Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy (1999)
Seeing a review appear here for this album made me remember what a brilliant power metal band Kamelot still is. They're part of my personal power metal Big 4 alongside DragonForce, Power Quest, Dragonland that has shaped my like for the genre and metal in general. Despite moving away from most of power metal, I know my metal taste wouldn't have been how it is today without those bands. They'll forever be my never-forgotten heroes! And this is the first of 4 albums that would prove Kamelot's worth....
1999 was power metal's pinnacle year, along with the year I was born. DragonForce and Dragonland were formed, Freedom Call released their debut, and Rhapsody (of Fire) already had two masterpieces. While Kamelot only had their breakthrough 5 years after, The Fourth Legacy is what allowed this band to ride the notable tide of the genre.
The grand keyboard-symphonic intro "New Allegiance" is a bit pompous for me now, but I still like it. Great hint at their later symphonics! Then the power metal action bursts in with the energetic title track. The amazing singing by Roy Khan speaks of Viking adventures, and there's a Latin choir in the bridge, a first for the band at that time. Epic for an opening full song! Then more variation comes in the mystical "Silent Goddess", showing more of a storytelling side in the lyrics.
"Desert Reign" is an interlude where keyboards reign supreme again, this time conjuring a scene from BC Arabia or Al-Kharid (from RuneScape). I liked the Eastern music-metal crossovers better in my power metal teens, but it still sounds cool. Then it segues to a nostalgic favorite of mine, "Nights of Arabia", continuing the Middle-Eastern themes and reliving the story of Shahrazad. The female vocals by Cinzia Rizzo mark the first of many guest vocalists Kamelot would have over the years. The keyboards are still dominant in the more upbeat highlight "The Shadow of Uther", adapting King Arthur's legend. The haunting love ballad, "A Sailorman's Hymn" is an emotional tear-jerker.
The catchy "Alexandria" explores another legendary character, Alexander the Great. That song and "The Inquisitor" has more progressiveness present in their writing, and it's really great, especially in the latter song that helps builds the album's strength. The history of Crusades is looked back upon in another heartfelt ballad "Glory", which isn't the best of the bunch, but it certainly beats the similar "Bard's Song" by Blind Guardian. The agitated "Until Kingdom Come" stands out with powerful keyboards similar to what Sonata Arctica would have with their debut the same year, and what Freedom Call wish they would have. Well, Kamelot would not have a full-time keyboardist until after The Black Halo. The cyber-synth-powered progressive 6-minute epic "Lunar Sanctum" is one of the best album closers for Kamelot!
All in all, The Fourth Legacy is a h*lla amazing power metal album and it came at the right time when the genre was really rising. And I already knew that 15 years after that year, when I was 15. Such great memories back then of the impact power metal received on the year I was born. A progressive-ish power metal must-have!
Favorites: "The Fourth Legacy", "Nights of Arabia", "The Shadow of Uther", "The Inquisitor", "Until Kingdom Come", "Lunar Sanctum"