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.”

Virtuoso Supergroup RING OF FIRE return with a brand new album "Battle of Leningrad" out on Frontiers in January 2014 !

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the return of Neoclassic Power Metal Super Group RING OF FIRE with the release of the band’s brand new album « Battle of Leningrad » on January 24th in Europe and January 28th in North America.

RING OF FIRE is a band comprised of some incredible musicians including former Yngwie Malmsteen and Royal Hunt singer Mark Boals, classically-trained Artension keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij and none other than Tony MacAlpine on guitars.

Combining Melodic metal songs with fantasy-based lyrics, topped off with virtuoso performances from the line-up, the resulting RING OF FIRE albums proved to be exactly what many neoclassical-metal fans had waited for, creating a solid fan base for the band all over the world.

“Battle of Leningrad” is the band’s fourth studio album, coming after a 9 years hiatus – a period which has seen the band members getting involved in other projects, most notably with singer Mark Boals becoming singer for Royal Hunt and Kuprij and MacAlpine touring with Trans Siberian Orchestra and Steve Vai respectively.

RING OF FIRE reconvened with Boals, MacAlpine and Kuprij during 2012, when they agreed to work on their unfinished business and develop a new album from the true story of the siege of Leningrad during the WWII.

Mark Boals explains: “It is a true story of the strength and resilience of the Russian people throughout history and particularly in this instance of 900 days of being surrounded on all sides with no food and no hope of rescue, under siege of the Nazi army. The magnificent city of Leningrad with millions of people trapped, found a way to withstand the daily attacks of rockets and bombs, the lack of food, water, and fuel for heat. Although more than 1 million starved to death, most survived, and the Nazis were never able to overtake the city completely. They were finally forced to retreat by the Russian army. Not widely known by most, this was an amazing story and one of World War II's finest examples of heroism in the worst circumstances imaginable”.

Musically the album is all the fans have been waiting for. True “Neoclassic” Power Metal with technical and exciting musical passages which promise to reignite the RING OF FIRE flame among the fans!

Former Stratovarius, Timo Tolkki played bass and mixed the album to perfection, while the other finnish musician Jami Huovinen (Sentiment) played drums on the album.

« Battle of Leningrad » will include the following songs :

Mother Russia; They’re Calling Your Name; Empire; Land Of Frozen Tears; Firewind; Where Angels Play; Battle Of Leningrad; No Way Out; Our World; Rain.

Samples of the songs can be enjoyed via this link: http://youtu.be/ik-yHZ-8QgI

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.