Kamelot

Ghost Opera: The Second Coming (Live)

Written by: PP on 10/07/2008 11:19:37

Kamelot is another heavy / power / progressive metal act who is hailed to be legendary at all fronts, but who have never treaded under my radar, and as such, my knowledge of them is rather limited. From my internet based research, however, one of their seminal albums is called \"Ghost Opera\", which supposedly has been a milestone in the band\'s history, and now the band is re-issuing the album under the moniker \"Ghost Opera: The Second Coming\". The new edition features a second CD, which is a live performance recorded at Belgrade, Serbia, and based on the crowd reaction audible on the record, it sounds like the band indeed has been massive at some point during their career. As my review copy only included the live disc (which, to be fair, includes four studio cuts as well), this review will ignore the actual re-issue of \"Ghost Opera\" and will focus only on the live performance.

For those not in the know, Kamelot plays orchestrally backed power / progressive metal not too far from bands like Symphony X, Dream Theater and Rhapsody of Fire. You know the drill, epic soundscapes, massive clean vocals full of vibrato, pummeling drums, and of course, classic guitar work. So once that\'s set in stone, it\'s time to describe how it sounds live, and only one word fits the sound on \"The Second Coming\": epic. For the duration of the entire record, it sounds as if the crowd is in some kind of trance listening to arrangements rivaling their wildest progressive metal dreams (see the nine minute \"Memento Mori\", which can be heard when the crowd faithfully sings every word back at vocalist Khan. This is especially audible when he lets go of the vocal duties during \"Abandoned\", where even I am feeling surprised as to how many Serbian fans are familiar with the band\'s material. Another epic (hah!) moment occurs when Epica\'s vocalist Simone Simmons enters the stage for a guest appearance during \"The Haunting\", which doesn\'t pass by unnoticed by the crowd.

But to be frank, \"The Second Coming\" shouldn\'t really be of interest to you unless you were a big fan of \"Ghost Opera\" in the first place, and haven\'t seen the band perform live yet. My opinion on Kamelot as a band is that although they\'re capable of creating epic soundscapes of progressive nature, they aren\'t anywhere near as interesting as the genre\'s heavyweights Dream Theater (and others), but that said, it sounds like they can put on a blinding live performance nonetheless. Only for die-hard Kamelot fans!

Download: When The Lights Are Down, Abandoned
For the fans of: Epica, Symphony X, Blind Guardian, Dream Theater
Listen: Myspace

Release date 31.03.2008
Steamhammer/SPV
Provided by Target ApS

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