Kamelot - Haven

[Power_Metal_Dom]

So there's a new Kamelot album out:

Release: May 5, 2015 (North America)
May 8, 2015 (World)

1. "Fallen Star"
2. "Insomnia"
3. "Citizen Zero"
4. "Veil of Elysium"
5. "Under Grey Skies" (featuring Charlotte Wessels (Delain) & Troy Donockley (Nightwish))
6. "My Therapy"
7. "Ecclesia"
8. "End of Innocence"
9. "Beautiful Apocalypse"
10. "Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy)" (featuring Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy))
11. "Here's to the Fall"
12. "Revolution" (featuring Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy))
13. "Haven"

What do people think of it?

 

[Symphony]

Well...it landed on my doormat at the strange time of 7:30pm last night...so it's here but yet to be checked out

 

[1928]

It's a dense album. I still haven't listened to the last three or four songs enough to know them well enough to judge them. But the rest of the album is wonderful. It doesn't approach Ghost Opera or Poetry For The Poisoned, which I think are the best Kamelot albums (I know that's not a common opinion), but it beats the heck out of Silverthorn, which was a great disappointment to me. My favorite songs right now are Insomnia, My Therapy and Citizen Zero.

And as some of you already know I saw Kamelot last night and they were just a blast to watch live. They played Rule the World, Ghost Opera, Great Pandemonium, Center of the Universe, Song for Jolee, Karma, Torn, When The Lights Are Down, Veritas, and Forever. Encore was Sacrimony and March of Mephisto. Also had a keyboard solo and a drum solo. The new songs they played were Insomnia, Veil of Elysium and Revolution.

Small rant: Revolution was actually more enjoyable to me live than the studio version because Tommy seems buried under the mix when he belts out "REVOLUTION!" When he sang it last night, he screamed it and it was loud and clear over the roar of the band! I want Kamelot to utilize that side of his voice even more now.

 

[Power_Metal_Dom]

Can't really give it much more than I did for Poetry and Silverthorn .... it's okay.

It's not mind-blowing, it's not offensively bad, it's not steps towards something special, neither is it a dip in quality. It's just....yeah...it's good. Alright. Not bad.

I don't mean it's mediocre or uninspiring or generic (you can tell they've put soul into the songs), it's just not something which should come anywhere close to album of the year unless you're already a Kamelot megafan. I like Kamelot but I'm waaay more excited about stuff they did 8 years ago.

Highlights for me were Citizen Zero and Revolution.

Your album rankings dude....I can't even....just...what?!

 

[1928]

Yeah, I'm in the minority when it comes to Kamelot, big time. I didn't really get into them until well into the Black Halo era, and when Ghost Opera first released its music video I instantly fell in love. But honestly, I don't much enjoy anything of their early years except for the big hits and a few others like A Sailorman's Hymn. The Black Halo is good, but I hear nothing about it that the following albums, particularly Ghost Opera, haven't done just as good if not better, except Silverthorn which was a massive misstep. Black Halo is just another good - very good - prog-power album, but not every song is good and I get tired of interlude tracks.

Ghost Opera and Poetry, to me, have no skippable tunes except maybe Up Through The Ashes and Poetry For The Poisoned (of which I only enjoy part 2, So Long, which is beautiful). Everything else is Kamelot exploring a beautifully dark musical landscape; sweet melancholy and infectious groove. Many of my most favorite Kamelot tunes come from these albums, specifically The Zodiac, Seal of Woven Years, EdenEcho and Blucher. Those two albums... I still haven't really heard another band that has adapted power metal into such a sickeningly twisted sound.

The famous Kamelot tunes (Karma, Forever, etc.) are great, don't get me wrong, but now that they're old, they're beginning to contrast the newer Kamelot material which I think is more sophisticated, and I think that's in no small part due to Oliver Palotai, who has contributed so much to composition since he joined. Very evident in songs like Sacrimony and Veil of Elysium.

 

[Symphony]

http://bravewords.com/features/kamelot-far-beyond-eternity

 

[1928]

Great interview... love when musicians reflect on earlier works.

 

[1928]

I find it very strange that Thomas considered Poetry... 'hitting a wall' for the band. Interesting. I am listening to it again now and just falling in love with it all over again. House On A Hill might be a forgettable ballad to many but to me it really hits home. I am finding it hard to separate memories of what I did when it first came out from the music itself. It invokes memories of a very special time in my life to the point where, as I type, I am getting chills and goosebumps on my arms. That's pretty much all I could ask for from an artist's music! But I digress... (I don't see much discussion about Poetry, so I ramble at any given chance!)

Haven has really grown on me. I am glad it is not really a concept album, although Thomas has said there's a really loose theme to many of the songs. I am very impressed and still wish my Kamelot watch worked. I'm sure I have it around here somewhere... Anyway, I am definitely going to try to meet these guys the next time they come around here. They were very cool when I met them in 2011 and I really want to get them to sign some of these albums

 

[Symphony]

Kamelot have always been one of those bands for me that you have to spend time with, particularly on first few spins of the record. It's no good putting it on in the car and expecting to pick it up as you would a Freedom Call or even a PQ record. I tried the car approach twice with "Haven" and failed miserably lol!