DOMINION

Kamelot´s second CD showed only a glimpse of their future glories, but certainly was quite a leap forward since their debut. The music is competent - but not outstanding - power metal with some very interesting lyrics (based mostly on history) and fine musicanship by the band. They were starting to find their own sound and the guitar work of Youngblood shines through the whole CD. Also of notice are the good use of the keyboards to give the album a symphonic edge on some songs (another hint of their future bombastic orchestral arrangements).

The main problem here seems to be Mark Vanderbilt vocals. He has a decent voice, but he is also clearly a more hard rock vocalist, in the vein of Robert Plant (in latter days). And the songs ask for a more dramatic, operatic voice to fully exploit their potential. Fortunatly Kamelot would find a more fitting frontman soon after this album was out. But that´s another story...

Dominion shows a great improvement of the band, but they were still far from their peak, both as a group and as songwriters. It has some good moments, but if you´re new to the band start with Karma or Epica. 2,5 stars.