Essential Listening | Kamelot: The Black Halo
For fans of progressive hard rock and power metal with a symphonic edge, Kamelot's latest release The Black Halo has much to offer.
The Black Halo is the second installment of Kamelot's loose interpretation of the legendary tales of Faust, the first of which came in the form of the band's 2003 release Epica. However, each subsequent Kamelot release generally improves upon the previous one, in terms of the quality of both the production and songwriting. The Black Halo is definitely no exception to the general rule. The final result: The Black Halo arguably stands out as the best album of the band's 10-year tenure.
One aspect which rightfully makes Kamelot an amazing force in music is the band's versatility. Based out of the United States, Kamelot's style as employed for The Black Halo ranges from impressive balladry to double-bass fueled metal anthems, as evidenced in tracks such as "Abandoned" and "When The Lights Are Down," respectively. Catchy verse and chorus vocal melodies, as sang by the band's extraordinary vocalist Khan, are interwoven throughout the entire duration of the album, with several guest vocalists, including Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath (though seemingly an unusual choice initially, Shagrath convincingly portrays the character Mephisto for the tracks "March of Mephisto" and "Memento Mori"), Epica's frontwoman Simone Simons (who portrays the character Marguerite on "The Haunting [Somewhere in Time]") and Cinzia Rizzo (who sings in Italian for the intermission piece "Un Assassinio Molto Silenzioso").
The instrumentation for The Black Halo is equally impressive as Khan's vocals. Unlike its predecessor Epica, the guitar tracks are more prominently featured in the mix on The Black Halo, which when coupled with the orchestrations creates a unique atmosphere, rarely experienced in modern music. Guest keyboardist Jens Johannson of Stratovarius fame lends solos to the opening two tracks "March of Mephisto" and "When the Lights Are Down"; impressive as always, Johannson's solos add a fitting, unique, and welcome Stratovarius-esque texture to both tracks.
To top off the album, the faultless production of European power-metal producers Sascha Paeth and Miro (renowned for their work with artists including Aina, Rhapsody, and many others) seamlessly blend together all of the above elements, resulting in a perfect, top-quality mix.
The above elements work together perfectly throughout the album's entirety, but especially for the track "Memento Mori." An eight-minute epic of its own, "Memento Mori" is arguably the main highlight from
The Black Halo. "Memento Mori" is the most progressive track on the album, effortlessly blending elements from different genres of music, from Shagrath's death-metal presence to classical piano stylings and everything in between.
On an overall level, The Black Halo certainly deserves all of the acclaim it has received from fans and critics alike. Two thumbs up to Kamelot for delivering such an excellent piece of work!