KAMELOT plus guests: LEAVES EYES, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS
28.9.2018
KAMELOT plus guests: LEAVES EYES, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS
„Everyone carries a Shadow and the less it is personified (manifested), the blacker it is.“
“We are all prisoners of our own creations” states Kamelot’s founder Thomas Youngblood. Referring to today’s technology, AI, and the future of whats to come for the human race.
Kamelot’s illustrious career has been an anomaly in a sea of here today gone tomorrow acts. Replying on incredible strong songwriting, incrediblevisuals and live performances that has set the bar for many bands in the music scene today.
12 Months of long days and nights in Germany, Florida and Sweden have finally paid off on an album the band says was geared toward a modern sound that mixing…..
Kamelot have long been among the most prestigious and innovative acts in the history of the rock and metal genre. Their blend of melodic metal, progressive influences and doom/gothic metal references has ensured that albums such as The Fourth Legacy (1999), Karma (2001) and The BlackHalo (2005) turned into absolute masterpieces. Their 2015 release Haven not only established a new generation of fans for the band, but also took the group to more countries and cities than ever. Thanks to lots of sold-out shows, most successful tour of their career to date.
In late 2016 the band entered the studio to begin recording their follow-up to the highly acclaimed chart topping album Haven. Haven debut #1 on the Billboard Music charts and was the highest overall charting release for the band in nearly all countries. The new album titled THE SHADOW THEORY will make Kamelot history as it will be released worldwide (excl. Asia) on Napalm Records/Universal and Napalm Records/ADA/Warner as an exclusive licensing deal through the band’s KAMELOT MUSIC LLC and will showcase Kamelot at yet another level, both in terms of production and visual artistry.
It’s time to step into the dystopic and psychological world of The Shadow Theory. The new album features all the signature elements of Kamelot but the band steps out to add new and industrial elements along with bringing some amazing emotions that harken to the band’s earlier days. Kamelot’s artsy music is chock full of symbolism relating to how the band feels about the world and the current state of civilization.
“The Shadow Theory album is a psychological journey through the complexity of the Human Mind. We are subjected to stimuli constantly through media, technology, social experiments and AI. Can we still be social creatures in the near future? The Shadow Theory is an album that is mixing many worlds, giving the listener an Escape within our own realities. This album was written and recorded over the entire year and we are really proud of the song elements and diversity on The Shadow Theory” adds guitarist Thomas Youngblood. “Quote here…….…” states vocalist Tommy Karevik.
„I think our future is more exciting than ever, and more frightening than ever. I hear this ambiguity in many songs on this album. Also, orchestrating the album, I mixed traditional orchestra with hybrid and synth sounds more than on any album before to reflect this.“ Kamelot’s Oliver Palotai tells us.
Produced by acclaimed music producer Sascha Paeth and mastered by Jacob Hansen, The Shadow Theory is a huge and massive album that is sure to please critics and fans alike. Additional guests include Lauren Hart (Once Human), Jennifer Haben (Beyond The Black) and Oliver Hartmann (Avantasia). The amazing and cover and artwork was created by Stefan Heilemann.
Following the release of The Shadow Theory, Kamelot will embarque on a massive World Tour, starting with North America in April/May 2018 followed by European shows in the Summer 2018and with The Shadow Theory European Tour in September/October 2018 the band will return to Europe for their biggest headliner tour to date.
No doubt about it: 2018 will turn into yet another Kamelot year!
HISTORY
Thomas Youngblood and drummer Richard Warner founded Kamelot in Tampa, Florida back in 1991. In 1994 the band signed a deal with Noise Records, and the release of the debut Eternity followed in August of the next year. The press praised the album as one of most promising debuts of all time. In 1996 the successor Dominion hit the stores, an opus that was even more diverse and varied than the debut. Then in 1997, drummer Warner as well as singer Mark Vanderbilt had to be replaced. Kamelot found more than just mere substitutes in Casey Grillo and former Conception singer Khan, who had already joined the band during the production of the third album, Siege Perilous. The new line-up undertook an extensive tour of Europe during the fall of the same year, only to return to the Gate Studio in Wolfsburg twelve months later to produce their fourth studio effort, The Fourth Legacy. The summer of 2000 brought the New Allegiance Tour through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Greece and Spain, during which the recordings for Kamelot’s first live album The Expedition were made. Only a few months later the band presented their fifth album entitled Karma, which took Khan, Youngblood, Grillo and Barry on yet another European tour. Epica arrived in 2003 and combined all the fortes of the previous productions with new ideas and majestic sounds, followed by another tour as headliners in Europe, Japan, Mexico and the US, as well many top festival appearances. The Black Halo added another exciting and epic chapter to the band’s brilliant history. The continuation of their Faustus adaptation about the battle between good and evil that began on the predecessor album, Epica, again combined Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s opus with the band’s own experiences and views. Kamelot’s video ‘The Haunting’ and ‘March of Mephisto’ became huge hits on Youtube and prompted the band to launch their own YouTube channel, aptly titled KamTV. KamTV’s initial launch hurled the band into YouTube’s top 10 music channels and #1 Metal Channel, transcending all genres. With the release of The Black Halo, Kamelot started on a headliner tour in Europe, North American, Japan and Brazil, with countless festivals around the globe. Following the hugely successful album, Kamelot released their first live DVD, called One Cold Winter’s Night, directed by the well known film company Revolver Films and world-renowned director, Patric Ullaeus. The DVD was heralded by the press and fans alike and set a new standard for DVDs in the genre. Subsequently, Kamelot presented themselves more sinister and soulful on Ghost Opera (2007) and Poetry For The Poisoned (2010), but then returned to the melodic aspects of their multi-layered sound with their new vocalist Tommy Karevik and the album, Silverthorn. Next chapter sees the album Haven marking symphonic metal masters Kamelotstriving for new heights with their epic and highly emotional trademark sound: As if this album was meant to be a soundtrack for an unforgettable and monumental silver screen experience, it boasts dark melancholy, aggressive metal and soul-soothing melodies! This shining was produced by Sascha Paeth, and illustrious guests such as Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Troy Donockley (Nightwish) and Charlotte Wessels (Delain) gave Haven some extra magic. Low and behold the next massive edition to the Kamelot discography, The Shadow Theory, a phycological thriller that runs the listener through a maze of emotions and musical peaks that will surely be the shining gem in the bands long and winding career.