Avalon

Timo Tolkki's Avalon is a Finnish symphonic/progressive power metal "metal opera" project created in 2013 by guitarist and composer Timo Tolkki, best known as the founding songwriter and guitarist of Stratovarius. Avalon is fundamentally a Tolkki solo vehicle built around a recurring collaborative format: each album is a concept-driven "rock opera" in which different guest vocalists voice specific characters within an ongoing sci-fi/fantasy narrative. The debut, The Land of New Hope (2013), featured vocalists including Michael Kiske, Elize Ryd, Rob Rock, Russell Allen, Sharon den Adel, and Tony Kakko. Angels of the Apocalypse (2014) expanded the roster with singers such as Fabio Lione, David DeFeis, Simone Simons, and Zachary Stevens. After a five-year gap, Return to Eden (2019) continued the saga. The fourth and, to date, final album, The Enigma Birth (2021), featured guests such as James LaBrie and Brittney Slayes. All four albums were released via Frontiers Records. Following the 2021 release, Tolkki and Frontiers Records parted ways, and Avalon has been inactive since, with Tolkki focusing on solo instrumental/classical-crossover releases, making the project's status best described as dormant rather than formally disbanded.