Frontiers Music Srl is excited to announce the return of TIMO TOLKKI’S AVALON with the release of the long awaited third chapter in his metal opera, “Return to Eden”!
Five years in the making, “Return to Eden” marks a new return for the legendary ex-Stratovarius guitarist and composer Timo Tolkki.
Following a few personal issues which forced him to take a step back from the spotlight, Timo started the writing process for the new album and with the help of the Italian producer Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere), completed this outstanding comeback album. A convincing and inspired release, Timo's hunger to create is stronger than ever. As with previous releases, a slew of heavyweight guest vocalists were brought in to handle lead vocal duties.
"Return To Eden" features appearances by renowned Dutch singer Anneke Van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering), Zak Stevens (ex-Savatage), Todd Michael Hall (Riot V), Mariangela Demurtas (Tristania, Ardours), and Eduard Hovinga (ex-Elegy).
"I would like to say… Tolkki is back!” exclaims Timo. "I feel that this is one of my best works to date and I believe the whole cast of singers and musicians truly went above and beyond the call of duty. We managed to create a really great record. I hope the fans will like it."
Timo Tolkki – Lead Guitars, Bass Andrea Buratto – Bass Antonio Agate – Piano and Keyboards Giulio Capone – Drums, Piano and Keyboards Jami Huovinen - Drums Aldo Lonobile – Guitars Santtu Lehtiniemi - Additional Guitars
This new project titled Chaos Magic is Timo Tolki’s attempt to create a musical project in the vein of Within Temptation or Nightwish.
Vocalist for this occasion is newcomer Caterina Nix, a lady with a very fine voice indeed. I’m sure we will hear a lot more from her over time. The range is there and the high notes are also there (maybe too many), but not quite carrying the power of her contemporaries.
In control is Timo Tolkki, who has written all songs, performs guitar, keyboards, bass and also takes control of recording, producing, mixing and mastering.
A set of outside ears might be helpful for Timo. This is a better production than his Avalon releases, but not to the standard as the recent Allen/Lande or what is needed to break a new act.
Musically there are still some good songs to enjoy – One Drop Of Blood is an obvious stand out; A Little Too Late is instantly catchy; Passionflow is suitably dramatic and the fast paced Point Of No Return is a good conclusion to the debut.
An interesting album. Caterina is a great discovery, but having publicly declared that this project was attempting to sound like Within Temptation, the natural reaction is to immediately compare the two. If you do that, Chaos Magic is going to come up short. But, enjoy it for what it is and fans of female fronted symphonic hard rock should find enough to latch on to.
Finnish Metal Icon TIMO TOLKKI creates CHAOS MAGIC
with Chilean Singer CATERINA NIX and a new Metal star is born!
Debut album out on Frontiers in July.
Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to announce the impending release of CHAOS MAGIC's self-titled debut album on July 3rd in Europe and July 10th in North America.
The name CHAOS MAGIC encompasses the new alliance between Finnish songwriter/producer Timo Tolkki (former STRATOVARIUS) with Chilean-born singer Caterina Nix. The beautiful singer has already collaborated with Timo on the second chapter of the AVALON Rock Opera “Angels of the Apocalypse”, where she shared lead vocals on songs with such heavyweight singers as Simone Simons (Epica), Elize Ryd (Amaranthe), and Floor Jansen (Nightwish).
Caterina's career started by singing lead vocals for the Chilean metal band Aghonya with whom she opened shows for such bands as After Forever, Edguy and Within Temptation.
“I met Timo in Chile some years ago, during one of his visits to the country with Stratovarius,” tells Caterina. “I remember going to a meet-and-greet with the band, and Timo and I just started talking like we had known each other for ages. We developed a very nice sort of father to daughter friendship and we have been in contact ever since. One day I decided to send him my music, just to know his opinion about it, and thankfully, he was pleasantly surprised. That's how it all started really.”
The CHAOS MAGIC album was written, performed and produced by Tolkki to develop the vocal talent of Caterina and shows a diverse side of Timo's musical talents. Musically, we are in a territory not too far away from the recent WITHIN TEMPTATION releases, melting beautiful and sweeping melodies with symphonic and grandiose musical landscapes. “I feel the music Timo created for this project is very current, it's strong and also shows some more delicate moments, without losing its edge,” continues Caterina. “It was a joy for me to sing these beautifully contagious songs. I did my best to bring emotion and passion into the songs, which I guess wasn't so hard, since I was truly so excited.”
“I hope this album reaches several layers of music listeners, it's quite captivating and nothing would make me happier than singing these songs live... giving myself to the audience and feeling that connection, which is truly priceless to me,” concludes Caterina.
It is possible to sample CHAOS MAGIC via the EPK available here:
CHAOS MAGIC tracklisting includes: I’m Alive; Dangerous Game; One Drop Of Blood; Seraphim; From The Stars; A Little Too Late; Passionflow; Dead Memories; Please Don't Tell Me; Right Now; The Point Of No Return.
CHAOS MAGIC
Caterina Nix – Lead Vocals
Timo Tolkki – Guitars, Bass, Keyboards - Production
Jami Huovinen – Drums
Weblink: www.facebook.com/caterinanix
A new Allen/Lande release without mastermind Magnus Karlsson involved? Not sure about that. Timo Tolkki to take over as chief architect? Definitely know how I feel about that.
I came into this release – the 4th overall – with very low expectations. After Timo’s recent twin Avalon releases, I expected a bad production and some bland songwriting.
But I was wrong and I’m happy to announce that.
While I don’t think the album has the same wall of sound that Karlsson delivered or the same intensity in the vocals, it is still pretty good.
Interestingly, 6 of the 10 tracks feature just the one vocalist. Jorn on 3 and Russell on 3. Just 4 of the songs feature both vocalists and that’s a weakness of the album and shows how well Karlsson worked with both singers on all songs and intertwined their vocals on the first 3 records.
Thankfully the production is far better than the Avalon releases, with Dennis Ward brought in to mix the end results.
Anything featuring Russell Allen and Jorn Lande in full attack mode is going to appeal, so I’m glad everyone involved got it right.
Timo is responsible for writing all songs – with Jorn co-writing several with him. Timo is also responsible for the guitars, bass and keyboards. So it’s an impressive performance here and I’ll now expect more from him.
After 3 pretty similar releases (which I all rate highly), perhaps it is nice to hear these class vocalists at it once again, but with a different sound behind them.
The strong opener Come Dream With Me and the belting impact of the fast moving Down From The Mountain (both tracks featuring duel vocals) and In The Hands Of Time (featuring Russell) get the album off to the best possible start, with both singers in full fight.
It’s not until the quality metal ballad Lady Of Winter (featuring Jorn alone) do things slow down a little.
Dream Until Tomorrow is a song featuring both singers belting it out and is followed by another duet in the intense Hymn For The Fallen.
Russell closes the album with a pair of songs – one highly quality rocker and the other a powerful metal ballad called Bittersweet.
As much as I like the results here, I still haven’t played the album as much as I did the first three. I think the sonic impact of Magnus Kalrsson is the obvious missing ingredient here, plus the lack of interplay between vocalists, but otherwise, Timo far exceeded my expectations and this is still an enjoyable melodic metal / hard rock album worth of the Allen/Lande name.
Jorn Lande and Russell Allen return with 4th ALLEN LANDE masterpiece “The Great Divide” in October
Production and songwriting by former Stratovarius mastermind, Timo Tolkki
Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to announce the release of the anticipated fourth album from ALLEN / LANDE, the vocal alliance between Norwegian Jorn Lande and powerhouse Symphony X / Adrenaline Mob vocalist Russell Allen entitled “The Great Divide” on October 17th in Europe and October 21st in North America.
Following three successful albums written, played and produced by Magnus Karlsson (of Primal Fear/Starbreaker), the new album “The Great Divide” offers a substantial change in that former Stratovarius guitarist and main composer, Timo Tolkki took on the challenge to write and produce the new recording. Tolkki also performs all instrumentation on the album except for drums, which are handled by Jami Huovinen.
Work on the album started in late 2013 when the first songs were demoed and sent to the two singers, who loved the direction of the new music. Also, for the first time, Jorn Lande has contributed vocal melodies and lyrics to the album. The final result is certainly outstanding and the crisp mixes from Dennis Ward (PC 69, Place Vendome, Unisonic) have delivered an amazing sounding album. Stunning cover art created by French artist Stan Decker completes the package of the most eagerly anticipated Melodic Metal release of 2014!
“The Great Divide” tracklisting includes the following songs: Come Dream With Me; Down From The Mountain; In The Hands Of Time; Solid Ground; Lady Of Winter; Dream About Tomorrow; Hymn To The Fallen; The Great Divide; Reaching For The Stars; Bittersweet.
