Hatlicks here!
(Now, before I get into the depth of my first blog I want to mention that this is literally the first blog I have ever created, so please. If you've got any tips for formatting/content/whatevs feel free to drop a few comments.)
So, I've been pretty hyped up for the new Kamelot album for the past few weeks.
For those of you who don't know, Kamelot is a FANTASTIC power/progressive metal band out of Tampa, Florida. (You should all check them out, actually.)
Now, being the avid fan that I am, I couldn't wait for the American release date, (which is an annoying long time after the Japanese release, and about four days after the European release.) so I ended up scavenging most of the tracks on Youtube to scope it out before buying it.
First thing I noticed:
Every Kamelot album I've heard starts off with a BANG. (Rule the World on Ghost Opera, Center of the Universe on Epica, March of Mephisto on The Black Halo) I've noticed that was mysteriously absent on Poetry for the Poisoned.
This album (or what I've heard of it, atleast) feels tired. (Granted that could be the horrible quality that Youtube offers for soundfiles, so I'll try to save my final judgement until I actually hear my personal copy.) Musically though, it just seems like they're running out of ideas.
For example:
The first track "The Great Pandemonium" has that same kind of (what makes me think of an) industrial feel as some of the tracks on their previous album Ghost Opera (The Human Stain, etc.) On their album The Black Halo, they had a track similar to this one (March of Mephisto) and it really seems to me that they wanted to bring back some of the success they had with that song (which might have been a good idea if they had gotten the same "singer" to do it.)
Well for whatever reason, they didn't get Shagrath, and the growls that pretty much made March of Mephisto a success, (for me atleast) have little to no effect on "The Great Pandemonium" (other than being annoying to anyone trying to hear Khan's beautiful voice.)
Another track I had troubles listening to was "The Zodiac."
Now, the instrumental part of the song is decent. The big issue I have is once again the guest vocalist.
Perhaps it's just that I'm a purist when it comes to vocalists (I prefer that a band's singer is the one who is singing [except in the case of backing vocals] at all times.) but I think that the singer featured (while he does have a pretty cool voice) just clashes with Khan's voice at times when they are singing in unison.
However, to be fair, when they do the call and answer part of the song, it sounds absolutely brilliant.
Now that I've gotten the negative part of my review out of the way, I'll move on to some things I really enjoyed about it. The title track (which is actually split into four segments) is absolutely epic. It's got all of the things that I love about Kamelot. The music is fantastic. Khan's vocals are brilliant. Everything flows almost perfectly from segment to segment.
Another major thing I was absolutely tickled to hear was Simone Simons making yet another appearence.
On Poetry for the Poisoned, she sings on "House on a Hill" and on Parts II and III of "Poetry for the Poisoned." She and Khan's voices have this chemestry that really just explodes, and that's no exception on the new album.
All that being said, I think the album is decent. Unfortunately, that's all it manages to be.
As a long time fan of the band, I'll definately purchase the album (out of loyalty if nothing else.) but any up-and-coming fans however, will probably want to stick with their older material. (Karma, Epica, The Black Halo.) All of which is spectacular.
Momentai, friends.
- Hatlicks.
First!
ReplyDelete