Reviews of "Nostradamus" NIKOLO KOTZEV’S NOSTRADAMUS (Steamhammer/SPV) Welcome my friends to the world of the visionaire himself: the world of Nostradamus. Brazen Abbot guitarist, Nikolo Kotzev, has just put the visions and beliefs of the visionaire into the release of the rock/metal opera Nostradamus. What's so great about this? Well, just elite quality Euro hard rock/metal sound, with a 35-piece orchestra, a choir, a very detailed story line, and even more legendary vocalists to create a double disc release of truly epic proportions. To attempt to describe this massive release in detail, song by song, would result in the world's first CD review to be written in chapters. The line-up of musicians is stellar. Vocalists Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Goran Edman (Yngwie, John Norum, Brazen Abbot), Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow, Deep Purple, Yngwie), Jorn Lande (Ark, Yngwie), Doogie White (Rainbow), Sass Jordan, and Alannah Myles , all are in super-top form! They all give world-class performances that over and again confirm their status as world-renowned singers. They each play a different character in Kotzev's story, giving the whole record a real opera vibe both in arrangements and performance. Kotzev handles all the guitars and is joined by 3/5 of original Europe lineup(remember them? Yes, "The Final Countdown") : Ian Haugland (drums), Mic Michaeli (keys), and John Levin (bass). The music is just awesome and melodic. The orchestral sections sound as if they were actually written as orchestral pieces, not just strings thrown on top of guitars. This stuff is dramatic, intense and musically huge! While the tracks are separated into individual songs, this piece is best enjoyed start to finish, which requires time, patience and a love of the dramatic. Besides the performances, which are all around energetic and vibrant, the most amazing thing is that Nikolo Kotzev himself conceived this entire work. All the music, lyrics, orchestration, and arrangements all came from his brain. And what a brilliant effort!! This is not the average rock opera you would expect. I bet that this would be perfect to make it "live"on a real theatre. So fans of melodic rock/metal or progressive acts like Shadow Gallery, Rainbow, and even fans of any one musician involved in this project owe it to themselves to get this record. This is truly a monumental release. European power (http://www.geocities.com/helicon.geo/)