Credit to
Sanctuary Records for recognising the quality and importance of US band,
Kamelot's back catalogue.
Despite the fact that the band remain (and always will) resolutely below the waterline of a wider public consciousness, they've progressively climbed to the pinnacle of power metal during the last 10 years. A niche market perhaps, but one that's populated by many thousands of fans.
Yet, when you listen to the band's first two albums - '
Eternity' (1995),
'Dominion' (1996) - their future looks far from rosy.
Recorded by Jim Morris at his Florida studio, the two albums sound unsure of which direction to pursue. It's a situation not helped by Mark Vanderbilt's dragging, one dimensional vocals. Most of the material plods along unadventurously, but good vocals could quite easily have redeemed good songs like '
Call Of The Sea' from the debut and '
We Are Not Separate' from the follow up.
By third release, '
Siege Perilous' (1998), Vanderbilt had departed and Norwegian, Roy Khan, ex of
Conception had joined. No coincidence perhaps that on this album the band take those first few tentative steps toward the epic, operatic, symphonic / power metal we know and love.
Thomas Youngblood's first bash at production shows flashes of genius in the album's mix of colourful, neo classical orchestration and riffy, razor sharp axework.
In Khan he'd found a worthy foil. They match each other perfectly on the pivotal, groundbreaking tracks
'Expedition', '
Where I Reign' and '
Parting Visions'. Each in its own way raising the bar, both in terms of what
Kamelot could aspire to and the standard to which their competitors must now match or surpass.
New production team, Sascha Paeth and Miro proved to be a dynamic force on the band's fourth album, '
The Fourth Legacy'.
The energy levels are higher, melodies are more immediate, hooks are pulse quickening and the carefully crafted neo classical influences are even more apparent.
There's an almost tangible aura of confidence radiating from the awesome
'Nights Of Arabia', 'The Shadow Of Uther' and the inventive rock/metal hybrid, '
Alexandria'.
With no production duties to worry about, and with Miro handling the arrangements and keyboards, Thomas Youngblood was free to let fly (or to rein in) his imaginative axe solos and tuneful riffs. Consequently, the album is liberally peppered with memorable guitar moments, conveying exact nuances of mood, without going over the top or becoming too clinical.
It was a real coming of age release.
A surge in popularity and a European tour followed immediately. The ever reliable Paeth recorded and mixed a live album
'The Expedition' (2000), distilled from hundreds of performances.
Naturally, the selection of tracks favours '
The Fourth Legacy', with six of the nine tracks coming from that album.
As you would guess, with Paeth managing proceedings, the sound here is excellent if a little muted at times. The release is made more notable due to the inclusion of three previously unreleased bonus tracks. '
We Three Kings'(instrumental) and '
One Day' were recorded in 1998 at Morrisound, and '
We Are Not Separate', which originally appeared on '
Dominion', was rerecorded with Khan on vocals in 2000 by the ubiquitous Sascha Paeth. A good song really shines now.
The same team (Paeth and Miro) was responsible for the magnificent '
Karma' album (2003).
Youngblood's and Khan's songwriting collaborations seemed now as collusive and intuitive as they were ambitious. Thanks to Miro's sparkling orchestrations, this was power / symphonic metal with a sleek, silky sheen.
This is serious stuff too, with a string quartet, a real orchestra and real "opera vocals".
All in all,
'Karma' was, and still is, a real metal antidote for the low, arduous, all pervading hum of contemporary metal.
It's also an album chock full of great tracks.
Even when they slow the pace there's a power and a majesty carrying these songs. Khan builds up the balladic
'Don't You Cry' slowly then hits the chorus in one throat grabbing moment of emotion. '
Temples Of Gold' starts off with acoustic guitars before developing a depth of eastern promise. Only the band's efforts to bring celtic rock into the power metal fold on '
Across The Highlands' fail.
In ample contrast, the three track, self contained mini opera '
Elizabeth' shows us exactly what
Kamelot do best. '
Requiem For The Innocent' and '
Fall From Grace' have it all. Galloping guitars, swathes of strings, coruscating riffs, incendiary axework and explosive, climactic choruses.
Eight out of ten cats said '
Karma' is probably the band's best work.
'
Epica' (2005) had a hard act to follow, but it tried its best. A bit too hard at times.
The team - Paeth, Miro and the band - wrote and recorded some outstanding songs once again, but in going for a level of sophistication - this is a concept album, based on Goethe's Faust - it seems in places to be overpowering, in danger of collapsing under its own weight.
The '
Intro', a genuine cacophony of dissonant voices, signals a real change in approach. Tracks like '
Center Of The Universe', '
Farewell' and '
Descent Of The Archangel' are driving and slightly ominous works, clearly reflecting the subject matter. But in honesty, almost all of the album operates at this level.
If you like your power metal to be serious minded, earnest, heroic, then '
Epica' is for you.
Since then, the band have gone on to release '
The Black Halo' in 2005 and '
Ghost Opera' in 2007. Watch out for the review of this latest release over the next week.
Ratings
Eternity : 5/10
Dominion : 5.5/10
Siege Perilous : 6.5/10
Fourth Legacy : 7.5/10
Expedition : 7/10
Karma : 8/10
Epica : 6.5/10
Written by
Brian Thursday, June 28, 2007
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