Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy (1999)

Kamelot's "The Fourth Legacy" is a great album of half Progressive, half Power Metal with a big keyboard presence. I find this album has so much going for it. I find it balances things so well, with Progressive elements abound in each song and excellent use of keyboards which meld so well into the structure and play their part in creating each song and making it unique. We get a grand pseudo symphonic keyboard intro to the album, kind of pretentious in a way, but I really dig it so much! It just then gives way to the marvellous title track, grand Power Metal riffs with original melodies and nice use of Progressive elements in the middle. They keep things up with "Silent Goddess" making you feel exhilerated in the kind of ambitous design of their songs but just wanting to plain rock out as well. "Desert Reign" which follows continues the keyboard supremacy, really conjuring up images of an Arabian bazaar from centuries ago which just totally owns, I really like Eastern kind of stuff like this mixed with the whole Metal thing, it's just fundamentally cool. It serves as an intro, leading smoothly into "Nights Of Arabia" which is my favourite track on here. It has a real storytelling structure and I like the use of female vocals here.

"The Shadow Of Uther" just has that incredible medieval sounding melody part which ties in the themes of the lyrics they're going for. I just love that melody part. It doesn't rival the last track, but it's a great addition to an already consistent and exciting album. “A Sailorman’s Hymn" is an acoustic ballad with such powerful emotion put into it, mixing a strong feeling of hope with fear of the worst and despair too. The next two tracks are similar to compare, both "Alexandria" and "The Inquisitor" have the same kind of Progressive presence and good songwriting that we've seen before, both are great, but each is different from the next which is a strength of the album overall. A part of what makes this album so good is to be found in the range of Roy Khan, which is what helps to make up the mood of each song. He really does put a lot of power and thought into each lyric he sings which gives this album its great effect. Silly as it may be, the lyrics are very sing along-able, even in such a Progressive affair as this with each lyric preceded (in the booklet) by a quote from history or philosophy, which gives it the theme the band picked up on. It's still very cool.

Another ballad with "Glory", not as good as the last ballad but still well played and written. The last two songs aren't as strong, sounding a bit more tired and less full of enthusiasm as the start of the album is. They are good and worth listening to, but I don't think they add to the album as much as the rest of it. Still this album is a very worthy purchase for any fans who like Progressiveness and a bit of cheese here and there, with (quite non cheesy) historical and fictional lyrical concepts. Go get it!

~ Wez, Metal Archives Review

Kamelot:

Kamelot was founded in 1991 by guitarist Thom Youngblood and drummer/school mate Richard Warner but it took until August 1995 for their debut album, Eternity, to be released. Signing to Noise Records Germany in Spring 1994, fans and critics alike praised Kamelot as being one of the most promising newcomers in Metal. Their second album, Dominion, 1996, received even more attention, because it showed the variety of the band, spanning all the way from European metal to classical music and progressive. The fans and sales for Kamelot would grow over the year and the group was being touted as one the new leaders in Melodic Metal from the U.S.. Not resting on their laurels the group went back to work on their 3rd and most important release. But obstacles were ahead, Kamelot 1997, a year of major changes. After the success of Dominion, many tour opportunities came to Kamelot. Unfortunately, drummer Richard Warner and vocalist Mark Vanderbilt could not tour, and there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel for the two to ever tour. Kamelot's first goal was to find a new drummer. After one audition Casey Grillo was the man. Local music veteran at the age of 21, Casey was a perfect fit for the opening. After listening to between 75 and 100 audition tapes of vocalists the band was a standstill. A whole record had been written but no one worthy enough to grab the mic. Enter Norwegian born Roy Khan. Khan's former group, Conception, had split up the year before that was the genesis of the new Kamelot. Before he was taken on as a band member though he had to pass a final test, he had to skydive with the other members of Kamelot.

Apprehensive at first, he came through with flying colors. The Chemistry was perfect from the beginning and it is a great sign of what's to come from this union . New vocalist Roy Khan and drummer Casey Grillo were enlisted and the record "Siege Perilous" was now a reality. The record spawned great reviews from fans and critics led to the groups first tour of Europe in late 1998. Upon returning to there hometown of Tampa, Florida . The band decided to take some time off and write and relax. The journey for The Fourth Legacy would begin. This journey began in December 1998 after the Kamelot tour. Writing began in Tampa, Florida but after a month of work Thomas Youngblood decided to relocate to the mountains of Virginia to concentrate on songs get a different vibe for the record. After 3 months of ideas, Thomas traveled to the small village of Sorsgebyja, Norway in March 1999. Home of vocalist Khan. 3 weeks of isolation in the snowy village proved the songwriting team of Youngblood/Khan to be a new Force to reckon with. Now to find a producer, Sascha Paeth was first on the list. His work with Rhapsody and Angra called attention to Thom's wish list and a few phone calls later the deal was set. Final preproduction would need to done, where else but the home of Kamelot in Tampa Bay Florida. For a month the group worked out the kinks of the new songs with producer Sascha Paeth. Recording began in Wolfsburg Germany in August 1999 and continued til October. Choirs, real string sections and guest keyboardist Miro would round out the final songs to a beautiful blend. Mixing would be done over the next month and final mastering complete in November. The new record will set a new standard for Kamelot and the Melodic Metal genre.