A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society

A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society
Studio album by Avantasia
Released	21 October 2022 (2022-10-21)
Genre	Power metal, progressive metal [1]
Length	53:58
Label	Nuclear Blast
Producer	Sascha Paeth Tobias Sammet
Avantasia chronology
Moonglow (2019) A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society (2022) Here Be Dragons (2025)
Singles from A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society
"The Wicked Rule the Night" Released: 19 May 2022 "The Moonflower Society" Released: 13 July 2022 "Misplaced Among the Angels" Released: 2 August 2022 "The Inmost Light" Released: 23 September 2022

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
laut.de	[2]
Metal.de	8/10 [3]
Metal Hammer	6/7 [4]
Rock Hard	8.5/10 [5]
Sputnikmusic	3.5/5 [6]

A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society is the ninth studio album by Tobias Sammet's German metal opera project Avantasia. It was released on 21 October 2022, through Nuclear Blast.

Background

According to Avantasia founder Tobias Sammet, song ideas go back as far as 2018 but were not finalized until a few months before the album release. ^[7] On 19 May 2022, he announced the album for release in Fall 2022. Sammet expressed his content with the album, saying that any song could classify as a first single. ^[8] The song "The Wicked Rule the Night", along with a lyric video were released the same day. ^[9] The album title and release date were revealed on 29 June 2022. In a press statement, Sammet explained how his active involvement in arranging, orchestrating and producing the album has made the record feel "extremely personal" to him. ^[10] In support of the album, the band held six concerts in Germany and Switzerland in Summer 2022. ^[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tobias Sammet.

No.	Title	Guest vocalist(s)	Length
1.	"Welcome to the Shadows"		5:05
2.	"The Wicked Rule the Night"	Ralf Scheepers	4:25
3.	"Kill the Pain Away"	Floor Jansen	3:44
4.	"The Inmost Light"	Michael Kiske	3:27
5.	"Misplaced Among the Angels"	Jansen	5:17
6.	"I Tame the Storm"	Jørn Lande	3:53
7.	"Paper Plane"	Ronnie Atkins	3:54
8.	"The Moonflower Society"	Bob Catley	5:14
9.	"Rhyme and Reason"	Eric Martin	4:42
10.	"Scars"	Geoff Tate	4:13
11.	"Arabesque"	Lande Kiske	10:10
Total length:			53:58

Personnel

Adapted from the album's booklet, Nuclear Blast

Avantasia

• Tobias Sammet – lead vocals, keyboard, bass guitar
• Sascha Paeth – guitar, bass guitar, mixing
• Michael Rodenberg – keyboard, orchestration on tracks 5, 11
• Felix Bohnke – drums

Guest vocalists

• Floor Jansen
• Jørn Lande
• Michael Kiske
• Bob Catley
• Ralf Scheepers
• Geoff Tate
• Ronnie Atkins
• Eric Martin

Additional musicians

• Oliver Hartmann – additional lead guitar on track 4
• Herbie Langhans, Ina Morgan – backing vocals on tracks 1, 3, 6, 7

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society Chart (2022) Peak position Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA) [12] 17 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [13] 7 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [14] 68 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [15] 87 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [16] 52 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [17] 13 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [18] 3 Italian Albums (FIMI) [19] 76 Japanese Albums (Oricon) [20] 42 Polish Albums (ZPAV) [21] 31 Scottish Albums (OCC) [22] 15 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [23] 16 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [24] 10 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [25] 4 UK Album Downloads (OCC) [26] 20 UK Independent Albums (OCC) [27] 10 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [28] 3

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society Chart (2022) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [29] 98

References

1. "THE WEEKLY INJECTION: New Releases From SERJ TANKIAN, BRUTUS & More Out Today 10/21". Metal Injection. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
2. Temminghoff, Yan (22 October 2022). ""A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society" von Avantasia". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 24 October 2022.
3. Kleemann, Jannik (14 October 2022). "Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society". Metal.de (in German). Retrieved 24 October 2022.
4. Kessler, Sebastian (21 October 2022). "Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 24 October 2022.
5. Bauer, Simon (21 October 2022). "Rockhard - Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 24 October 2022.
6. "Review: Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society". Sputnikmusic . 22 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
7. Eichstädt, Annika (29 June 2022). "Tobias Sammet kündigt neues Avantasia-Album an". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 24 October 2022.
8. "Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – release their new single "The Wicked Rule The Night (feat. Ralf Scheepers)"". Metalplanetmusic.com. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
9. Michels, Alexandra (19 May 2022). "Avantasia - 'The Wicked Rule The Night'-Lyric-Clip veröffentlicht". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 24 October 2022.
10. "Avantasia veröffentlichen "Misplaced Among The Angels" mit Floor Jansen". Metal.de (in German). 9 August 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
11. "The Wicked Rule The Night – Neue Single von Avantasia". Metal-heads.de (in German). 21 May 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
12. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 5 December 2022". The ARIA Report. No. 1709. Australian Recording Industry Association. 5 December 2022. p. 24.
13. "Austriancharts.at – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
14. "Ultratop.be – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
15. "Ultratop.be – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
17. "Avantasia: A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
19. "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 43 (dal 21.10.2022 al 27.10.2022)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana . Retrieved 29 October 2022.
20. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-10-31/p/5" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
21. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
23. "Top 100 Albums Weekly". El portal de Música. PROMUSICAE . Retrieved 6 November 2022.
24. "Veckolista Album, vecka 43". Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved 28 October 2022.
25. "Swisscharts.com – Tobias Sammet's Avantasia – A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
26. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
27. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
28. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
29. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts 2022" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts . Retrieved 16 December 2022.