ONE COLD WINTER'S NIGHT

This DVD/CD is a true masterpiece! The track list is SUPERB, which is something I can rarely say about live albums from any band. Khan's vocals (and theatrics) are top- notch, by far the most impressive part of the show. The rest of the band also performs superbly, and the energy produced in each song is raw like nothing else I've ever felt.

The new addition, Oliver was sort of disappointing for me however. His synth lead sound choice (the most glaring example being in "When the Lights Are Down" during the guitar/keyboard duel) is very poor, and that plus his soloing style pales in comparison to that of the album's performer, Jens Johannsen. Sadly, he reminds me of an even more intensified version of Jordan Rudess. His soloing is shamefully boring and suffers due to the overwhelming desire to show off his talent of whacking around in a scale as fast as possible with no real stylism attempt put forth whatsoever. His piano solo is in the same vein; endless shredding up and down the keyboard in a straight rhythm pattern. To say he is like a more overblown version of Jordan Rudess is an understatement, and while that may be a compliment from some people, it is surely not one from me. We'll see how his contributions to the upcoming album are. Now I'm not going to just say the bad things about him and make you think he's just a terrible disgrace to humanity or something, because he is surely not that at all. His precision and playing ability are top- notch. He also does a magnificent job of recreating what sound like identical copies of the sounds and patches used on the Kamelot albums (with the exception of his synth leads which sound very fairy-ish). The string and piano (and everything else) sound just like those of the album, and that is a great thing. The tone and style of the songs are kept intact due to the identical keyboard parts and sounds, so kudos to Oliver for that. He also plays very well with the band; you would never suspect he was new unless someone told you so. He plays as if he's been with them since The Fourth Legacy. Someone might want to give him some dancing/headbanging tips however.

Khan (as mentioned before) is utterly astounding. Every pitch, every pitch jump, every entrance and release are all right-on. One of the best live vocal performances of this age. Not to mention his stage presence; his interactions with guest singers are great and really enhance the message and emotion the song is trying to portray. A career in acting could be in his future. He also sings every song with the same great intensity and emotion, and the effort he displays shows that he wants everyone to see a wonderful show. His upper range has decayed from the early days which is evident in the earlier songs the band plays with higher vocal lines ("Nights of Arabia" and "Karma" probably being the best examples of this limitation), but he nails all of the essential high parts amazingly in every song. He drops down the line at non-crucial moments sometimes for what I would imagine is stamina control, but really it doesn't sound the least bit bad and he sounds great no matter what he does so who's to complain?

Youngblood displays a great showing of talent, some of which I did not previously know he posessed. His playing and soloing are very tight and clean, and hearing every note in any of his blazing fast parts is not difficult by any means. Everything rings through as clear as a bell. He plays a nice little solo intro to "Forever" which shows a bit of his stylism versatility, and throughout the entire show he shows off all his stuff. The only lacking part in his performance is that he cannot perform the guitar harmonies live so some of the coolest parts he does are missing, but it still sounds pretty good.

Barry's bass work is nice when you can actually hear it, but that is not often (just like on the albums). I can't really say much about him because most of the time I don't even notice that he's playing, but when I do notice his part it always sounds good so I guess there's nothing to complain about with him.

Grillo's drumming is raw and powerful, yet incredibly tight at the same time. His time keeping is spot-on, never dragging and never rushing, and his trademark double bass drives are all exactly precise and in-time. His upper battery work, though usually very simple, is also tight and energetic. The drum solo he performs is pretty good I guess (I am not one for drum solos very much) but at least it's very tight and clean so that works. He is definitely the drive of the band and he performs that duty wonderfully.

Overall this is a very good live album, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. I would imagine that I would be inclined to pick up the CD version as well, because I would love to be able to hear these tracks on the go. A great first DVD for Kamelot, and outdoing it with the next one will be extremely difficult. A must-have for any Kamelot fan to any degree and a strong recommendation to all others.

Score: 9.5/10