Style: Symphonic power metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Personal freedom, science fiction
Thoughts: I did not want to like this album, and for the first third or so the album is bland and generic. Kamelot used to be one of my favorite bands in metal, then Khan left. After that the band wasn't the same. Don't get me wrong, Tommy is a fucking fantastic vocalist and probably one of the only people who could replace Khan. The thing is the music quality dipped after Khan left to a point where only one of the four albums with Tommy on them reaches anywhere near the Khan era.
For the time being lets just talk about the current album: The Awakening. The album starts out with a pretty generic yet well executed The Great Divide. This is the prototypical Kamelot song. It's upbeat, its got a lot going on with the instrumentation, the drums gallop all over the place, and the vocals soar like an eagle. It's Kamelot's take on power metal down to the smallest detail. It's fine for what it is, but I've heard this all before.
The album continues with this mediocrity until we get to the lead single One More Flag in the Ground. This song is super catchy, but it's so boring. I hate that it gets stuck in my head. It was here that I almost gave up on the album and traded it in to my local shop.
I resolved myself to continue and I was immediately rewarded with Opus of the Night. Now this... this is why I listen to Kamelot. It's still upbeat much like the opener, but there is a tinge of darkness and urgency in this track that has been lacking in the album so far. The melodies are a bit more sinister, the accompanying verse/chorus structure is a bit heavier, and Tommy's voice has a bit more desperation in it. This is more like it. A turning point of the album for sure.
This is immediately followed by Midsummer's Eve, a violin led ballad. If there is one thing that the band is good at it's ballads. Tommy's airy voice is perfect for this, and the inclusion of a female vocalist is another standard for the band. The emotion behind both of their voices is exceptional and the song is another clear highlight on the album.
I could go through track by track and give a detailed breakdown but that would be a waste of time. Essentially Opus of the Night marks the turn from generic power metal to the emotive power metal that Kamelot is known for. This is a welcome change because the pervious album was outright poor in execution. This at minimum is a return to quality.
Written December 4th 2023
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