Kamelot

Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida. The band incorporates many elements of symphonic and progressive metal into their music. The band was formed by Thomas Youngblood and Richard Warner in 1991. Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album Siége Perilous, and has shared song-writing duties with Thomas Youngblood since.

As of 2008, Kamelot has released eight studio albums, two live albums, one live DVD, five music videos and a reissue of their latest record Ghost Opera.

Biography

Kamelot was founded in Florida by Thomas Youngblood and Richard Warner in 1991. In 1994, the band signed a deal with Noise Records; the release of their debut album Eternity followed in 1995. The next album, Dominion, was released in 1997. Later that year, drummer and founder Richard Warner and lead vocalist Mark Vanderbilt were replaced by drummer Casey Grillo and vocalist Roy Khan (formerly of Conception) respectively. With the two new members, Kamelot released their third studio album, Siege Perilous, in 1998. The new line-up undertook an extensive tour through Europe during the fall of the same year; twelve months later, they returned to the Gate Studio in Wolfsburg to produce the 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. A few months later, the band presented their fifth album Karma. Their sixth album, Epica, was released in 2003. To support the Epica album, the band went on tour through Europe (with At Vance as supporting Band) and Japan. Both "Epica" and the band's seventh effort, The Black Halo, which was released in 2005, are based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's version of the legend of Faust, a man who sells his soul to the devil. To support the new album, the band went on tour through Europe and Japan. During the first leg of the "Black Halo World Tour 2005", they played a headliner show with Epica and Kotipelto. In Japan the support was Silent Force. They also played on the Bang Your Head!!! Festival in Germany and the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.

In 2005, they shot their first music videos for the songs "The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)" and "March of Mephisto" from the album The Black Halo. Both videos were shot by the prolific director Patric Ullaeus. On October 5th 2005, Kamelot added Oliver Palotai as the fifth official band member; Oliver handles both keyboards and (additional) guitars.

On the second leg of the "Black Halo World Tour" they visited North and South America (USA, Canada, Brazil) as well as Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Norway). On February 11th, 2006, the band's live DVD, One Cold Winter's Night was shot by Patric Ullaeus at Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway. It was released on November 17th, 2006 in Germany, November 20th in other parts of Europe and November 21st in US/Canada via SPV Records.

In fall 2006 the band returned to Gate Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany to record their latest album, Ghost Opera. Drummer Casey Grillo flew in to record in Wolfsburg for the first time since the Karma album.

Ghost Opera was released on June 1 in Germany, June 4th in Europe and June 5th in the US. The album was recorded and mixed at Gate Studios and Pathway Studios in Wolfsburg with producers Sascha Paeth and Miro. Three music videos have been made for the songs "Ghost Opera", "The Human Stain" and "Rule the World". A re-issue of Ghost Opera labeled, Ghost Opera: the Second Coming was released shortly after it's predecessor. It contains the entire original Ghost Opera album with an additional bonus track, "Season's End" and a second CD full of live recordings and remixes from previous albums

Line-up

Current members

• Roy Khan: vocals (1998−present)
• Thomas Youngblood: guitar (1991−present)
• Glenn Barry: bass (1992−present)
• Casey Grillo: drums (1997−present)
• Oliver Palotai: keyboards (2005−present)

Former members

• Mark Vanderbilt: vocals (1991−1997)
• Richard Warner: drums (1991−1997)
• David Pavlicko: keyboards (1991−1998)
• Sean Christians: bass (1991−1992)

Guest musicians

• Günter Werno − keyboards (on The Expedition)
• Luca Turilli − solo guitar on "Descent of the Archangel" (Epica)
• Simone Simons − guest vocals and video appearance on "The Haunting" (The Black Halo), guest vocals on "Blücher" and "Season's End" (Ghost Opera)
• Shagrath − As Mephisto: vocals, video appearance on "March of Mephisto" (The Black Halo); vocals on "Memento Mori" (The Black Halo)
• Snowy Shaw − As Mephisto: vocals on "March of Mephisto" (One Cold Winter's Night)
• Jens Johansson − keyboard solos on "March of Mephisto" and "When the Lights are Down" (The Black Halo)
• Miro − studio keyboards between The Fourth Legacy and Ghost Opera
• Mari Youngblood − As Helena: vocals, appearance (on Epica), "Abandoned" and "Memento Mori" (The Black Halo), video appearance in "The Haunting" (The Black Halo) and various tracks of the One Cold Winter's Night concert of 2006.
• Matt Knowles (Royal Anguish) − As Mephisto when playing in Florida
• Sascha Paeth − guest appearance on One Cold Winter's Night as additional guitarist on "Moonlight", and Ghost Opera
• Amanda Somerville − guest vocalist for "Mourning Star", "Love You to Death" and "Ghost Opera"

Discography

Studio albums

• Eternity (1995)
• Dominion (1997)
• Siége Perilous (1998)
• The Fourth Legacy (2000)
• Karma (2001)
• Epica (2003)
• The Black Halo (2005)
• Ghost Opera (2007)

Reissues

• Ghost Opera - The Second Coming (2008)

Live albums

• The Expedition (2000)
• One Cold Winter's Night (2006)

Live DVDs

• One Cold Winter's Night (2006)

Demos

• 1991 demo

Music Videos

• "The Haunting" (featuring Simone Simons) (2005)
• "March of Mephisto" (featuring Shagrath & Jens Johansson) (2005)
• "Ghost Opera" (2007)
• "The Human Stain" (2007)
• "Rule the World" (2008)