreon garnered very high respect from more than just critics’ pages, some jumped onto the bandwagon of the so-called Metal Operas. Most, however, did not manage to successfully combine classical elements with hard guitars neither from a technically musical standpoint, nor lyrically, into a harmonious package.
So naturally, I approached this project with the utmost skepticism. However, in the very moment that I opened my new promo pack and saw this fat Digi-Book in my hands, it became clear to me that I was holding something great. And yes, “Days of Rising Doom” is something very, very special. A year and a half long is what it took for producer Sascha Paeth, multi-instrumentalist Robert Hunecke-Rizzo , keyboardist Miro and the lovely singer Amanda Somerville to work on their project Aina and accomplished exactly what it is that one imagines under the term “Metal Opera.” The band name “Aina” is the backbone of the whole storyline; an imaginary land that can be roughly compared with Middle Earth. Even the story is not all that unlike that of the mighty tale, “The Lord of the Rings” in that it deals with love, pain, violence and justice between good and evil in the land of Aina, however manages to avoid the danger of falling into the typical clichés.
That even such a mega-project is in need of enrolling the most different characters, one understands from the amazing list of stars that Paeth and Co. got together that they were going after the Who is Who of the metal scene. Just read through these names and try not to have your jaw drop to the floor out of sheer amazement:
Sascha Paeth (Heaven`s Gate)
Robert Hunecke-Rizzo (Heaven`s Gate)
Amanda Somerville
Miro
Sebastian Thomson
Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween, Supared)
Damian Wilson (ex-Threshold)
Glenn Hughes
Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia)
Thomas Rettke (Heaven`s gate)
Olaf Hayer (Luca Turilli)
Cinzia Rizzo
Rannveig Sif Sigurdardottir
Andre Matos (ex-Angra, Shaman)
Candice Night (Blackmore`s Night)
Sass Jordan
Marko Hietala (Nightwish)
Simone Simons (Epica)
Oliver Hartmann
Herbie Langhans
Olaf Reitmeier
Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater)
Jens Johansson (ex-Malmsteen, Stratovarius)
T.M. Stevens (Steve Vai)
Alex Naschke
Emppu Vuorinen (Nightwish)
Thomas Youngblood (Kamelot)
Erik Norlander (Lana Lane)
Any questions? So, when you go through this list then the expectations naturally grow to immeasurable proportions – but “Days of Rising Doom” overcomes even these. The changing vocals superbly complement one another (and this, even though nearly all the musicians worked in different studios and couldn’t really gage their emotional melody lines from their duet partners), the orchestral arrangements were fit to the guitar passages to a T, and the performances of the solo musicians is simply of the finest caliber. So much so that, in the end, the goal of reaching an atmosphere of a musical is hit smack dab in the middle – just to a slightly harder degree.
In the end, that leaves only the songs to be addressed, but even there Aina hasn’t done a shabby job of it at all. There are hard-driven numbers (always, with a subtle classical undertone, naturally) like “Flight of Torek” or the single version “The Best Within” (killer!); quiet epic numbers such as the female vocal accompanied “Rape of Oria”, and also mid-tempo bombastic rockers like that of “Oriana’s Wrath” or “The Siege of Aina.” In songs like “Silver Maiden,” it even goes so far as transporting you into a soundtrack region that is very close to a class of that of John Williams.
If you let the effects of “Days of Rising Doom” go to work on you the first time, despite all of its rich multi-facetted ness, there is still one voice to be garnered as a pure win, namely the voice of Amanda Somerville. She is the “new discovery” in the classic metal scene who played a huge part in contributing all that made this project tick. Not lastly, we have her to thank that this album is already now an absolute reference in this genre and in being so, pretty much blows away any of the competition standing in her way.
And if this isn’t enough, “Days of Rising Doom” comes out on the market in a mega fat limited Digi-book (as is mentioned in the beginning of this review), in which, besides a 64-page booklet with complete information about the story and the protagonists (awesome!), above all is the bonus CD which brings further enchantment to the listener. On this CD are various alternate versions of the album, in addition to the whole story of Aina being told to another soundtrack- like musical painting, which triggers some mighty goose bumps towards the end. Last but not least, a DVD is included with several interviews with the main stars & composers of the project, a video clip for “The Beast Within” as well as extensive information about the world of Aina.
Comprised of more than 3 hours, this is perfect entertainment for sophisticated listeners and most probably the rockingest CD-release since the invention of CDs. It is really difficult for me to put my euphoria for this release into words. Great! Amazing! Grand! Spectacular! Knock out! Or what ever, but understand what I’m trying to say here: Even 10 points would not be enough for this record and you should know that every metal fan - and I mean EVERY single one - needs to get ahold of a copy of this CD package as soon as they can because anyone who is willing to pass on this can just go on and burn his metal gear right now!
P.S. A continuation has already been announced in the booklet – hopefully also on stage. Ayreon did it with Star One …
Rock operas were already around at the end… Read Full Bio ↴http://www.thestoryofaina.nl/
Rock operas were already around at the end of the 60’s; you just have to think about the classics like “Tommy” or “Jesus Christ Superstar,” that seem to have long been forgotten. At some point, concept albums took over in place of the actual Rock Opera without actually having either the intention of intertwining classical and rock music or the ability to pay attention to detail, such as bands like The Who had made in their glory days.
On the other hand, in the metal scene there have been several projects piloted from the acclaimed “Avantasia” Series from the pen of Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet, or Nikolai Kotzev’s work “Nostradamus,” both of which function similarly; namely by using a whole line of prominent singers given different rolls to bring alive with their wonderful voices. Also Arjen Lucassen’s „Ayreon“ records are thematically comparative, however take a completely different direction with their progressive direction and the diverse use of the guest singers.
In the past couple of years, shortly after Sammet’s albums successfully slammed into the market and even Ayreon garnered very high respect from more than just critics’ pages, some jumped onto the bandwagon of the so-called Metal Operas. Most, however, did not manage to successfully combine classical elements with hard guitars neither from a technically musical standpoint, nor lyrically, into a harmonious package.
So naturally, I approached this project with the utmost skepticism. However, in the very moment that I opened my new promo pack and saw this fat Digi-Book in my hands, it became clear to me that I was holding something great. And yes, “Days of Rising Doom” is something very, very special. A year and a half long is what it took for producer Sascha Paeth, multi-instrumentalist Robert Hunecke-Rizzo , keyboardist Miro and the lovely singer Amanda Somerville to work on their project Aina and accomplished exactly what it is that one imagines under the term “Metal Opera.” The band name “Aina” is the backbone of the whole storyline; an imaginary land that can be roughly compared with Middle Earth. Even the story is not all that unlike that of the mighty tale, “The Lord of the Rings” in that it deals with love, pain, violence and justice between good and evil in the land of Aina, however manages to avoid the danger of falling into the typical clichés.
That even such a mega-project is in need of enrolling the most different characters, one understands from the amazing list of stars that Paeth and Co. got together that they were going after the Who is Who of the metal scene. Just read through these names and try not to have your jaw drop to the floor out of sheer amazement:
Sascha Paeth (Heaven`s Gate)
Robert Hunecke-Rizzo (Heaven`s Gate)
Amanda Somerville
Miro
Sebastian Thomson
Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween, Supared)
Damian Wilson (ex-Threshold)
Glenn Hughes
Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia)
Thomas Rettke (Heaven`s gate)
Olaf Hayer (Luca Turilli)
Cinzia Rizzo
Rannveig Sif Sigurdardottir
Andre Matos (ex-Angra, Shaman)
Candice Night (Blackmore`s Night)
Sass Jordan
Marko Hietala (Nightwish)
Simone Simons (Epica)
Oliver Hartmann
Herbie Langhans
Olaf Reitmeier
Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater)
Jens Johansson (ex-Malmsteen, Stratovarius)
T.M. Stevens (Steve Vai)
Alex Naschke
Emppu Vuorinen (Nightwish)
Thomas Youngblood (Kamelot)
Erik Norlander (Lana Lane)
Any questions? So, when you go through this list then the expectations naturally grow to immeasurable proportions – but “Days of Rising Doom” overcomes even these. The changing vocals superbly complement one another (and this, even though nearly all the musicians worked in different studios and couldn’t really gage their emotional melody lines from their duet partners), the orchestral arrangements were fit to the guitar passages to a T, and the performances of the solo musicians is simply of the finest caliber. So much so that, in the end, the goal of reaching an atmosphere of a musical is hit smack dab in the middle – just to a slightly harder degree.
In the end, that leaves only the songs to be addressed, but even there Aina hasn’t done a shabby job of it at all. There are hard-driven numbers (always, with a subtle classical undertone, naturally) like “Flight of Torek” or the single version “The Best Within” (killer!); quiet epic numbers such as the female vocal accompanied “Rape of Oria”, and also mid-tempo bombastic rockers like that of “Oriana’s Wrath” or “The Siege of Aina.” In songs like “Silver Maiden,” it even goes so far as transporting you into a soundtrack region that is very close to a class of that of John Williams.
If you let the effects of “Days of Rising Doom” go to work on you the first time, despite all of its rich multi-facetted ness, there is still one voice to be garnered as a pure win, namely the voice of Amanda Somerville. She is the “new discovery” in the classic metal scene who played a huge part in contributing all that made this project tick. Not lastly, we have her to thank that this album is already now an absolute reference in this genre and in being so, pretty much blows away any of the competition standing in her way.
And if this isn’t enough, “Days of Rising Doom” comes out on the market in a mega fat limited Digi-book (as is mentioned in the beginning of this review), in which, besides a 64-page booklet with complete information about the story and the protagonists (awesome!), above all is the bonus CD which brings further enchantment to the listener. On this CD are various alternate versions of the album, in addition to the whole story of Aina being told to another soundtrack- like musical painting, which triggers some mighty goose bumps towards the end. Last but not least, a DVD is included with several interviews with the main stars & composers of the project, a video clip for “The Beast Within” as well as extensive information about the world of Aina.
Comprised of more than 3 hours, this is perfect entertainment for sophisticated listeners and most probably the rockingest CD-release since the invention of CDs. It is really difficult for me to put my euphoria for this release into words. Great! Amazing! Grand! Spectacular! Knock out! Or what ever, but understand what I’m trying to say here: Even 10 points would not be enough for this record and you should know that every metal fan - and I mean EVERY single one - needs to get ahold of a copy of this CD package as soon as they can because anyone who is willing to pass on this can just go on and burn his metal gear right now!
P.S. A continuation has already been announced in the booklet – hopefully also on stage. Ayreon did it with Star One …
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Aina Choir Glenn Hughes Thomas Rettke Tobias Sammet Lyrics
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