Kamelot is a Power metal and Progressive metal band founded in 1991.
Their songs are usually inspired in philosophy, literature or history as they made conceptual albums, including two loosely based on Goethe's Faust.
RIYL
- Rhapsody of Fire
- Symphony X
- Iced Earth
Members
Current Members
Roy Khan.
- Roy Khan (1998−2011)
- Thomas Youngblood (1991−present)
- Glenn Barry (1992−present)
- Casey Grillo (1997−present)
- Oliver Palotai (2005−present)
- Tommy Karevik (2012−present)
Former members
- Mark Vanderbilt (1991−1997)
- Richard Warner (1991−1997)
- David Pavlicko (1991−1998)
- Sean Christians bass (1991−1992)
Guest musicians
- Vanden Plas
- Luca Turilli
- Simone Simons as Marguerite
- Shagrath as Mephisto
- Snowy Shaw
- Jens Johansson
- Miro
- Mari Youngblood
- Elisabeth Kjærnes
- Matt Knowles
- Sascha Paeth
- Amanda Somerville
- Anne-Catrin Marzke
- Sebastian Bilodeau
- Sean Christians
Band 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 which features at the end a trilogy based on the life of Erzsébeth Bathory.
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 writing material for their next studio album, and it's said to be heavier than the former material.[2]
Discography
Studio albums
- Eternity (1995)
- Dominion (1997)
- Siége Perilous (1998)
- The Fourth Legacy (2000)
- Karma (2001)
- Epica (2003)
- The Black Halo (2005)
- Ghost Opera (2007)
- Poetry For The Poisoned[3] (2010)
- Silverthorn (2012)
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)