Kamelot
is an American metal band from Tampa, Florida. The band was formed by Thomas Youngblood and Richard Warner in 1991. Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album Siége Perilous
, and has shared song-writing duties with Thomas Youngblood since.
As of 2008, Kamelot has released eight studio albums, three live albums, one live DVD, six music videos and a reissue of their latest record Ghost Opera
.
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Biography
Kamelot was founded in Florida by
Thomas Youngblood and
Richard Warner in 1991. In 1994, the band signed a deal with
Noise Records; the release of their debut album
Eternity
followed in 1995. The next album,
Dominion
, was released in 1997. Later that year, drummer and founder
Richard Warner and lead vocalist
Mark Vanderbilt were replaced by drummer
Casey Grillo and vocalist
Roy Khan (formerly of
Conception) respectively. With the two new members, Kamelot released their third studio album,
Siege Perilous
, in 1998. The new line-up undertook an extensive tour through
Europe during the fall of the same year; twelve months later, they returned to the Gate Studio in
Wolfsburg to produce the fourth studio effort,
The Fourth Legacy
.
The summer of 2000 brought the "New Allegiance Tour" through
Germany,
Austria,
Switzerland,
The Netherlands,
Belgium,
Italy,
Greece and
Spain during which the recordings for Kamelot's first live album
The Expedition
were made. A few months later, the band presented their fifth album
Karma
. Their sixth album,
Epica
, was released in 2003. To support the
Epica
album, the band went on tour through Europe (with
At Vance as a supporting band) and Japan. Both "Epica" and the band's seventh effort,
The Black Halo
, which was released in 2005, are based on
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's version of the legend of
Faust
, a man who sells his soul to the devil. To support the new album, the band went on tour through Europe and Japan. During the first leg of the "Black Halo World Tour 2005", they played a headliner show with
Epica and
Kotipelto. In Japan the support was
Silent Force. They also played on the Bang Your Head
|! Festival in Germany and the
Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.
In 2005, they shot their first music videos for the songs "The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)" and "March of Mephisto" from the album
The Black Halo
. Both videos were shot by the prolific director
Patric Ullaeus. On October 5, 2005, Kamelot added
Oliver Palotai as the fifth official band member; Oliver handles both keyboards and (additional) guitars.
On the second leg of the "Black Halo World Tour", they visited North and South America (
USA,
Canada,
Brazil) as well as Europe (
The Netherlands,
Belgium,
Sweden and
Norway). On February 11, 2006, the band's live DVD,
One Cold Winter's Night
was shot by Patric Ullaeus at
Rockefeller Music Hall in
Oslo,
Norway.
It was released on November 17, 2006 in Germany, November 20 in other parts of Europe and November 21 in US/Canada via SPV Records.
In fall 2006, the band returned to Gate Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany to record their latest album,
Ghost Opera
. Drummer
Casey Grillo flew in to record in Wolfsburg for the first time since the Karma album.
Ghost Opera
was released on June 1, 2007 in Germany, June 4 in Europe and June 5 in the US. The album was recorded and mixed at Gate Studios and Pathway Studios in Wolfsburg with producers
Sascha Paeth and
Miro. Music videos have been made for the songs "Ghost Opera", "The Human Stain", "Rule the World" and "Love You to Death". A re-issue of
Ghost Opera labeled, "Ghost Opera: the Second Coming" was released shortly after its predecessor. It contains the entire original
Ghost Opera album and a second CD with 10 live songs recorded during concert in
Belgrade,
Serbia, with additional bonus tracks, "Season's End", "The Pendulous Fall", "Epilogue" and "Rule the World (Remixed)".
In January, 2009, Kamelot started working on their ninth studio album in a cabin in Norway. They frequently update their official video blog with clips.
[1]
In May 2009, Kamelot released their fourth video for "Love You To Death" at Midnight on their official website.
They are currently recording their next studio album, and it's said to be heavier than the former material.
[2]
Line-up
Current members
- Roy Khan: Lead vocals (1998-present)
- Thomas Youngblood: Guitars, Backing vocals (1991-present)
- Glenn Barry: Bass guitar (1992-present)
- Casey Grillo: Drums (1997-present)
- Oliver Palotai: Keyboards (2005-present)
Former members
- Mark Vanderbilt: vocals (1991-1997)
- Richard Warner: drums (1991-1997)
- David Pavlicko: keyboards (1991-1998)
- Sean Christians: bass (1991-1992)
- Miro - studio keyboards (1998-2007)
Guest musicians
- Günter Werno - keyboards (on The Expedition
)
- Luca Turilli - solo guitar on "Descent of the Archangel" (Epica
)
- Simone Simons - guest vocals and video appearance on "The Haunting" (The Black Halo
), guest vocals on "Blücher" and "Season's End" (Ghost Opera
)
- Shagrath - As Mephisto: vocals, video appearance on "March of Mephisto" (The Black Halo
); vocals on "Memento Mori" (The Black Halo
)
- Snowy Shaw - As Mephisto: vocals on "March of Mephisto" (One Cold Winter's Night
)
- Jens Johansson - keyboard solos on "March of Mephisto" and "When the Lights are Down" (The Black Halo
)
- Mari Youngblood - As Helena: vocals, appearance on (Epica
), "Abandoned" and "Memento Mori" (The Black Halo
), video appearance in "The Haunting" (The Black Halo
) and various tracks of the One Cold Winter's Night
concert of 2006.
- Elisabeth Kjærnes - video appearance on "March of Mephisto" (The Black Halo
and One Cold Winter's Night
) and "The Haunting" (The Black Halo
), vocals in "Nights of Arabia" (The Fourth Legacy
and One Cold Winter's Night
)
- Matt Knowles (Royal Anguish) - As Mephisto when playing in Florida
- Sascha Paeth - guest appearance on One Cold Winter's Night
as additional guitarist on "Moonlight", and Ghost Opera
- Amanda Somerville - guest vocalist for "Mourning Star", "Love You to Death" and "Ghost Opera"
- Anne-Catrin Marzke - live female and backing vocals
- Sebastian Bilodeau - Saxophone on "March of Mephisto"
- Sean Christians - live bass during the 2006-2009 tours
- Dirk Bruinenberg - guest drummer on "The Silent Goddess" and "Alexandria" (The Fourth Legacy
)
Discography
Studio albums
- Eternity
(1995)
- Dominion
(1997)
- Siége Perilous
(1998)
- The Fourth Legacy
(1999)
- Karma
(2001)
- Epica
(2003)
- The Black Halo
(2005)
- Ghost Opera
(2007)
- ''TBA' [2] (2010)
Reissues
- Ghost Opera - The Second Coming
(2008)
Live albums
- The Expedition
(2000)
- One Cold Winter's Night
(2006)
Live DVDs
- One Cold Winter's Night
(2006)
Music Videos
- "The Haunting" (featuring Simone Simons) (2005)
- "March of Mephisto" (featuring Shagrath & Jens Johansson) (2005)
- "Ghost Opera" (2007)
- "The Human Stain" (2007)
- "Rule the World" (2008)
- "Love You to Death" (2009)
References
- Kamelot - Official Mobile Blog
- Kamelot 2010 Tilburg Show Revealed
- Kamelot 2010 Tilburg Show Revealed