Eagerly anticipated by power metal audiences who embraced Tobias Sammet's first Avantasia project, the aptly titled The Metal Opera, Pt. 2 essentially offers more of the same, in sound, style, and personnel. Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) gets credit for his appearance this time out, following his mystery cameo as "Ernie" on the first record, and a number of the featured vocalists from Pt. 1 reprise their characters on the second installment; new faces include Bob Catley (Magnum) and Oliver Hartmann (At Vance). The music is not a great leap forward; it's simply more state-of-the-art power metal, with the same catchy riffs, larger than life melodies, and complex, orchestration-heavy arrangements. Some might find it a bit less thrashy than its predecessor, but overall the differences are negligible…
On May 30th 2015, the first ever Metal Meltdown concert series event kicked off at The Joint at the world famous Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas. The legendary, multi-platinum selling hard rock band Twisted Sister performed an explosive 90 minute set of the band's biggest hits spanning their 40 year career. The concert was dedicated to the honor of Twisted Sister's iconic drummer, AJ Pero, whose tragic, sudden death shocked the music world only days after Twisted Sister announced that this would become the band's final tour ever…