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Until present day, 2005 is a very good year for music, with several
very good releases. Adding to this list, I’d like to present the new
album by the melodic power metal formation Kamelot, The Black Halo.
This album is very much in the vein of it’s predecessor, Epica, from
2003. But so far it is one of my favourite albums of this moment and
I can hardly get it out of my CD player.
The comparison with Epica goes for a few areas: The Black Halo knows
a number of ‘interludes’, where the choir plays an important role.
Lyrically it continues the line started on Epica, that being the
battle between good and evil. Here the band mixes Goethe’s Faustus
with their own experiences and ideas, like on the recent war in
Iraq. And finally, maybe the most important comparison : musically
The Black Halo sounds like a continuation of Epica. Now this need
not to be a bad thing. And next to that there are differences, and
it are those differences that make this disc to what it is: an
amazing album.
In the first track, ‘March of Mephisto’, we hear the first guest:
Dimmu Borgir vocalist Shagrath, whose grunts cast a dark shadow over
the song and gives it a nice heavy edge. Musically this song reminds
me a lot of the Aïne album, where Youngblood and producer Sascha
Paeth played an important role on. Already the hand of Paeth is
evident. I am very curious how Kamelot would sound if they were to
work with a different producer. The opening track knows another
guest, a musical one this time: Jens Johansson (Stratovarius). In
other words: a killer opening track!
On Epica, Kamelot also worked with a list of guests and again this
is the case. On their website you find a detailed list. But there is
one that is noticed right away: Simone Simmons of (yes indeed…) the
band Epica! This band has not made it a secret to have derived their
name from the Kamelot album and now that this beautiful singer is
heard on this album, on ‘The Haunting’, their happiness will be
complete.
I
have not yet had the pleasure to see/hear Kamelot live, but on the
silver disc Kahn sounds fantastic. A warm voice, that holds good in
the heavy songs, but also in the more quiet parts is very pleasant
to listen to. And he even sings in Italian! The mix between crunchy
guitars and orchestral arrangements work very good on the album.
Musically Kamelot is a very solid band. Barry and Grillo form a
tight rhythm section and besides the heavy riffs, Youngblood knows
exactly how and when to play the right solo. Listen to songs like
‘This Pain’ or ‘Moonlight’.
The magnum opus of the band is ‘Memento Mori’, with almost 9 minutes
the longest in Kamelot history. Again with Shagrath, bringing the
dark element in the music. A lot of nice changes in speed, melody
and with great orchestral pieces. This song will be a classic!
After countless listening sessions, the album does not bore me at
all and I dare to say (despite I am not a Kamelot expert), this is
their best work. A lot of variation in the songs, so it has become a
lively album. Top compositions, top production and top musicians. Of
course you must be into the genre, but The Black Halo comes highly
recommended. |
