Source: Blabbermouth.net

On October 7, DaBelly conducted an interview with guitarist Thomas Youngblood of American/German/Swedish symphonic metallers KAMELOT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

DaBelly: Whether intended or not, [new singer Tommy] Karevik‘s voice is reminiscent to [former KAMELOT singer] Roy Khan‘s and I’m eager to hear Karevik‘s interpretation of your older works.

Youngblood: One of the reasons we hired Tommy is because his voice had a similar quality and when it came to writing the new record we wanted to keep the KAMELOT sound. But also we want to grow. We want to show that Tommy is his own vocalist with his own thing going on. We know the fans will see that.

DaBelly: Did you write [the new KAMELOT album] “Silverthorn” with Karevik or was most of the record in place before he arrived?

Youngblood: Most of “Silverthorn” was written by myself and Oliver [Palotai], our keyboard player. We presented the songs to Tommy to work on vocal melodies and lyrics. So yeah, Tommy wrote all the vocal melodies and lyrics. I think Sascha [Paeth], our producer, helped a little bit, but for the most part Tommy is already been assimilated into KAMELOT. To me, it’s a really good sign for the future. I know that we will be able to invest a lot more time into writing the next album.

DaBelly: This was the first time you’ve entered the studio with a new singer in a long time. What was the preparation like? Did you approach writing music any differently?

Youngblood: My goal from day one was to make a KAMELOT record, so we didn’t do anything differently. We wrote the songs in the same keys. The only real difference was that some else was writing the melodies and lyrics and Tommy did an amazing job. He worked a little with Sascha on it. I wasn’t in the studio when they recorded vocals. Once Oliver and I started working together on this album, I knew that the music was going to be KAMELOT. The next step was to make sure the vocals fit in with what we’ve done in the past but also that they offered hints of what is yet to come.

DaBelly: I felt your last album, “Poetry For The Poisoned”, was heavier, especially in the lyrics. It was certainly heavier than “Karma”, my favorite. The new record seems heavier as well. The music has the old “Karma” feel, but the vocals seemed more like “Poetry”. Do you think that is a fair description on the new record?

Youngblood: I think one of the things I missed in “Poetry” was the melody, like you said. You know, like with “Karma” and “Black Halo”, the chorus had a melodic sense to it that we didn’t have on “Poetry”; it was something that I was missing and it was one of the first things that I talked to Tommy about — bringing more of a melodic sense to the song. He’s really great at writing melodies. Almost every chorus on the new record has a significant melodic feel to it. But at the same time I don’t want to abandon the melancholy undertones that I personally like in our music. I think it’s an important component that helps make us unique — blending uplifting choruses with a verse or mid-part sections that are darker and make you feel a little sad. But at the end of the record I want people to feel good about life, I don’t want to leave them feeling like they want to cut their wrists! That’s one of the things that I thought we missed on “Poetry” and it’s certainly one of the things that I think people liked about albums like “Black Halo”. Even though it had some darker elements, it also had this uplifting release as well.

Read the entire interview from DaBelly.

“Sacrimony (Angel Of Afterlife)” video:

Source: Bravewords.com

KAMELOT guitarist Thomas Youngblood is featured in a new interview with The Great Southern Brainfart discussing the band’s forthcoming album, Silverthorn, and new singer Tommy Karevik. An excerpt is available below:

Q: As opposed to sounding like a lot of the more modern symphonic metal bands, KAMELOT seems to have this old school vibe that really connected with me.

Youngblood: “At first, we really didn’t know what we were doing. The first few records were basically just us trying to find our identity. When we got to the album Karma, we really found our niche and our own sound. We were blending those classical influences with some new age influences and making the record really melodic yet also dark and melancholy. Those were the key identifiers with the band from that point on and with each record we just wanted to grow and try different things. We have the luxury of having open minded fans who are open to change and that’s important especially with the changes that have happened recently.”

Q: The change you’re talking about is the changing of lead vocalists from Roy Khan to Tommy Karevik. That’s a huge change for any band to undergo. Has the addition of Tommy to the band opened doors to some new fans that may have been somewhat on the fence before?

Youngblood: “When a band has to change a singer, it’s hard. It is becoming more common now and I think people accept it more than they would have say 15 years ago. From the day we knew we had to make this change, we looked at it as an opportunity to not only continue at the same level but to grow as a band. Bringing in a guy like Tommy is not only going keep a good percentage of the older fans but he’s going to be part of building a new fan base for Kamelot for the future. We didn’t want to just rest on our laurels. We wanted to keep the door open and grow.”

Go to this location for the complete interview:

In preparation for their European headline tour, KAMELOT recently issued the following update:

“Here are the only venues allowing VIP ticket sales due to regulations and time restraints. Please note that you must have already purchased a show ticket before you can purchase a VIP Upgrade below. We are looking forward to meeting you!”

November
2 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Effenaar
3 – Pratteln, Switzerland – Z7
4 – Paris, France – Le Bataclan
5 – Stuttgart, Germany – LKA/Longhorn
6 – Antwerp, Belgium – Trix
7 – London, UK – HMV Forum
9 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Razzmatazz 2
10 – Lorca, Spain – Metal Lorca Festival
11 – Madrid, Spain – Sala Caracol
13 – Bologna, Italy – Estragon
14 – Vienna, Austria – Szene
15 – Praha, Czech Republic – KC Vltavska
16 – Berlin, Germany – C-Club
17 – Geiselwind – Musichall
18 – Cologne – Essigfabrik
20 – Hamburg – Markthalle
21 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
22 – Stockholm, Sweden – Göta Källare
23 – Gothenburg, Sweden – Trädgarn
24 – Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene

EU Tour Tickets
VIP Upgrade/UK
VIP Upgrade/EU

Kamelot’s complete live itinerary can be found at this location.

The band’s new album, Silverthorn, is due out on October 30th in North America, October 26th in Germany and October 29th in the rest of Europe via Steamhammer/SPV. It will receive its Japanese release October 24th via King Records.

Album samples can now be heard at this location.

Silverthorn tracklisting
‘Manus Dei’
‘Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)’
‘Ashes to Ashes’
‘Torn’
‘Song for Jolee’
‘Veritas’
‘My Confession’
‘Silverthorn’
‘Falling Like the Fahrenheit’
‘Solitaire’
‘Prodigal Son’
‘Continuum’

The video clip for the song ‘Sacrimony (Angel Of Afterlife)‘ will debut soon and features guest appearances by Elize Ryd (AMARANTHE) and Alissa White-Gluz (THE AGONIST).

The Silverthorn LP and limited edition will have one version of the art, while the standard version of Silverthorn will have a different but equally exquisite version of the artwork. The standard version is presented as an Ecolbook. The limited edition contains the Ecolbook, a bonus CD with nearly 60 minutes of music, a 44 page book and an exclusive poster. The double LP version is a gatefold on colored vinyl and includes the CD.