Museum Musica

Netherlands, 1995, progressive metal / rock opera

Ayreon – The Final Experiment: Lucassen’s vision starts here, but the narrative itself is in medias res, following the classic Greek model to great effect. The story opens with humans at the end of humanity’s timeline sending messages, in the form of visions of the future, into the past to warn humanity of its impending doom. The visions are picked up by Ayreon, a dark-ages bard in the time of Camelot. This Ayreon’s third best album, in my opinion, the Medieval Folk Metal perfectly placed.