The Metal Opera

The Metal Opera is the first full-length album by Tobias Sammet's German supergroup project, Avantasia. It is a concept album and a metal opera. The album is followed by the sequel The Metal Opera Part II. Both were written over the course of a year, starting in the last quarter of 1998, and both were produced from October 1999 to June 2000, with the works being interrupted for some weeks so Sammet could produce The Savage Poetry with his other band Edguy.

The project claims that the album's title marked the first usage of the term "metal opera". Sammet also considers it his professional debut, since it marked the first time he actually made money from music, even though by that time he had already released three albums with Edguy.

According to Sammet, the album's plot is partly based on real witch trials in Fulda (his hometown) and Mainz held in the 16th and 17th centuries.

In 2019, Metal Hammer ranked it as the 25th best power metal album of all time. In 2021, they ranked it as the 18th best symphonic metal album.

Track listing
Note: "Malleus Maleficarum" is sampled from the song, "the Kingdom", by Tobias Sammet's other project, Edguy.

Credits

 * Tobias Sammet (Edguy) - Keyboards, Vocals (see "Singers")
 * Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray) - Guitars
 * Markus Grosskopf (Helloween) - Bass guitar
 * Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody of Fire) - Drums

Musicians

 * Guitar
 * Jens Ludwig (Edguy) (lead on tracks 12 & 13)
 * Norman Meiritz (acoustic on track 6)
 * Keyboards
 * Frank Tischer (Piano on track 11)

Singers

 * Gabriel Laymann – Tobias Sammet (Edguy) - tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 & 13
 * Lugaid Vandroiy – Michael Kiske (credited as Ernie) (ex-Helloween, Unisonic) - tracks 2, 5, 6, 9, & 13
 * Friar Jakob – David DeFeis (Virgin Steele) - tracks 3 & 13
 * Bailiff Falk von Kronberg – Ralf Zdiarstek - tracks 4 & 7
 * Anna Held – Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) - track 6
 * Bishop Johann von Bicken – Rob Rock (ex-Axel Rudi Pell, Driver, Impellitteri) - track 7 & 12
 * Pope Clement VIII – Oliver Hartmann (ex-At Vance) - tracks 7, 12 & 13
 * Elderane the Elf – Andre Matos (Shaman, ex-Angra, ex-Symfonia, ex-Viper) – tracks 11, 12 & 13
 * Regrin the Dwarf – Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray, ex-Helloween) - tracks 11 & 12
 * Voice of the Tower – Timo Tolkki (ex-Symfonia, ex-Revolution Renaissance, ex-Stratovarius) - track 13