Ghost opera --- Kamelot --- 2007 (SPV/Steamhammer)
Kamelot tend to get a lot of stick from people who describe them as “derivative”, “unoriginal” or just “crap”, accusations I believe are unfair and unfounded. Their releases, to me, have consistently proven that Kamelot are a force to be reckoned with, and are not going away any time soon (sorry, naysayers!), and the best thing that 2007's “Ghost opera” does is reinforce this suggestion, and place Kamelot's boots further on the road to success and longevity.
They have been going, in one form or another, since 1991, although their first album was not released until four years later. Since then, they have changed singers, keyboard players and drummers, but I believe found their feet with 1998's “Siege perilous”, their first to feature current vocalist Roy Khan, who has very much become the voice of Kamelot. Sadly, it appears Roy has left since this year's “Poetry for the poisoned”, and who will replace him is at this time unknown, but they'll have to be one hell of a vocalist to hold a candle to him.
But to the album. Known now to be the penultimate one to feature Roy Khan on vocals, it's quite a
tour-de-force, beginning in laid-back style with the violin and keyboard intro called “Solitaire”, which lasts just one minute before the album revs up in proper with “Rule the world” (no,
not a cover of the Westlife song!), more a keyboard-driven song than usual, sort of mid-paced and a little restrained for those who know Kamelot's usual work. Roy is in fine voice as usual, though to be honest this song doesn't allow him to shine as he normally does. All that changes for the title track though.
THIS is more like the Kamelot I know and love! Roy's impassioned vocal soars above Thomas Youngblood's familiar screeching guitar, at last given its head, while drummer Casey Grillo pounds the skins like there's no tomorrow. The keys of Oliver Palotoi , this his first outing with Kamelot, are still strongly in evidence, but somewhat forced to take a backseat to Youngblood's guitar histrionics, including one of those great solos we've come to know him for. The speed of the track is more classic Kamelot too, ie breakneck! Always keeping a hold on proper melody, Kamelot nevertheless manage often to play as fast as the fastest thrash metal band you can name.
“The human stain” is very much guitar-driven, albeit with some really nice piano lines here and there, and the catchy melodies Kamelot are known for.
”Don't you wish you were a child again?” Roy sings,
”Just for a minute?” “Blucher” is a strange track, not only because I don't know what the title means, or refers to, but it also features some vocoder work, similar to that employed by Savatage on “Complaint in the system” from “The wake of Magellan”, reviewed earlier here. Its melody comes somewhere close to “Across the highlands”, in places, from 2001's “Karma”. Great guitar work from Youngblood here, and some nice sequenced recordings. Weird little piece though.
Unusually for a Kamelot album, every track here is short, only one over five minutes, and this is next, the semi-ballad “Love you to death”, with some really nice orchestration and backing vocals from Amanda Somerville, Thomas Rettke, Robert Hunecke-Rizzo and Cinzia Rizzo, collectively known as “The Ghost Opera Choir”. Some sparse acoustic guitar and violin underscore this song, before Youngblood sets off on another solo. “Mourning star” is a real Kamelot rocker, starting off on gentle piano with accompanying chants from the Ghost Opera Choir, then becoming a real vehicle for Youngblood's guitar as it bops along at a great lick, with tremendous female backing vocals from Amanda Somerville. “Silence of the darkness” speeds everything up again, recalling the best from “The black halo” and “Karma”, and featuring a great keyboard solo from Oliver Palotoi, to take us up to the only proper ballad, “Anthem”, which truly showcases Roy Khan's mellifluous voice melding with the gentle piano melody and string section to produce a thing of real beauty which comes close to the opening part of “Memento mori” from “The black halo”. Some lovely uileann-pipes lend the composition a really celtic feel, adding to the atmosphere of the song, which apparently Roy wrote to welcome his soon-to-be-newborn baby son into the world.
Closer “Eden echo” is something of a jolt after the pure, breathless beauty of “Anthem”, and I personally feel it was a bad move. I think “Anthem” would have closed the album much more effectively, but there it is.
I believe “Ghost opera” proves Kamelot have more than one string to their bow, and shows us the band at their very best, creatively and musically. The orchestration, the choir, the whole feel of the album is polished, professional and powerful. This album shows Kamelot standing out on their own, as part of a small, select group of musicians who are not content to remain in the conceptual box they have been placed in, whether by fans, critics or even they themselves. The future can only hold good things for this band.
TRACKLISTING
1. Solitaire
2. Rule the world
3. Ghost opera
4. The human stain
5. Blucher
6. Love you to death
7. Up through the ashes
8. Mourning star
9. Silence of the darkness
10. Anthem
11. Eden echo
Suggested further listening: “Karma”, “Siege perilous”, “The fourth legacy”, “The black halo”, “Epica”, “Poetry for the poisoned”. Beware though of “Eternity” and “Dominion”, as they have a different vocalist and come across as quite different albums to those listed here.