Kamelot – Silverthorn

After Roy Khan left the band for personal reasons after the album ‘Poetry For The Poisoned’, things were really strange for Kamelot. They toured with Fabio Lione (Rhapsody Of Fire, Vision Divine) and Michael Eriksen (Circus Maximus) on vocals, and at the same time they were in quest of a new singer. After a long period of waiting they announced the name of the person that took the singer position, Swedish Tommy Karevik (Seventh Wonder), who was actually a backing vocalist while Fabio Lione was the temporary lead singer for the tour. Kamelot has been one of my favourite bands for many years and Roy Khan one of my top three singers of all time, so I can truly say that I waited this album with impatience, mainly about how Tommy Karevik would sound with Kamelot, as I admire his work on “Seventh Wonder“.

‘Silverthorn’ is the 10th full-length album for Kamelot, who return two years after their latest effort with a very interesting and anticipated album. It’s Kamelot’s third concept album and the story is about a little girl in the 19th century named Jolee who dies in a tragic accident, witnessed by her twin brothers. It deals with an affluent family that handles tragic events leading to cover-ups, secrets, and betrayal.

The album starts with a symphonic intro called ‘Manus Dei’, to open ‘Sacrimony (Angel Of Afterlife)’, which is probably the hit of the album as it was the first official leak of the album and a video was made for this song. Elize Ryd (Amaranthe) is responsible for the clean female vocals while Alissa White-Gluz (The Agonist) makes the growls.

‘Ashes To Ashes’ and ‘Torn’ are melodic heavy power songs with Kamelot’s signature sound. The band manages to maintain elements from past records, mainly from the Khan era and at the same time sounding fresh.

You can hear the quality and range of Tommy Karevik’s voice throughout the album and especially in songs like ‘Song For Jolee’, a wonderful emotional ballad and one of my personal favourites of the album, which reminds of ‘Abandoned’ from ‘The Black Halo’. Elize Ryd also appears on song ‘Veritas’ and ‘Falling Like The Fahrenheit’. Mighty Bob Katsionis (Firewind, Outloud) took part in the writing process of two songs ‘Falling Like The Fahrenheit’ and ‘Leaving Too Soon’, which is a Japanese bonus track. Casey Grillo played some of the best drums parts once more and Sean Tibbetts with his bass completes the sound of the rhythm section. Oliver Palotai also made a great job with the keyboard parts.

‘My Confession’ and ‘Solitaire’ are also personal favourites. ‘My Confession’ is a straight-forward and melodic song and ‘Solitaire’ is a more emotional song with a catchy power metal chorus.

Title track ‘Silverthorn’ is another beautiful track with children choir in the middle following the sound that flows throughout the album where Thomas Youngblood plays one of the best guitar solos of the album. Sasha Paeth and Miro made an incredible production and also participated in some parts of the album. ‘Prodigal Son’ is separated in three parts, ‘Funerale’, ‘Burden Of Shame (The Branding)’ and ‘The Journey’ in which Alissa White-Gluz participates once again with clean vocals this time. Emotional, lyrical and somehow epic, with melodies that leave you with a sense of relief. ‘Continuum’ is the last track, an outro with vocals by Cinzia Rizzo that closes an album full of melodies and emotion. The deluxe box set has a different artwork and the second CD contains the instrumental version of the songs and a bonus track called ‘Grace’.

I could talk for hours about Kamelot and who singer is better, Roy or Tommy. But that’s not the point in music. ‘Silverthorn’ may not be their best album but marks a new unknown yet fascinating era for Kamelot. Be a part of it.