Former STRATOVARIUS leader/guitarist Timo Tolkki has issued the following update:

"I'm writing this from Hong Kong overlooking the amazing bay. It is a great pleasure to announce the new singer of REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE I have chosen from over 400 vocalists that sent me their MP3s. Thank you so much for sending all those...all together I have received over 1500 applications and I have listened through them all. I am sorry for those who were not chosen, but I can tell you that you should NEVER give up. Follow your heart and you will get there eventually. Don't think about money or success, think about your art, the money comes by itself, not the other way around.

So here is the man himself, with his own words:

Hi there, everyone!!

My name is Gus Monsanto. I am a 33-year old metal singer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and I am really glad to announce I have been chosen amongst a bunch of talented beasts to front REVOLUTION RENAISSANCE. The band is going to be an amazing experience and the album New Era totally kicked my ass when Timo sent it to me.

I have been on a beautiful journey making music since I started playing the guitar age 10. Ups, downs, ins, outs & but this infatuation keeps coming back and you're more and more into it. There's a lot more about me in www.myspace.com/gusmonsanto2.

In brief: the last four years of my life were spent fronting the metal band ADAGIO. We played all over the world, did the Dominate album and it was a great learning experience for me. Lately, I have also replaced Jeff Scott Soto, one of the best singers in business, in TAKARA. Two days after Adagio and I parted ways, I got this great message from Timo and the rest is history in the making.

Timo used to be surrounded by a great band that made history. I am aware of the responsibility. I am aware of the fans. Rest assured: we will kill. He's got all my respect, since he didn't take the easy way, which would be using the old bands name. Personally, I even had the mega pleasure of introducing Bruno Agra, one of my best friends and kick ass drummer extraordinaire to Timo and Revolution Renaissance, which makes it even more special.

Hope to see all of you really soon. Think about the words. Revolution. Renaissance. Look deep within their meanings.

Best,GUS

In Gus I have found everything I look for a singer. He is a real world citizen and a soul-mate. We all feel this connection and that we did not arrive crossing each other's paths by accident. Gus has a very versatile voice, amazing range and no accent and he can sing in many different styles yet he has a very recognizable voice. His pictures are in Revolution Renaissance folder. Now the only remaining thing is to find the bass player who fits into this team that is multinational, but spirituality doesn't know any nationalities. It's been over two years since I wrote the songs for New Era and because the first album was kind of a special one, we want to make our first real album together soon, so we will enter the studio already in this August to record the new album. We are very excited and full of good and positive energy. We don't know when the album will come out, but probably already January 2009 followed by a massive world tour where we will of course play all the biggest Stratovarius hits and few less played as well and material from the two RR albums. We will also be doing a massive South American tour in December this year just to have some fun and present ourselves to the fans.

So here it is ladies and gentlemen: THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN!!!!"