Kamelot Album: “Fourth Legacy”

With singer (Roy S.) Khan now firmly entrenched in Kamelot's songwriting core, him and guitarist Thomas Youngblood are directing the band away from the Crimson Glory-like days of their earlier albums. The result is something far ahead of their previous work, in both intensity and songwriting. The value of Khan as part of this band is tremendous, the extent of which will only be fully evident with more releases.

I normally stay far away from the symphonic power metal sector, finding it hopelessly derivative, shallow, and generally boring. I find that Kamelot has succeeded where others failed because they offer superb heavy guitar exploits, powerful melodies, and godly vocals from Khan. But wait...don't qualities like heaviness, melodic sensibility, and soaring vocals usually characterize power metal? Yes, that's true, but I think The Fourth Legacy is a little more elaborate than your average power metal album, with more diverse songwriting, and Khan's vocals dwarf most singers. His unique accent, combined with his fervent passion and incredible timbre make him one of the best metal vocalists out there.

Quite simply, power metal doesn't get better than the mighty one-two punch of "New Allegiance" and the title track. "New Allegiance" short-but-sweet instrumental opener where powerful orchestral strikes are punctuated by devastating drums that grow with intensity, building towards "The Fourth Legacy." There, a glistening riff drives Khan's uplifting vocals and lyrics, with a chorus that's both unforgettable and heroic. A haunting choral/symphonic section builds the suspense before Youngblood's solo. Traditional power metal is again performed on "Until Kingdom Come," but it's intensity pales before the incredible "New Allegiance/The Fourth Legacy."

Actually, the fact that "New Allegiance/The Fourth Legacy" is the album's finest moment is perhaps it's worst attribute. Since the album blows you away at the very beginning, in comparison the rest of the album sounds unfortunately tepid. It never really matches the awesome beginning.

But the rest of the album is by _no_ means bad. For the most part, it's excellent. Exquisite balladry, highlighting Khan's emotional voice and the beauty of Youngblood's guitar, comes in the form of "A Sailorman's Hymm" and "Glory." "The Inquisitor," with ominous verses and harrowing riffs, is an awesome song, although the chorus doesn't raise the song's excitement in considerably. Actually, that's one of the problems with this album. The production sometimes keeps Khan's voice buried and it takes away a lot of the power of what could have been killer choruses. "Silent Goddess," "Shadow of Uther," and to a lesser extent "Until Kingdom Come" and "Alexandria" all suffer from this problem. It doesn't really denigrate the songs to a point where it makes them weak, it just doesn't put them over the top like it should. Kamelot takes the listener on a foray into Middle Eastern lands with "Desert Reign" and "Nights of Arabia," the former being a fine instrumental that paints a vivid picture of an Arabic kingdom, the latter being a delightfully dynamic composition almost theatrical in its delivery. "Lunar Sanctum," which closes the album, is relatively subtle, with slow-building string arrangements amid the crunchy guitars. It's mystical and symphonic, and closes the album almost as good as it started. Almost.

Be sure to get Kamelot's new album, Karma, as well.

Have you ever heard an album where you could just sit back, close your eyes and let the music sweep you into an expedition within your own mind? Kamelot's aptly titled Fourth Legacy achieves just such a monumental enterprise! From the ripping neo-progressive Metal lead-in of "New Allegiance," it becomes immediately clear that this is not your run-of-the-mill American Metal CD. For within that seemingly complex arrangement, there is the underlying emotive spark that launches your unseeing eyes across time and space. Each track is a visit to an exotic, ancient location in time, where your senses are invaded by images of the past, created by the delicate movements and passages. Kamelot wields their ability to translate musical signatures into tangible emotions and intuitive imagery like the legendary painters of old utilized color and brush texture to manifest visions of the human will! When you listen to The Fourth Legacy, you're not just listening to immortalized Melodic Metal music; you are actually experiencing the blood and toil of thousands of years of worldly inspiration!

"The Fourth Legacy" was my first introduction to Kamelot, and it leaves me wanting more. Roy Khan's vocals are much commented upon, and they are noteworthy for their crisp tone and wide range, but when he was in Conception I was not a fan of Conception, finding the music frankly a little boring. In other words, the vocals do not alone make Kamelot: the music does.

This is energetic, generally fast-paced, heavy power metal that nevertheless retains an inimitable sense of melody. My favorite tracks must be stomping power-metaller "The Fourth Legacy" and "Nights of Arabia" with its oh-so-catchy chorus. My only complaint about this CD is that there is a good deal of filler: little instrumental tracks and some full songs that aren't particularly interesting ("The Shadow of Uther" and "Glory" might be examples). Or it may just be that these tracks don't stand out compared to the best ones. In any case, this CD is essential for fans of melodic power metal, and it has appeared on many top-ten-of-1999 lists.

Before this album, I have never even heard of Kamelot. I bought it because the artwork looked cool, something like you would find on the cover of a Rhapsody album. Boy, was I in for a shock when I put this in my cd player! The intro is one of the coolest album intro's I've ever heard. The Fourth Legacy starts of by kicking you in the face. Orchastral elements can be heard here and there through out the album. If you like bands such as: Iced Earth, Evergrey, Rhapsody, Iron Maiden, and Blind Guardian, you will love this band.

Being almost a total fan of brutal and black Death metal I found myself surprised when listening to the Fourth Legacy. It just is so DAMN GOOD ! Roy Khan's voice is the most powerful I've heard since Michael Kiske left Helloween. The production is so crystal-clear you can almost see the CD shine. Wellstructured and perfectly layed out songs. Absolutely fits all fans of Helloween/Blind Guardian/Iron Savior. Their best album to date !