Return to Eden (Timo Tolkki's Avalon album)

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Return to Eden
Return to eden avalon.jpg
Studio album by
Avalon
Released14 June 2019 (2019-06-14)
Genre Symphonic power metal [1]
Length54:07 [2]
Label Frontiers Records
Producer Timo Tolkki, Aldo Lonobile
Avalon chronology
Angels of the Apocalypse
(2014)		Return to Eden
(2019)		 The Enigma Birth
(2021)
Singles from Return to Eden
  1. "Promises"
    Released: 15 April 2019
  2. "Hear My Call"
    Released: 20 May 2019
  3. "Godsend"
    Released: 17 June 2019

Return to Eden is the third full-length album by Timo Tolkki's Finnish metal opera project Avalon, released on 14 June 2019. [3] [4]

Contents

It is the first part of the trilogy created by Tolkki, with the previous albums The Land of New Hope and Angels of the Apocalypse being the third and second parts, respectively. [3] [5]

As with the previous effort, several heavy metal singers were invited to play the characters of the story of the album. [3] [4] Its first single, "Promises", was released on 15 April 2019. [5] The second one, "Hear My Call", came on 20 May with a lyric video. [6] The third and final single, "Godsend", was released with a video on 17 June. [7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles 7/10 [8]
Sonic Perspectives9.4/10 [1]

Writing for Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles , Mark Gromen concluded that "sure the stars were glad to get the extra cash, but certainly not an effort that's going to make people forget their day jobs, nor Tolkki's best work." [8]

Jonathan Smith, at Sonic Perspectives, called the album "a full on return to the good old days of the millennial power metal revolution circa 1998", and pointed the total change in the supporting line-up as well as the presence of lesser known vocalists as two probable contributing factors. He said the album "largely earns its wings through strong songwriting and a highly impressive instrumental display", also praising Lonobile production, and ultimately called it "the greatest album that Timo has put together in about 20 years" (aside from Symfonia's In Paradisum ). [1]

Track listing

Return to Eden track listing
No.TitleGuest vocalist(s) [5] [4] Length
1."Enlighten"Instrumental1:08
2."Promises" Todd Michael Hall 4:45
3."Return to Eden" Mariangela Demurtas, Zachary Stevens, Hall4:46
4."Hear My Call" Anneke van Giersbergen 5:14
5."Now and Forever"Hall4:10
6."Miles Away"Stevens4:53
7."Limits" Eduard Hovinga 4:51
8."We Are the Ones"Giersbergen5:02
9."Godsend"Demurtas4:25
10."Give Me Hope"Hovinga5:04
11."Wasted Dreams"Stevens5:30
12."Guiding Star"Demurtas4:19
Total length:54:07 [2]
Japanese bonus track [8]
No.TitleLength
13."Godsend (instrumental version)"4:25
Total length:58:32

Personnel

Per sources. [2] [1]

Instrumentalists

Vocalists

Production

Charts

Chart performance for Return to Eden
Chart (2019)Peak
position
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [9] 93

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Jonathan (17 June 2019). "Timo Tolkki's Avalon – Return To Eden (Album Review)". Sonic Perspectives. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON "Return to Eden"". Frontiers Music Srl . Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "TIMO TOLKKI'S New Album – AVALON – 'RETURN TO EDEN' To Be Released 14th June". Heavy Mag. 4 May 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Michels, Alexandra (15 April 2019). "TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON - "Return To Eden"-Album erscheint im Juni". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Amler, Valtemir (23 April 2019). "TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON: Confira o novo vídeo, "Promises"". Roadie Crew (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Michels, Alexandra (20 May 2019). "TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON - 'Hear My Call'-Lyric-Video ist online". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Michels, Alexandra (17 June 2019). "TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON - 'Godsend'-Video veröffentlicht". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 Gromen, Mark (12 July 2019). "TIMO TOLKKI'S AVALON – Return To Eden". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles . Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Timo Tolkki's Avalon – Return to Eden". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
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