With the release of a lyric video for ‘Mystery of a Blood Red Rose’ comes the first taste of Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia’s seventh studio album, Ghostlights. The album is scheduled to be released in Europe on January 29th, and then February 3rd in the US, via Nuclear Blast Records, and will be available in “all good music stores.” The album is a follow-up to their 2013 release The Mystery of Time, and will continue the story into it’s second album. It also features some very special guest vocalists, including Marco Hietala (Nightwish, Tarot), Geoff Tate (Operation: Mindcrime, ex-Queensryche), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), and many more.

‘Mystery of a Blood Red Rose’ has a symphonic-pop rock feel, but that’s to be expected from their first single. They obviously won’t be putting the 12 minute epic ‘Let the Storm Descend Upon You’ out first, despite my wishes. If the comments in the YouTube comment section mean anything, this release is already looking like it will be a crowd-pleaser.

Ghostlights is available for pre-order here, and comes in a variety of forms. There are cds, vinyls, both traditional and picture disks, and even a special edition earbook (28x28cm), which includes: the earbook with 68 pages plus poster, a signed photo card, a lanyard + laminate pass, and a 10″ vinyl.

Ghostlights track list:

1. Mystery Of A Blood Red Rose 3:51
2. Let The Storm Descend Upon You 12:09
3. The Haunting 4:42
4. Seduction Of Decay 7:18
5. Ghostlights 5:43
6. Draconian Love 4:58
7. Master Of The Pendulum 5:01
8. Isle Of Evermore 4:28
9. Babylon Vampyres 7:09
10. Lucifer 3:48
11. Unchain The Light 5:03
12. A Restless Heart And Obsidian Skies 5:53

Shots fired.

(via)