Floor Jansen is the main vocalist on Avalon II, the album and European tour planned for May 2014

The Nightwish/ReVamp singer Floor Jansen will appear in the leading role on the next album of Timo Tolkki’s Avalon Metal Opera.

Jansen is the main vocalist on the album and sings lead vocals on the first single and promotional video. The release date for both single and the video is planned for March. The recordings are currently taking place in East Sound Studios in Helsinki, Finland. Jansen joins the cast that already includes Epica singer Simone Simons and the reunion of the early Stratovarius. Lineup: Tuomo Lassila on drums (the founder of Stratovarius) and Antti Ikonen on keyboards (the original keyboard player of Stratovarius).

A European Tour is also planned for May 2014, to coincide with the release of the album. More details on the live lineup and dates will be revealed later.

Timo Tolkki comments straight from the studio: “I am right now recording probably the best vocalist I have worked with in my whole career. This has been a jaw dropping experience and I thought I have already seen it all. Floor has proven me wrong. For example in the 10 minute title track of the album, she delivers in my opinion the best vocals of her career so far. This song is probably the biggest sounding of my whole career and Floor simply makes it an astonishing, almost breathtaking experience! We are both surprised of how amazing this has turned out to be and both very happy to hear how amazing it sounds.”

Updates on Past FoM Guest Timo Tolkki's Second Avalon Release

After the success of Timo Tolkki’s Avalon debut album “The Land of New Hope” which entered the top 100 album charts in 7 European countries (including a glowing Top 10 entry in Tolkki’s home country Finland), Timo Tolkki has started working on a sequel to his first Metal Opera, slated for a 2014 release on Frontiers Records.

Fans can follow the progress of the making of the album, including writing and recording sessions and special cameos from the musicians and singers involved, from the new website www.avalonopera.com

The entire cast of musicians will be revealed one by one in separate video blogs. Fans will be able to interact and take part to different phases of the production through the website and in the social media pages.

The confirmed cast of musicians/singers is once again full of internationally acclaimed artists, with some interesting twists and surprises. It will surely guarantee another masterpiece from one of the forefathers of Symphonic Melodic Power Metal.

The first singer from the cast is Simone Simons of Epica. She is one of the leading ladies in the Female Voices category in the World, however she is not singing the main role on AVALON II, which is a working title for the album. The final name will be revealed later.

To date, Timo Tolkki has sold over 2 million records in his career, has won a Finnish Grammy and has been chosen by the readers of the American Guitar World magazine to TOP 100 as “the Fastest Guitar Player in the World” and “the Most influential Metal Guitar Player in the World”. He has released 20 albums in his career and toured the world for over 3000 shows in 52 countries.