Kamelot - Poetry For The Poisoned review
| Band: | Kamelot |
| Album: | Poetry For The Poisoned |
| Style: | Symphonic power metal |
| Release date: | September 10, 2010 |
| Guest review by: | Kais |
Disc I
01. The Great Pandemonium [feat. Björn "Speed" Strid]
02. If Tomorrow Came
03. Dear Editor
04. The Zodiac [feat. Jon Oliva]
05. Hunter's Season
06. House On A Hill [feat. Simone Simons]
07. Necropolis
08. My Train Of Thoughts
09. Seal Of Woven Years
10. Poetry For The Poisoned
1 - Part I: Incubus
2 - Part II: So Long
3 - Part III: All Is Over
4 - Part IV: Dissection
11. Once Upon A Time
12. Where The Wild Roses Grow [bonus] [Nick Cave cover]
13. Thespian Drama [Japanese bonus]
Disc II [Live from Wacken 2010]
01. The Great Pandemonium
02. Human Stain
03. Center Of The Universe
04. Pendulous Fall
05. Hunter's Season
06. Karma
07. Forever
08. March Of Mephisto
[Super Limited Collector's Edition Bonus 7" Vinyl]
01. Rule The World [Live - Wacken]
02. Thespian Drama
It's been 5 years since Poetry For The Poisoned was released. Five long years in which illustrious Kamelot and Conception vocalist decided to bid farewell to the music industry as a whole, for a higher cause, and it was the first studio appearance of original bassist Sean Tibbetts, after long-time bassist Glenn Berry had left the band.
If we do a little background check on this album, we'll see Kamelot was suffering from what we can only name as "internal bleeding": Khan, since 2008's appearance at Wacken, was going through a vocal burnout and anxiety. Not only that, Kamelot found themselves without a bassist, and with a sharp decrease in record selling. This, ultimately, led to Khan's timeout from band activities, caused by anxiety and depression, which forced him out of the band in 2011, and a relatively poorly-selling album, Poetry For The Poisoned. Now, one must ask, what does that make of Poetry For The Poisoned as a whole?
Well, Poetry For The Poisioned has a much more elaborate tone than what we were used to. It is a much slower-paced album than the previous attempt, Ghost Opera, and it perfectly expresses the "internal bleeding" Kamelot were facing. Is that a bad thing, though? Definitely not! Poetry For The Poisoned is, matched by its name, poetic, and expresses the writer's agony and pain. The songwriting could not have come better from band]Kamelot[/band].
The opening track, "The Great Pandemonium," is the first evidence that the band have stretched their musical tonnage without, overall, sounding too different from what the average fan was used to, and while follow-up track "If Tomorrow Came" continues that same approach, the rest of the album is what made Poetry For The Poisoned one of Kamelot's better albums. The album peaks as the four-part, self-titled "Poetry For The Poisoned" unveils. It's probably what Kamelot were opting to write before the band comes to an end.
Poetry For The Poisoned closes with three optional songs: "Once Upon a Time" - a song, that in my eyes, is placed correctly, as it comes the most inferior of the album's catalogue; "Thespian Drama" a beautiful instrumental duet between piano and guitar; and, believe it or not, a cover of Nick Cave's "Where The Wild Roses Grow," which is a perfect, melancholic end to Poetry For The Poisoned, Kamelot and an era in the metal scene, which Roy Khan decided to withdraw from shortly after the album was released.
What happened with Kamelot after the release of the deplorable Poetry For The Poisoned album is the aftermath of the "Internal Bleeding" that forced them to write it in the first place.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Kais | 28.06.2015
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
5.9
5.9
|
Rating: 5.9 |
Kamelot, at least in my eyes, has always been a band that sought their own path through the world of metal. The most fitting description of their sound is, no matter how I hate to admit it, power metal. Not the cheesiest, happiest German type, but power metal nevertheless. What made it more distinguished than most of the other power bands were Thomas Youngblood's distinctive guitar style, clever use of keyboards and orchestrations, and, above everything else, Roy Khan's vocals - so unlike any other metal singer, so non-metal so to speak. These three essential elements carried Kamelot's music through almost 20 years of their career, which has been on the rise all that time. Being quite a prolific band, they managed to deliver 9 full length releases, whose quality was constantly satisfactory, with occasional hints at excellence (Epica, Ghost Opera). Some progressive and symphonic elements crept into Kamelot's music in the meantime, making it richer, more textured and ambitious. Read more ›› |
Rating:
9.0
9.0
|
Rating: 9.0 |
Brilliant. This cd will probably be totally misinterpreted by many, but after listening to it enough it finally dawned on me that Poetry for the Poisoned is just an evolutionary step of Kamelot's musical genius. It's nice to see this band evolving and growing from their power metal roots into something which appeals more to the musically inclined as opposed to serving up the same driving beats and power chords cd after cd. Welcome to the world of progressive metal. Read more ›› |
Rating:
8.2
8.2
|
Rating: 8.2 |
Three long years fans had to wait for an all new full-length studio album, and here it finally is. So what's the deal on Poetry For The Poisoned? In a word - great, although not as great as expected. Kamelot is one of those bands that kept improving from album to album until they reached their zenith with the incredible The Black Halo. The following release was a letdown for many fans, because of new influences on the band's sound. If you are one of those fans, then better pass on this record, since it's one step further along the same road. If you however, like me, loved Ghost Opera, definately give this one a try. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 7
Visited by: 89 users
| WorpeX Made of Metal Posts: 1354  |
Strange review... the Author mentions the 3 songs which make this album worth listening to and skips over the rest of the album by simply stating that the "rest of the album is what made Poetry For The Poisoned one of Kamelot's better albums". How can you say something like that without actually backing that statement up with reasons why it makes it so great? Personally, I only come back to this album for 'The Great Pandemonium', 'If Tomorrow Came', and 'Once Upon A Time'. I'm curious as to what makes the rest of the album, which i've always considered to be very weak when compared to the rest of Kamelot's discography, so great.
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| Opethian Posts: 1764  |
How bored where you to review this Utter Borefest!? ... Khan left, let it go already haha
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| Xyanade Posts: 72 |
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| mariano Posts: 372 |
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| frequenzangriff Posts: 280  |
Idk why people hate this album so much. 8 years after release and i still listen to it with enthusiasm, maybe not as good and strong as previous albums, but i think its really good, dramatic, emotional and how does no one mention House On A Hill with Simone Simons? thats a brilliant and beautiful song - as both other songs with her
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| Metren Dreadrealm Posts: 1414  |
Written by frequenzangriff on 20.03.2018 at 12:42 Heh, I like classic Kamelot material, but I've always thought the songs they did with Simone were some of their weakest from that period. Even The Haunting was the most boring song of The Black Halo, which is otherwise a total masterpiece that I will always love to death.
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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| frequenzangriff Posts: 280 |
Quote: but thats my point, it might be not as good as classic kamelot, it might be among their weakest, but still its really good! "The Black Halo" is indeed of of the best albums of all times
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