AVANTASIA Setting Off For Final Shows On World Tour

AVANTASIA, the metal opera project founded by EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet, has issued the following update:
"After the breathtaking success of the first ever Avantasia world tour as well as festival appearances at Sweden Rock and Masters Of Rock in Czech Republic in front of more than 20,000 crazy fans, Tobias' all star project Avantasia are setting off to play Romania and Italy this weekend. Avantasia will celebrate their farewell from the stages playing the Sziget festival Hungary and headlining the world's biggest Heavy Metal Festival, Wacken Open Air in Northern Germany in front of 80,000 people on Friday 1st of August right after midnight."
Avantasia's tour schedule is now as follows:
July 24 - Festivalul Peninsula - Tirgu Mures, Transylvania
July 26 - Rockin Field Festival - Italy
July 31 - Wacken Open Air - Wacken, Germany
August 13 - Sziget Festival - Budapest, Hungary

BLIND GUARDIAN To Appear At Comic-Con International To Promote 'Sacred 2: Fallen Angel'

CDV Software Entertainment USA and Nuclear Blast Records USA have announced that Hansi Kürsch and André Olbrich, lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the definitive power metal band BLIND GUARDIAN, will take part in an autograph-signing session in the Sacred 2: Fallen Angel area (Booth 5129) at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. The bandmembers will be available on Friday and Saturday, July 25 and July 26, from 5 to 6 p.m. to meet fans and promote a new song written exclusively for Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. Fans will also be able to visit the booth to enjoy hands-on play time with Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, the action-RPG set to release this fall on PC and next-generation consoles."The opportunity for BLIND GUARDIAN to work on a popular video game is quite exciting alone," said singer Hansi Kürsch. "For us to contribute to and have our band exist within a game as rich as Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has been very rewarding for us, as gamers and fans of the Sacred series.""We've been long-time fans of BLIND GUARDIAN's music," added developer Ascaron Entertainment's founder Holger Flöttmann. "The opportunity to have one of our favorite bands write a song and include their alter egos in-game has been a wonderful experience. It also signifies how great music and amazing games can fit together to deliver an even more enjoyable experience to gamers.'"The members of BLIND GUARDIAN and their U.S. record label, Nuclear Blast, have been extremely easy to work with," indicated Mario Kroll, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for CDV Software Entertainment USA. "To have musicians of this caliber and popularity not only help and create, but also promote Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is something we're incredibly excited about."Sacred 2: Fallen Angel will be released on PC in September 2008. Console versions will be released in November. A Sacred 2 video trailer can be viewed below. BLIND GUARDIAN merchandise will be available for purchase throughout the convention at the Nuclear Blast area (Booth 116) at Comic-Con Inernational.