KAMELOT – Enter Haven: “Be Our Guest…”

By Carl Begai

Following is a preview of BraveWords feature story on Kamelot, due to be published prior to the early May release of the band’s new album, Haven:

At this point in Kamelot’s career guest vocalists are an (admittedly) expected part of any production at their hands, whether it’s an album, festival show or full blown tour (headline or support). Their new album, Haven, satisfies those expectations with the return of vocalist Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), new voice on the block Charlotte Wessels (Delain), and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley, all of whom appear at select points during the latest Kam-epic’s run. They are a welcome element in the band’s musical tapestry that would be sorely missed by many if they weren’t involved.

“I never want to feel like we have to have female vocals on an album and who knows, maybe on the next record we won’t,” says Youngblood. “People forget that on The Fourth Legacy (1999) we had two songs with female vocals, so it wasn’t like we jumped on some bandwagon. We did that 15 years ago. The difference now is that we’re lucky enough to have some super-talented friends that also work perfectly within the Kamelot structure. Somebody like Alissa for example, who isn’t really known for melodic metal or power metal or whatever you want to call it, the way she works with us is so natural and organic it’s just amazing.”

Alissa’s appearance on Haven – for ‘Revolution’, and growls + clean vocals on ‘Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy)’ – is something of a surprise given her top priority commitments to Arch Enemy, which have kept her on the road for well over a year. Alissa has made it clear time and again, however, that she’s prepared to step up for the Kamelot camp in the studio or on the road as her schedule allows. That dedication speaks volumes of the chemistry that has existed between her and Kamelot since first coming on board in 2012.

“That’s a great thing,” Youngblood agrees, “and the success that she’s gotten recently with Arch Enemy makes us so proud of her. Of course it means she can’t tour with Kamelot as much, but she deserves all the success she’s getting. We played in Philadelphia with her former band a number of years ago – I would watch her every night on tour and see how hard she worked – and I distinctly remember seeing her watching our set and thinking this girl has so much talent, she needs to be more well known, she should be at a higher level. When she got the Arch Enemy call we were so happy for her.”

“Linnéa Vikström (Therion) is going to do a lot of touring with us in North America. She’s really an amazing singer and very young, we can’t wait to showcase her talents for the Kamelot family. I think you’ll see Alissa join us on some shows as well. I’d love to have Alissa on the European tour if her schedule opens up, and she’s already told me that she’d like to join us if she has the time.”

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Haven 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 on May 5th (North America) and May 8th (Europe and rest of the world) and will showcase Kamelot at their finest.

Haven is available to pre-order in multiple exclusive and limited bundle packages at the Napalm Records American and European Webstore now. A new lyric video for the album track “Veil Of Elysium” can be seen below:

It’s time to step into the cinematic, epic and emotionally dynamic world of Haven. The new album features all the signature elements of Kamelot but the band steps out to add new and modern 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 Haven album has an undertone of a world going insane. There is a grey cloud that is forming over our world. We are here to find that silver lining with an album that is both dark and melancholy yet uplifting and giving the listener a Haven in a world gone mad. We are really proud of the song elements and diversity on Haven” adds guitarist Thomas Youngblood. “The songs run the gambit of dark and melancholy to uplifting and melodic elements.” states vocalist Tommy Karevik.

“Haven has an aggressive edge to it that is the representation of the band as The Revolutionary Change in the storyline,” Kamelot’s Oliver Palotai tells us.

Produced by acclaimed music producer Sascha Paeth and mastered by Jacob Hansen, Haven is a massive album that is sure to please critics and fans alike. Additional guests include Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Troy Donockley (Nightwish) and Charlotte Wessels (Delain). The cover and artwork was created by Stefan Heilemann and additional art/layout was done by Gustavo Sazes.

Tracklisting:

“Fallen Star”
“Insomnia”
“Citizen Zero”
“Veil Of Elysium”
“Under Grey Skies”
“My Therapy”
“Ecclesia”
“End Of Innocence”
“Beautiful Apocalypse”
“Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy)”
“Here’s To The Fall”
“Revolution”
“Haven”

Studio preview:

Haven audio teaser:

Photo by Tim Tronckoe Photography