THE EXPEDITION

You must be familiar with the studio albums first .

The first time I listened to this album was during the rock program broadcasted at local FM classic rock radio (which is now defunct - what a pity!) from my metal colleagues who were about to go on air with heavy stuffs. Given interesting live cover album which reminded me to Marillion's "Real To Reel" albums where all band members pictures were put in circle (in the case of Marillion it was just like a reel wheel). But, my journey with the band moved on since I knew "Karma" for the first time and it blew me away. I then followed every album the band produced until "The Black Hallo" and the previous album before "Karma", i.e. "The Fourth Legacy". All albums are excellent and some of them I consider as "masterpiece" of power metal album. It was Kamelot that brought me to the attention for power metal with bands like Germany's "Helloween", Italian "Rhapsody". What an energetic music these bands play!

AS time went by, my curiosity with Kamelot grew and by the time I purchased the DVD of Kamelot live "One Cold Winter's Night", I reassured my love to the band started to collect albums that I don't own it before even though I knew that it might be disappointing. No point, isn't it? Once you love a band, you don' care anymore their music before the good ones, right? How could you let yourself not owning "From Genesis To Revelation" if you claim yourself as Genesis die hard fan? Or not owning "Time and A Word" album if you claim a die hard fan of Yes? You just basically want to hear how the band sounded like during their embryonic period. That's of course not the case for King Crimson when their debut album already surprised the music industry!

Let's come back to this live album by Kamelot. How do I see this album after I have been so familiar with the band? This is a good live record, indeed, performed by the same line-up when the band recorded their latest DVD. Musically, this performance is really good because I can hear all subtleties and great melody the music offers through this live album. Even though the recording sonic quality is not excellent, but it's not bad at all. I can grab clearly the energy and dynamics of the live performance. I especially like when Khan announce "This is from my new album The Fourth Legacy ." and the music brings to "The Shadow of Uther" in an excellent way. The better melody is then presented under "A Sailorman's Hymn" which does not resemble any relation at all with power metal music as the tempo is slow and the melody is catchy. What comes later is the song that I really like, starting from "New Alligiance" (track name is not included, it's considered as next track) to "The Fourth Legacy". WOW!!!!! This is the best song this live record offers. The melody really kills me. I always play this song loudly (studio version) with my wife who also loves this song very much. This has become, in fact, our "love song". Opo tumon? How can it be, a song as powerful as this one, as heavy as this one, is considered as "romantic" song? Well guys, try to understand the melody line! You would definitely agree with me! We especially love the melody when the lyrical verse says : "You will find the new allegiance like a beacon in the night. If you're searching for salvation reach inside .. There's a new world approaching. A Fire to be seen, in following The Fourth Legacy ..". Oh man . what a killing melody! I also like the part where Roy Khan introduces the band members under "Call of The Sea". It's so rocking because every member shows their talent by providing solo work. It's like Fish of Marillion in Real To Reel album. The live vibes created by Kamelot in this album is really excellent!

Overall, this is really a good live album. But, I would not suggest you buy this CD until you are familiar with the music of Kamelot. You should have owned "The Fourth Legacy", "Karma", "Epica", and "The Black Hallo". I tend to give this live album as four stars considering performance and live vibes and the sonic quality is bare 3 stars. But I'm sure, if you are familiar with the band's studio albums, you would give this as four stars album! Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

DragonForce "Inhuman Rampage World Tour" Live in Jakarta, May 19, 2007. featuring World's Fastest Metal Guitar Virtuoso. Be there! Or Die!

Kamelot recorded this live albumduring the tour to promote the Fourth Legacy album. At the time I was a little bit disappointed with the CD, since it included only one song from Kamelot´s mk I line up, Call Of The Sea. I wanted to hear their earlier tunes with Roy Khan on vocals, more or less what Royal Hunt did on the CD/DVD 1996. But after watching Kamelot´s brilliant first DVD One Cold Winter´s NIght (2006). I came back to this CD, recorded during their Fourth Legacy tour, six years earlier. Actually it was better than I thought it would be, even if the repertoire was not really what I´d like to hear at the time. The production is crystal clear, thanks to the work of Sasha Paeth (ex Heaven´s Gate) has been doing since The Fourth Legacy.

What we have here is a tight band, full of energy and showing they sound as good live as on the studio. In fact, the Siége Perilous songs do sound better here than on record. As with most of the great bands Kamelot is more than the sum of the parts. Their chemistry is unbelievable and it shines even at this early stage of their career. The music is symphonic power metal at its best. On the keyboiards they have the magic Gunter Werno (Vanden Plas). As an extra you also get 3 rare studio tracks: the instrumental We Three Kings, the beautiful acoustic ballad One Day (a japanese bonus track for the Siége Perilous CD) and the re-recording of We Are Not Separated (orginally form their second CD, and proving once and for all that Khan is THE definitive Kamelot singer).

A must have for any Kamelot fan. Or anyone who likes symphonic power metal with lots of melodies. Highly recommended!

The cauldron was boiling!

The Expedition was Kamelot's first live album, recorded at (what I consider to be) the peak of the band's career, just after the release of their two best studio albums The Fourth Legacy and Siege Perilous. There are 11 great tracks in total, but the final three of these are studio recordings. Out of the eight live tracks, five are taken from the band's masterpiece The Fourth Legacy and two from the excellent Siege Perilous. The remaining live track Call Of The Sea is a song that originally appeared on the band's debut album Eternity. The latter is particularly interesting as it was originally sung by the band's previous vocalist, Mark Vanderbilt. Here, of course, it is Roy Khan handling the vocals. I certainly wouldn't have minded a few more of these re-interpretations songs from the Vanderbilt era, especially as this live album is rather short there would have been room for more.

The three studio tracks are all excellent beginning with We Three Kings, a totally Neo-Classical piece that reminds heavily of Ritchie Blackmore's wonderful style. One Day is a tasteful ballad. Both of these strong tracks would have fitted very nicely on Siege Perilous for which I understand they were originally intended. The final track is a re-recorded version of another song that was originally recorded with Mark Vanderbilt and originally featured on the band's second studio album, Dominion. We Are Not Separate features a strong and memorable riff.

The only complaint I have about this album is its relatively short length. But what is here represents Kamelot at their very best. Highly enjoyable, this live album is an excellent companion to the studio albums of the era, particularly The Fourth Legacy and Siege Perilous, which happen to be my favourite Kamelot albums.