GHOST OPERA

The black halo was perfect, so how can you get better? Well, redefine perfect. It isn't what you are going to expect and it might take a few listens to warm up on you, but by the time I had listened to it a few times, I was already singing along. So, this CD differs from previous releases in several ways. They have expanded their sound figuratively and literally. Literally because they added strings and multiple singers. This makes it seem even more grand then previous albums. Figuratively because there is a lot of new elements and ideas in the music. On the very second song, Kahn is singing in a rythmic style and the guitars have a sort of jolted riff. It is actually very catchy. The music is far from the European power metal sound that they mastered on Epica, and that is good because that sound is starting to wear out. Of course, there are songs that sound like they belong on previous Kamelot releases, such as silence of the darkness, but these songs aren't bad at all. What makes this album great besides what I've already mentioned is that the sound of this album is so utterly mature and dark. The music is in a deeper register, with less testosterone yells, guitar solos, and instrumental acrobatics, but instead a consistent and powerful sound. The orchestration on this album is probably the best of any Kamelot album. The violin solo at the beginning of the album is probably my favorite intro to a power metal album ever. All of the songs almost seem like fairy tales, this album being a brief collection of short stories. Nothing is personal, it is just stories told around a campfire. Everything is intensely interesting, and you are drawn in again and again. Uncle Kahn, please sing me that yarn about the German ship in world war 2. I wanna hear that tragic tale about the lovers and the terminal disease. This is an album to enjoy. The reason it isn't 5 stars and the black halo is is because the second half is a lot weaker than the first, and sometimes the album seems too repetitive. Also, the darkness of the music seems a bit unfitting to the less emotional and more detached fairy tale style (a la Grim, not Disney) that Kamelot is working towards.