I’m not world’s biggest fan of power metal. I like some of it, but much of it I find to be far too cheesy, contrived and predictable. Having said that, I like Kamelot. The musicianship is truly excellent (unlike some bands who seem to have learned one technique and perfected performing it as fast as possible) and the vocalist is an absolute gem, possessing all the range and power you’d expect from the genre, but with a huge amount of feeling and control.
Most important is the songwriting. Kamelot can write songs which are extremely heavy in parts, beautiful and mournful in others, fast and gallopy or slow and thoughtful. They write huge, catchy choruses without resorting to cheese. They effortlessly keep eight-minutes songs interesting all the way through. It’s definately a prog influence (they sometimes sound uncannily like Dream Theater) but crucially they have adopted what’s important from their prog influences - the song structures and melodies - which many bands miss in their efforts to sound like their heroes.
The Black Halo is undoubtedly their strongest album yet, but I didn’t pick that up on first listen. I was waiting for a “Forever” or “Centre of the Universe” - a catchy pop song which provides a handle to allow you to get your head around the rest of the album. You won’t find that here. What you will find is an album completely full of fantastic songs, all of which are equally clever and interesting. By the third listen I was converted. The production is stunning, the band all sound at their best and tighter than ever. The lyrics are beyond the standard “dungeons and dragons” rubbish of much of the genre - real human issues are addressed and discussed in an intelligent way. The guitar work is impeccable, with one catchy riff after another sprinkled with tasteful, melodic solos.
It is very difficult to pick up standout tracks because there are so many good ones, but the title track is probably the most impressive melodically and “Abandoned” is a lovely ballad which provides a break situated as it is in the middle of the tracklist. Overall, Kamelot have taken an oversaturated and bloated genre from Europe, streamlined it to remove the rubbish, added the best of their own influences and created one of the albums of the year.
