| The Metal Opera | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Avantasia |
| Cover: | The_Metal_Opera.jpg |
| Released: | 22 January 2001 (Europe)[1] 10 July 2001 (U.S.) |
| Recorded: | October 1999 – June 2000 |
| Studio: | Rhoen Studios, Germany |
| Genre: | Symphonic power metal |
| Length: | 59:12 |
| Label: | AFM Records (Europe) Century Media Records (U.S.) |
| Producer: | Tobias Sammet, Norman Meiritz |
| Prev Title: | Avantasia (single/EP) |
| Prev Year: | 2000 |
| Next Title: | The Metal Opera Part II |
| Next Year: | 2002 |
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.[2]
The project claims that the album's title marked the first usage of the term "metal opera".[2] 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.[2]
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.[2]
In 2019, Metal Hammer ranked it as the 25th best power metal album of all time.[3] In 2021, they ranked it as the 18th best symphonic metal album.[4]
Note: "Malleus Maleficarum" is sampled from the song, "the Kingdom", by Tobias Sammet's other project, Edguy.