Now, I’ve been aware of Kamelot for many, many years but I’ll be honest, I’ve never been able to get massively excited about their material. My research tells me that their former vocalist – the splendidly monickered Roy Khan – was held in somewhat high regard and his departure in 2011 caused some consternation amongst Kamelot’s fanbase.
Scratch that – a cursory glance at the comments section of any Youtube video of this lot will reveal that Mr Khan is viewed as little other than a god amongst mere mortals, a deity of lungsmanship, an untouchable vocal overlord and quite simply, the greatest man who ever lived. His departure may have occurred some time ago now but it seems that the wounds are still fresh – Tommy Karevik has been fronting the band for three years and has already cut one album with the band but is still very much considered ‘the new guy’ and is often portrayed as standing in the shadows of Khan.
Putting it into context (for someone who doesn’t live and breathe Kamelot), it’s a little hard to fathom this devotion – having spent some time with Kamelot’s material in the past (specifically the albums ‘Black Halo’ and the extensive live document ‘One Cold Winter’s Night’), he struck me as an undeniably powerful vocalist with obvious technique but perhaps somewhat lacking in character. And that ultimately seems to sum up Kamelot as a whole for me and is likely to be the reason why I am not one of their biggest fans.
They’re a competent outfit for sure – founder member and mainstay Thomas Youngblood (guitars) can play, no question – and by and large their songs are solid, boasting crunchy verse riffs, expectation-building bridges and uplifting, layered choruses. Nevertheless, it’s always seemed a little too formulaic, the song-writing a touch ‘by numbers’ to truly soar, regardless of the efforts of whomever is supplying the vocals.
And so to ‘Haven’ which slots so readily into this pattern, I had to take a step back. Here we have almost the dictionary definition of a ‘sturdy Kamelot album’ – the riffs chug on the verses, the choruses soar, synths are prominent (without doing much more than echoing the vocal lines) and the whole thing feels designed to be at once as fist-raising and as inoffensive as possible. From the off, it’s clear Karevik is no slouch on the vocal front and his efforts more than do the legacy of the band justice.
Kamelot have always side-stepped the more fey, major-key or downright naff inclinations of other less self-respecting protagonists of the ‘modern power metal’ genre and for this, one must be thankful. There are a couple of storming tracks here for sure – ‘Veil of Elysium’ boasts a vigorous gallop, a stonking verse riff and a genuinely uplifting chorus whilst ‘Beautiful Apocalypse’ switches from powerful chugging to affecting refrain with ease.
‘Insomnia’ is another fist-pumper, the ‘four-to-the-floor’ drum stomp and gilded chorus line reaffirming that when on song, Youngblood et al can whip up a truly infectious metal anthem.
Sadly, it’s not all roses. These are obvious highlights that sit side-by-side with either pedestrian, flavourless ‘modern melodic metal (‘Citizen Zero’ and ‘My Therapy’ step right up) or stuff that’s downright bad. ‘Liar Liar’ is a firm example of the latter, the blustery chorus line only managing to irritate in its nursery-rhyme styled delivery. It’s not rescued by the appearance of some guest growls courtesy of Arch Enemy’s Alissa White-Gluz which are out of place and in context, frankly risible.
Ms White-Gluz pops up again on ‘Revolution’ (a tedious dancefloor-orientated stomper) to lend some snarled vocal lines and again, do little more than bemuse at best. Why she’s here is a mystery, frankly – though she did appear on the last one so maybe the band are just adhering to tradition.
‘Haven’ is therefore very much ‘business as usual’ for Kamelot to these ears. No massive surprises, some good tunes, some silly stuff, generally pretty solid. There’s a whiff of autopilot and excessive studio polish to the whole thing of course, but that’s what one comes to expect from records like this these days. At this point, Kamelot are very much preaching to the converted and I’d wager there’s enough here to keep the fans going until the next one drops. Me? Though it entertained me at points, there’s nothing much here going on beyond the surface level bluster to have me returning too many more times to it.
(6/10 Frank Allain)
https://www.facebook.com/kamelotofficial
Leave a Reply