AVANTASIA To Release 'A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society' Album In October

EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's AVANTASIA project will release its ninth album, "A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society", on October 21 via Nuclear Blast. The disc will be the follow-up to "Moonglow", which came out in 2019.

The official lyric video for the LP's first single, "The Wicked Rule The Night", can be seen below. The song features a guest appearance by PRIMAL FEAR singer Ralf Scheepers.

Sammet states about the new album: "From the first song ideas back in 2018 / 2019 to the production, orchestration, keyboards, arrangements, details, I have been personally involved so deeply in every little aspect and detail of this album that you can't get an album any more personal or closer to my vision than this one. I had the time. Nothing else to do in the past two and a half years. It was a slow movement life with music and my Mysteryhausen studio serving as a portal to another world, full of music and quirky encounters with my muses keeping me sane and hopeful.

"I am super proud of the album — some of my best songs, some of my most emotional and extreme vocal performances, some of the strongest guest performances ever. I couldn't be happier with the outcome and when you'll hear it, you will know why."

"A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society" was produced by Sammet with AVANTASIA guitar player Sascha Paeth. The cover artwork was created by Swedish illustrator Alexander Jansson.

"A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society" track listing:

01. Welcome To The Shadows
02. The Wicked Rule The Night
03. Kill The Pain Away
04. The Inmost Light
05. Misplaced Among The Angels
06. I Tame The Storm
07. Paper Plane
08. The Moonflower Society
09. Rhyme And Reason
10. Scars
11. Arabesque

Regarding the "A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society" title, Tobias said: "At first our label was wondering if we couldn't come up with a longer album title maybe. [Laughs] Given the attention span of the brave new world, it's not very memorable perhaps, but it's the concept and the title was on my mind for quite a while. Most fans know that I have never taken the easy way just to deliver things bite-sized for what the market can handle. Our fans are smart enough to memorize the title. As an artist you need to follow your vision, otherwise you get an ulcer and ulcers kill creativity."

As for the guest musicians who appear on "A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society", Tobias said: "There are many; some you would expect, some you would not expect. We'll announce them in due time. But they all delivered. When I listen to the final master, I am astounded myself how we could have come up with something as energetic and uplifting as this album in these two years of isolation."

Sammet previously stated about "The Wicked Rule The Night": "I'm so happy with the upcoming album that you could put out any song as the first single. But somehow, after the last two years, I felt the need to go full steam ahead as soon as I'm let off the leash. And honestly, it's also cool to know that many would probably have expected a less extreme track to accompany AVANTASIA's re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. But AVANTASIA is not stylistically fixed — anything goes, commercial, epic, grotesque or full on the bell, doesn't matter: all that is part of AVANTASIA's very own world. We have found our own pigeonhole and different laws apply there. The fans of the first hour know that. And so I have the feeling that 'The Wicked Rule The Night' is unpredictable, exciting, fresh and new, despite my trademarks, as you know them partly from AVANTASIA or also EDGUY. Playing it safe is a lot of hogwash."

"Moonglow" hit number one on the album charts in Germany and charted in 17 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas before AVANTASIA embarked on a ten-month tour of Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America.

Since its beginnings in 1999, AVANTASIA's past releases have featured international stars such as Alice Cooper, Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker (SCORPIONS), Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION), Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer (KISS), Eric Martin (MR. BIG), SAXON's Biff Byford, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider and many more.

In addition to Sammet and Scheepers, "The Wicked Rule The Night" features Sascha Paeth on guitar and Felix Bohnke on drums.