Roy Khan’s exit from Kamelot had threatened to be catastrophic. One of the most gifted singers in symphonic power metal, the Norwegian had fronted and written for the Floridian group for half of their 21 years.
However, Tommy Karevik (formerly of Seventh Wonder) was selected from 800 auditionees and the Swede fits Kamelot’s style like the proverbial velvet glove. Despite evidence to the contrary, Silverthorn sounds nothing like a band that’s been torn apart and glued back together.
Kamelot’s 10th studio set sees the band stepping away from 2010’s experimental Poetry For The Poisoned album and back towards an ornate, polished style of metal. The album relates the complex 19th-century tale of a young girl who dies in the arms of her two twin brothers. Among its highlights is the brisk Sacrimony (Angel Of Afterlife), which mixes clean and growled vocals, co-starring Elize Ryd of Amaranthe and The Agonist’s Alissa White-Gluz.
Recovering from uncertainty, it’s great that Kamelot are in such imaginative, eloquent and above all focused form.
