Silverthorn is one of the most anticipated power metal releases of the year so I’m not going to keep you hanging too long. Let’s just say that founder and guitarist Thomas Youngblood has wisely not messed with his tried and tested formula. No real surprises there so we can return to that later. The next burning question is what about the new singer? The sad departure of Roy Khan announced just 17 months ago was not only a blow for Kamelot but it also meant that one of the most stunning voices, in a field of pretty amazing voices, was most probably gone forever. Khan’s soaring vocals brought an element to Kamelot’s music which was in equal parts both warm and melancholy. For me his was, if not quite in the handful of top rank of genre defining power metal vocalists (ok, yes, I’m talking about Michael Kiske and maybe a couple of others), certainly biting at their heels. His departure I’m sure gutted most Kamelot fans. What were they to do? How do you do what so many bands have struggled to do over the years and replace a singer that is as much the reason what a good chunk of your fans arrived at the band as its consistent and quality output.
The answer, from among 800 candidates, is to find a singer that comes within a few whiskers of Khan’s sound. Former Seventh Wonder singer Tommy Karevik is perhaps a little less warm and a little less melancholy. But ultimately he basically sounds like the little brother version of Khan in vocal performance – and boy can he hit those notes.
So it is with some relief – after so many let downs from the departure of great singers that left bands feeling decidedly mediocre – I can report that Kamelot lives to fight another day. Silverthorn is a continuation of the increasingly ambitious and progressive sound the band took on with the superb Black Halo and continued with pretty solidly to date. The only exception was perhaps the last album, the disappointing Poetry for the Poisoned, the last with Khan (who left amid rumours of a break down and subsequent draw to religion) and perhaps a sign of a band under strain. But it seems that album was thankfully an aberration.
Once we’re past the intro (maybe I’m just trying to find something negative to say here but its just a little too Rhapsody for me…) and a few tracks in, it’s evident Kamelot have rediscovered their creative flair. Songs like My Confession, Solitaire and the title track Silverthorn all give Karevik a chance to win over his new fans and he does not waste the opportunity. The rest of the band flex their abilities to heart warming levels. It’s part relief but also part confirmation that the band have been able to scale the heights of their previous output with their new singer if not quite matching the best of it just yet. It’s a heart and soul performance and I just hope this album is the start of a new chapter for the band after many of us, I’m sure, at times doubted we would ever even see it.
(8.5/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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