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Once a side-project for Edguy singer Tobias Sammet, Avantasia has taken on a life of its own and Ghostlights is the seventh full-length album from the band. Anyone remotely familiar with Sammet will know Ghostlights is a Power Metal album and not many people in Heavy Metal write melodies and vocal lines as catchy or infectious as he does. From literally the first spin I found myself singing along with tracks like "Mystery of a Blood Red Rose" and "Draconian Love" then tapping my foot to the double-kick tempos of "Ghostlights" and "Unchain the Light." As is usual with an Avantasia album, there are guest vocalists galore. Twisted Sister's Dee Snider brings his "Captain Howdy" menace to "The Haunting," Geoff Tate gives are dark, restrained performance on "Seduction of Decay" and Unisonic/former Helloween singer Michael Kiske proves he still possesses one of the best Power Metal voices ever as he carries "Ghostlights" to high-pitched heights. Other contributors include Jorn Lande, Herbie Langhans, Bruce Kulick, Sharon den Adel and Marco Hietala, just to name a few.

Ghostlights can be faulted for sounding formulaic but let's be honest; we Power Metal fans aren't particularly fond of experimentation. And the songwriting is so damn good, who really cares? Ghostlights is fantastic and Sammet incorporates all the different styles of his guest expertly. Fans of Edguy, Helloween, Nightwish, etc. will want to add this latest Avantasia offering to their collections.