Produced by Sascha Paeth, 'Haven' sees US symphonic-metal band Kamelot reach new heights. Kamelot was founded in Tampa, Florida by guitarist Thomas Youngblood and past member Richard Wagner in 1991.
The current singer for the band is Swedish metal vocalist Tommy Karevik, who has been with the band since their 2012 release, 'Silverthorn'. With guest vocalists Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Troy Donockley (Nightwish) and Charlotte Wessels (Delain) appearing on the record, 'Haven' retains the group's core sound while adding new textures. “'Haven' is a little bit more of a modern-metal approach to the Kamelot sound,” Thomas Youngblood says.
“[It] still has the diversity that a Kamelot record should have and has our signature sort of Kamelot sound, but we brought in some new elements – like industrial elements.”
When asked if he enjoys any Australian metal bands, Youngblood admits he is “not a big metal listener – so I wouldn't take it personal if I were Australian in any metal band. Most of my musical tastes end up being more like classical to new age to film score to a lot of music from the '70s and '80s. So, I like to keep my music prowess kind of diverse. Hopefully that helps with songwriting for Kamelot.”
Youngblood claims their eleventh album is the band's most diverse; 'Revolution' may be their heaviest song yet, while 'Under Grey Skies' is closer to a power-ballad. With their world tour starting this month and continuing to December no Australian dates have been planned but Youngblood's hopes fans “will make some noise” and convince them they should add Australia to their tour in early 2016.
With epic and symphonic sounds, I asked whether they find it hard to translate their songs to the live arena. “I think that any band that has elements that are symphonic that you have to find a balance to make it a live sound that is also stripped out. I think it is also a cool thing and you know, at some point you have some stuff that is on tracks like a choir or an intro but we tried to make it as close to the album as we can without going over the top and bringing in a bunch of samples.
"So, for us, it is a good mixture of what you hear on the record and in-you-face metal show and I think it is a bit more raw and all those sort of things lend themselves to the live show being a little bit different.”
'Haven' is available now.
