Kamelot : "Dark Asylum"

The 14th album by the band finds them leaning further into conceptual grandiosity. With a bigger symphonic sound. Their last album The Awakening," was disappointing, as it was filled with melodramatic power ballads and only earned 7.5, which, considering what they have proven themselves capable of  is more of a letdown than that score might suggest. However, they are still at the top of the game for a genre that can get mired down in flowery layers of synths and orchestras.  The opening song "Ashen World  " is heavier. It features death metal vocalist Ignacia Fernandez, who created a bit of a buzz for winning Miss Chile. She is lower in the mix, so hard to get a grasp of her vocal power. The title track is too anthemic for its own good and the chord progressions feel too happy for my taste.  It compromises their brand and identity by sounding like everyone else.

In many ways, you can hear on "Sanctuary" how they are making many of the same mistakes Dream Theater did over the years by sounding more like something Andrew Lloyd Webber might have written, instead of making metal. Though this works better than the previous song. They redeem themselves a bit with "One Last Masquerade" . Tobias Sammet from Avantasia lends his voice; he sounds better than he has sounded on his band's albums, and these guys find more grit in the verse riffs. The chorus flirts with the kind of power metal cheese I am not a fan of, but overall the song balances out.  "Ivey, My Dear" finds them reverting to ballads; this one has almost more of a folk metal feel, emphasis on folk.It's ok for what it is but I can see this opening the door to the mistakes made on the last album. 

Then things begin to get hit or miss. Where "Godlike Alchemy " works with more grit, they seem to dial into their formula for the more predictable "The Sleeping Mind". Then we are back to metal with the chug of "Kaleidoscope", that recalls the "Ghost Opera" and "Black Halo" era of the band. I'm ok with some of the more melodic ballad songs if they are done right; "Enigma" serves as a good example of what works for them. While "Cassandra's Disease" is not a ballad, it lacks the aggression needed to give metal its balls. "The Puppet King" gains their footing until hitting some of the genre tropes in the chorus. I will give this album a 9, it's unlikely that I am not going to listen to one of their earlier albums over this when I am in the mood, but for their fans who do not need them to be at their heaviest and listen to symphonic power metal regularly, this will exceed expectations and is a much better direction for them than their last album. It drops on Napalm Records on August 28th

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