Kamelot - I Am the Empire - Live From the 013 (2020)^{Release ID: 23089}

Kamelot's 3-decade journey so far has been none other than an inspirational saga. They were originally formed in the late 80s as Camelot when 80s melodic metal was still rising peacefully. Then they changed their lineup and their band name slightly in the early 90s at the dawn of metal's losing battle against its fraudulent impersonators. It's amazing how this band can survive through the end of the last millennium while staying practically unknown. As an American band, their style started as old-school US power metal with symphonic keyboards, but ever since touring outside America, they picked up more European flavors and gained a continent-hybrid epic power metal sound. Soon they became the most consequential non-death metal band from Florida and one of the most ambitious bands besides classic heavy metal giants out there.

But wait! That wasn't their highest peak yet. This American revival of European power metal still had quite some changes before the entire world was ready to hear their music. They already had their current style set when they're just about to reach their pinnacle of success, thanks to the grand idea of adopting a theatrical concept, resulting in their own two-album take on Goethe's Faust in the mid-2000s. The success of the former album Epica caused them to be signed to a higher known record label to greatly promote the latter album The Black Halo, causing a rapid expansion of the band's popularity. And with their simple yet grand formula carrying on through later albums, it all leads to their new massive live album I Am The Empire: Live At The 013! Featuring a few of metal's recent greatest female vocalists and a talented string quartet Eklipse, the band has hosted an ambitious live experience placed together by the riveting rhythm section of bass and drums, soaring keyboards, ascending guitars, and heavenly vocals.

It all begins with the epic intro "Transcendence". It's not the same one as The Shadow Theory's "The Mission", so I'm guessing they borrowed an epic film score/trailer music track as the intro song for this show. Either way, what a glorious start! Then we blast off into the opening cruiser "Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire)", an amazing song that has the line that has inspired the name of this album, I am the Empire. The song provides an astonishing assault of beauty and the beast vocals, with lead vocalist Tommy Karevik provided the clean vocals alongside impressive growling by Once Human’s Lauren Hart. It's as if they switched genders in the whole "beauty and the beast" idea! An epic start of the live action!! When I first heard that song's tuning, I thought "Oh we're switching back to the old E-flat/drop D-flat tuning now?" but when the dark anthem from the classic era "Rule the World" is performed, it's in the recent D/drop C tuning. Did guitarist Thomas Youngblood change that tuning like a swift ninja?! I guess so... Instant classic "Insomnia" picks up the pace with an addictive chorus to test their range. "The Great Pandemonium" is from the band's darkest most progressive album Poetry for the Poisoned. The original song included guest growls by Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid of Soilwork which I love, but they didn't include them in this album! WHY?!? They should've brought back Lauren Hart to do those growls!! Oh well... There's still rich riffing creating an epic soundscape, plus the mid-tempo middle-eastern feel of the previous two songs with keyboard strings dancing around. But what really springs things up is the daring rhythm that is turned up a few notches higher than those songs.

The riveting rendition of the swift "When The Lights Are Down" is incredible! The lush harmonies performed by Eklipse in "My Confession" might sound melancholic but are lively enough to keep the audience alert, and of course it has the brilliant classic melody that is enough to continue being a live staple. There are some female vocals that take over of the softer part of the pre-solo bridge, whom I think it's Elize Ryd (Amaranthe). I'm guessing when Tommy Karevik did his falsetto in the original song, it was too much for him to take. "Veil of Elysium" is another excellent power metal number to linger into the hearts and minds of the thousands of people attending the show. Karevik continues his powerful vocals with the lyrics engraved to them as if they were destined to be sung. Then comes the ballad "Under Grey Skies", which just so happens to be the previous song's followup in the original Haven album. That proves them fitting well as a two-song suite!! Delain vocalist Charlotte Wessels puts the audience under the spell of her angelic vocals like a siren princess, sung in a duet with the prince of Kamelot that is Karevik.

"Ravenlight" is another solid song providing the ultimate power metal. Again they briefly return to the drop D-flat tuning! "End of Innocence" is a mid-paced song with straight riffs going their distance, but it is helped out by the epic orchestration. "March of Mephisto" starts with an eerie choir intro before heading into Kamelot's imperial march itself with Arch Enemy's Alissa White-Gluz doing background singing and performing the growling of Mephisto done by Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath in the original song. But for some reason, they didn't include the progressive keyboard solo originally played by Stratovarius' Jens Johansson. Either keyboardist Oliver Palotai doesn't know how to play it himself, or they're just playing its radio edit. Better not be the latter! Some more of the refreshing power metal comes in "Amnesiac".

That concludes the first disc of the CD version, but this second disc I think of as more of an encore set, you'll see why soon, starting with the intro "Manus Dei", which would be better if it included the original orchestral part, not just the narration. Then it segues to the speedy majestic "Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)" with Karevik's vocals blended with the light and dark sides of the female vocal forces, Elize Ryd and Alissa White-Gluz, respectively, all coming together in a dramatic vocal love triangle. After that is a "Drums and Keys Solo" where the drums and keyboards have their own shining moments in the spotlight. The drum soloing is pretty cool, but what's really memorable is the keyboard medley. It's basically a mix of freestyle improvisation and fragments of a few songs from their past that I recognize; jazzy piano renditions of the main melodies of "Farewell" and "Ghost Opera" that appear after the one-minute mark, and an epic synth outro based on the main melody of "The Fourth Legacy". INCREDIBLE!!! Man, I wish they would start performing those songs entirely again. "Here’s to the Fall" is another ballad also from Haven, this time being a soft piano tune, harking back to the golden Roy Khan-era of albums like The Black Halo that have softer acoustic ballads. It's a fine track with Karevik taking the spotlight, but not first-rate.

"Forever" is the only song in the concert from the obscure era before The Black Halo, where Thomas Youngblood really shreds like his idol Yngwie Malmsteen. However, this is where the biggest flaw comes in, let's talk about that. When I saw this track's length, 14:12, I thought maybe that first "1" was just a typo, but no, it's basically just the song being extended! The first extension is the neo-classical guitar intro not present in the original song. The second extension is even longer... After what was originally the final chorus, the band continues playing from there, alternating between the sole sounds of drums and Karevik singing with the audience together, and the guitars and keyboards backing up for glorious epicness. That would've been the only necessary part I needed, but then it quiets down to just drums and the audience singing as Karevik introduces the other members, and one of the members introduces Karevik. Then begins the "challenge" where Tommy Karevik does his vocal runs with the audience singing after him, and the drums are played in sync with the people chanting the band's name. I mean, all of that is done to introduce the band and encourage audience participation but c'mon! C'MON!!!! As a guy stuck at home listening to this CD on his computer, that's absolutely useless!!! WHY THE F***?!?! An awesome song ruined by the overrated audience participation.... Anyway, another one of the best recent songs by the band is the playful and creative "Burn to Embrace" with versatile folk elements and an epic outro backed up by an elegant choir. The band unleashes their last bit of vocal/instrumental wizardry with the closing "Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy)", which has Alissa White-Gluz stealing the show once more with both her wicked harsh screams and brilliant operatic screams on full display. "Ministrium (Shadow Key)" ends the show just like how it ended The Shadow Theory, but it is followed by a different epic orchestral outro which again might've been borrowed from a film/trailer soundtrack.

I am the Empire is pretty much the ultimate release for any Kamelot fan, coming in every format you can imagine, and I think the DVD/Blu-ray edition comes with interviews with all the major helpers of its production. Most of the technical and mechanical parts of the production were done by Youngblood and Palotai to keep their guitar-keyboard duos well-functioned, among other important factors of course, and helping them out is longtime production buddy Sascha Paeth (who also does additional guitars in "Ravenlight"). I haven't seen the behind the scenes content myself yet, but I've heard of a special contribution by bassist Sean Tibbetts that might spark some interest. And finally, I would like to say how proud I am of the guest performers who have helped direct members of the Kamelot fanbase to more than just Kamelot. A masterful concert placed in CD, DVD, and Blu-ray, this is a definite must-have for fans of Kamelot and symphonic power metal, despite a few flaws. Kamelot is the true epic metal empire!

Favorites (one per studio album, plus new track, despite its radio-edits and unnecessary extensions): "Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire)", "Rule the World", "The Great Pandemonium", "Veil of Elysium", "March of Mephisto", "Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)", "Drums and Keys Solo", "Forever"