POETRY FOR THE POISONED

While it won't score points for creativity, Poetry for the Poisoned maintains Kamelot's stellar reputation for quality, giving us one of the band's most exciting and enjoyable albums to date. This is a gem of melodic prog-metal: well-written, impeccably performed and produced, and genuinely fun to listen to. Taken has a whole, Poetry for the Poisoned sticks to Kamelot's winning combination of intense (though never overbearing) metal, a dark tone, dynamic songwriting, melodramatic lyrics and lots and lots of memorable guitar and vocal highlights.

"Great Pandemonium" opens the affiar very predictably but very powerfully. It's a crowd- pleaser, as is every opening song on Kamelot albums, but the mood and precision of the song sets the bar high. Luckily the group keeps things consistant, with an excellent mix of dynamics and melodies which follow. Youngblood gets some fantastic soloing in, while the rhythm section stands out during the many tempo changes throughout, lending a lot to the dramatic feel of the band here. The keyboard work is very subtle, nothing at all like the up-front work of Rudess or other more symphonic prog-metal groups. Palotai uses his many keys for textures and sweeping tones, which is probably the biggest element of the band's "power-metal" feel. He is clearly more into contributing to the whole rather than trying to steal the spotlight, which I think is actually present in the whole band, and is meant quite complementary. Kamelot's music isn't ostentatious, it's just really really good. The whole band feels like they work very well together, and are more concerned with making an excellent record than anything else. The centerpiece of the album, the 13-minute title piece, is a highlight in the band's songlibrary. Great stuff.

Kahn's vocals deserve special mention as well-- this guy is amazing. His voice is exceptionally elegant, very un-metal but fitting into the chugging intensity and furious drumming perfectly. He is joined by his usual collaborator Simone Simons, whose beautiful voice adds a perfect element of feminine grace.

So, while I acknowledge the overall similarity Poetry for the Poisoned has to the band's previous records, I am confident that Kamelot fans will acknowledge it as one of the band's best so far-- nearly as good as the excellent Black Halo. I hope the band takes the success of this release and runs with it, striving for more ambitious works in the future!

Songwriting: 4 Instrumental Performances: 4 Lyrics/Vocals: 4 Style/Emotion/Replay: 4