Kamelot's prodigious new release, a double CD and DVD set entitled '
One Cold Winter Night' is a genuine joy. Recorded live in OSLO last February, it radiates copious amounts of heat and light, enough to keep any winter's night at bay.
It would be an exaggeration to say that
Kamelot have cornered the symphonic rock market, but there's no question that the competition are trailing further and further behind.
Taking all the best elements from heavy metal, eighties' pomp and neoclassical rock, Thomas Youngblood and Roy Khan have fashioned a glittery, accessible sound - epic in scope, huge in scale and rich in melody. You could argue that it lacks subtlety and is hardly profound, but it refuses to disappear up its own arse and it's much less elaborate than the music of the band's contemporaries, and that's the secret.
The symphonic ambitions are all smoke and mirrors - the sudden blasts of orchestration and massed female bgvs are all veneer. Smooth and shiny yes, but at the heart of
Kamelot's music are user friendly melodies, familiar themes and the occasional brush with the classics. And of course, sparkling - often blistering - axework from Youngblood and the impressive, expressive vocal range of Khan.
'
One Cold Winter's Night' focuses on the band last three releases, coming down strongly in favour of the critically acclaimed '
The Black Halo' from 2005, with 7 tracks featured. Plus the best of the rest - the frantic, busy but tuneful '
Center Of The Universe' from '
Epica' (2003). And from 2001's Karma, '
Forever', lovingly ripped off from 'Peer Gynt' composer, Edvard Grieg.
When you get this deep into the album it reminds you a lot of
Royal Hunt just after DC Cooper joined the band. Accessible, clearly European in influence, but hugely melodic and deceptively simple.
Highlights, and there are many, must include '
When The Lights Are Down', vividly recalling
Saga at their most commercial; the adrenalin pumping '
March Of Mephisto', bombastic, melodramatic and eminently tuneful, and perhaps the standout among them all, '
The Black Halo'. Of all tracks, this is the one that wraps up all the skills, tricks and melodic songwriting flair possessed by the current band.
Technically, the recording is pretty sound. If anything, bass and drums get stranded a bit too far down in the mix at times - as occasionally does Khan's vocals - but Youngblood's guitar deserves to be upfront when he's clearly this much on form.
Audience participation is well balanced with the band's sound . . . it sounds genuinely live, without becoming irritatingly so.
If you haven't already discovered
Kamelot, '
One Cold Winters Night' is the ideal point of entry.
Written by
Brian Monday, January 8, 2007
Show all reviews by BrianRatingsBrian: 8/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
This article has been shown 3243 times. Go to the
complete list.
