THE BLACK HALO

I almost gave up with Kamelot after their three releases: Eternity, Siege Perilous and Dominion. Dominion was the first album recorded with Khan at vocals. For me, as a big [L] Conception[/L] fan, was a big disappointment. The production was a mess (in fact the album seems a demo tape) and the songs was really weak. In the war against the greatest power metal bands from Europe Kamelot never would won a battle if they insisted in that direction. Then an internet friend sent me The Fourth Legacy (2000), second release with Khan and the first one recorded in Germany with the wizard Sascha Paeth. I put it in the cd player without any hope... But what I heard changed everything. The intro "New Allegiance" and "The Fourth Leagacy" shocked me in the same way that I turned crazy with the firsts songs in Painkiller ([L] Judas Priest[/L]) album. The sound was terrific and the magnificent Khan voice shined clear and powerful. The album was full of nuances and had the most precious ballad I ever heard: "A Salyorman's Hymn". Then, with "The Black Halo" the music seemed supernatural to me. The prog and symphonic elements flew magically all around and Thomas Youngblood played hard, heavy and soft as ever did it before. The rock opera, based in the classic Faust's myth, has several top moments of song writing and production. "March of Mephisto" with the devil himself (Shagrath) as guest is a little cathedral of metal; "The Haunting" with Simone Simons is superlative, but the grand finale comes with "Memento Mori". Khan, who learned to sing in an opera school music, is the only one who can lead such a magnum opus. Youngblood finally understood who is the band genius and accepted a secondary role, a difficult decision to made by a lead guitar!