Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy review
| Band: | Kamelot |
| Album: | The Fourth Legacy |
| Style: | Symphonic power metal |
| Release date: | 1999 |
01. New Allegiance
02. The Fourth Legacy
03. Silent Goddess
04. Desert Reign
05. Nights Of Arabia
06. The Shadow Of Uther
07. A Sailorman's Hymn
08. Alexandria
09. The Inquisitor
10. Glory
11. Until Kingdom Come
12. Lunar Sanctum
13. Can You Remember [live] [Japanese bonus]
Kamelot was never my favorite band and the type of music they played wasn't the fast and heavy power metal that I prefer, that's the impression I got when I heard their most famous releases The Black Halo & Epica. Of course no one can ignore the vocal abilities of mister Roy Khan who happens to be one of the best metal singers nowadays, but you never know Kamelot are a power metal band unless you listen to The Fourth Legacy.
After three weak attempts at writing an album that would arouse the interest of metal fans worldwide, Kamelot hit the spot with their fourth and best release so far, The Fourth Legacy. This album transports the listener to times long gone, to the lands of ancient Egypt in "Alexandria" and old Jerusalem in "Silent Goddess", to a time where the church ruled in the middle ages and priests defined the laws in "Inquisitor". No one can deny the talent with which the band plays throughout the album, and one of the interesting things about Kamelot is the way they write their lyrics which are not just a bunch of random words that are thrown here and there to complement a verse or a chorus. The best example is my favorite Kamelot ballad "A Sailorman's Hymn". If I were to highlight the gems in this very consistent album it would definitely be the title track which still has one of the best Roy Khan performances in the band's whole discography, add to that the Arabic scales and oriental mood of "Nights Of Arabia" which guitarist Thomas Youngblood composed with the help of some Arabic composers and instrumentalists. The astrology inspired "Lunar Sanctum" does a perfect job at concluding an epic journey which has to be one of the best in Power Metal.
If you're not a fan of raw speed power metal then this release is not for you although it's worth giving a shot and will surely arouse some interest even in the biggest haters of power metal. The follow up Karma would be the last pure power metal album (and a very good one) before Kamelot went into a more gothic/symphonic direction.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Mountain King | 14.01.2012
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:
9.1
9.1
|
Rating: 9.1 |
In my last review about Kamelot's Siege Perilous I talked about a negative side to the album. Which was basically the voice of Roy Khan and how his voice was very different in tone and pitch compare to the other Kamelot albums. But now I can give positive points to Roy Khan's voice in this album. The second album to feature him as the new lead singer is called The Fourth Legacy and may I say this album is just amazing. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 12
Visited by: 131 users
| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 8972 From: Canada  |
Seems this album is not for me. Nice review.
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| Susan Smeghead Posts: 6941 From: USA  |
Only... Kamelot has never played "raw speed power metal" or "gothic/symphonic" metal. Have you heard those genres before? I do agree this is one of their best albums and definitely a different style than they're playing now, but "raw speed power" it is NOT.
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| Mountain King K i K o Posts: 1361 From: Slovak Republic  |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 14.01.2012 at 03:36 Thanks. You might check it out, u'll never know...
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| Mountain King K i K o Posts: 1361 From: Slovak Republic |
Written by Susan on 14.01.2012 at 03:37 Symphonic meets Power Metal like in The Black Halo, Dark & Gothic influenced like their lastest one. As for raw Power Metal, means it was in the vein of old school Helloween for example...
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| Susan Smeghead Posts: 6941 From: USA |
Keyword is "influenced" and in that you might actually have an argument. It's nice to see fans of the old style, no matter what other disagreements we may have. This album is sadly underrated since the band really blew up with Karma and Epica and most people don't bother with back-catalogs. Even when I saw Kamelot play live on the Black Halo tour, there were one or two songs from Karma but none from this. Despite my persistent yelling for them  (Got my Fourth Legacy CD signed by the band though so that almost made up for it!)
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| Mountain King K i K o Posts: 1361 From: Slovak Republic |
Written by Susan on 14.01.2012 at 03:56 haha without being too picky, I'm sure you get my point. Anyway, yeah I would love to see the title track, Alexandria, Lunar Sanctum to mention a few, played live. Being Roy's gone for now so whatever...
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| Milena gloom cookie Posts: 4603 From: Norway  |
Written by Mountain King on 14.01.2012 at 04:37 That's my attitude towards Kamelot until they get Roy back or Tommy Karevik in. Or some new crazy dude like Roy used to be. Don't want to be a butthurt fan, but I need a good voice in that band. Your review is nice, except the little genre confusion Lyrinan mentioned. I feel that this is a way underappreciated release, in my mind it's right next to Karma in brilliance. The title track is how all power metal should sound like.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Milena gloom cookie Posts: 4603 From: Norway |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 14.01.2012 at 03:36 Actually, you might consider giving it a spin... for me, this is one of the albums that transcend everyone's genre preferences, and which can be liked by a lot of people regardless of what genre of metal they listen to. At least Karma or Epica/The Black Halo for something a bit more tastefully bombastic. I'd bet my right arm that at least the vocals are better than the 90% of stuff you're familiar with.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 8972 From: Canada |
Written by Milena on 08.02.2012 at 02:30 Downloading now. 
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| slinx Posts: 86 From: USA  |
Not a bad review, could've used more description and a break in the second paragraph to seperate your views though. Kamelot was one of the groups that got me into metal and yet I've never listened to anything pre-Karma. The fact is that Roy Khan didn't sound like a flower metal singer is what got me into them. Gonna have a few beers and check it out.
---- 'You're short, you're fat, and even for a film critic you are ugly.' - The Critic
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| BlankFile Posts: 686 From: Portugal |
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| Pazu Posts: 167 From: Germany  |
Written by BlankFile on 26.08.2016 at 23:31 Agreed. + Their most overlooked album for sure.
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