Kamelot - Poetry For The Poisoned review
| Band: | Kamelot |
| Album: | Poetry For The Poisoned |
| Style: | Symphonic power metal |
| Release date: | September 10, 2010 |
| A review by: | Daniell |
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
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.
Alas my friends, not anymore. Poetry for the Poisoned is a letdown. The courage that Kamelot had to implement new elements into the fossilized body of power metal was enough for one brave, enjoyable song, "The Great Pandemonium." Electronic beginning, growling in the background, dense drumming that almost turns into blastbeats at the end. If it wasn't for the vocalist, it'd be hard to recognize Kamelot. The song is tight, to the point, and it genuinely hooked me up for the rest of the album. Bravo gentlemen, you're expanding your sound!
Too bad you don't know which direction you want to take your expansion. "If Tomorrow Came" is a typical power metal number, "The Zodiac" is a boring, theatrical exercise in role-playing, "Necropolis" balances on the edge of some kind of shy, half-hearted industrial rock. An honorable mention should be made about the terrible "House On A Hill." A few more songs like this and Kamelot will become new kings of sickeningly sweet cheese called power metal ballad. When I heard the verse "Cry me a river," I literally fell off my couch. Seriously, Michael Bolton meets Whitney Houston. It's scarier than "The Shining"! The title track, an ambitious four-part opus, doesn't save the day. It seems to go nowhere and everywhere at the same time. As a result, my finger hits the "STOP" button.
I can understand why the band wants to play a bit differently after 19 years of existence. But I was kind of hoping that they would figure it out during those 3 years that passed since their previous release. Apparently they had so many ideas for the new album that they couldn't make up their minds, so they crammed every idea they had into those 11 songs. The result is dubious. It'll probably scare off many old fans (like me) and won't bring too many new ones. Fanboys will be delighted, I'm sure, but they'd be delighted even if Khan started to fart in a melodic way. No offense, but this is just one inch over crap.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 7 |
 | Written on 18.09.2010 by Writes overly honest and totally subjective reviews when fancy strikes him. Which is not often. Which is probably good, all things considered. |
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 ›› |
Rating:
8.8
8.8
|
Rating: 8.8 |
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. Read more ›› |
Comments page 5 / 5
| evoola Posts: 16 |
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287  |
Written by evoola on 30.03.2011 at 22:02 the user in question wasn't "trolled out", but trolled himself out. he flat out asked to be banned. and if you want to see a totally absurd, poorly written diatribe, perhaps you should check out his review of Enslaved's latest.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| evoola Posts: 16 |
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287 |
Written by evoola on 01.04.2011 at 18:13 yep. it sounds just like Gorgoroth and Immortal, doesn't it? i mean they are all virtually indistinguishable. just like mercyful fate was nothing but a hellhammer clone that sounded just like venom. all those fucking european wave bm bands sound exactly the same. and anyone incapable of discerning any one of those from any of the others is probably equally incapable of discerning troll v1.0 from troll v2.0.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| evoola Posts: 16 |
Mercyful Fate sucks. I agree with you there. That singing, my gosh! Also, we're not allowed to listen to that stuff inside the Vatican walls 
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| The Norseman Posts: 78  |
How is that : Performance: 8 Songwriting: 6 Originality: 7 Production: 7 gives a final rating of 5.9 ? I always thought it was the average of this 4 rates.
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287 |
Written by The Norseman on 25.05.2011 at 20:33 nope. those are just four benchmarks. omitted are things like "enjoyment"... something can be played well, produced well, and still be boring as hell.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| R'Vannith ghedengi Elite Posts: 3099  |
Written by BitterCOld on 25.05.2011 at 20:39 But wouldn't the four benchmarks depend on the enjoyment of the reviewer anyway? Reviews are opinions. In the case of this album, why give the opinion that the album is of decent quality but say that you didn't enjoy it? That doesn't make sense to me, saying "yeah this albums decent but I didn't enjoy it" is like saying "this albums somewhat enjoyable but I didn't enjoy it."
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287 |
Written by R'Vannith on 26.05.2011 at 13:41 no. not at all. i can divorce whether or not the band is skilled or writes "good" songs from whether or not I like them. Rush vs. later Darkthrone... Rush are better at their instruments, more original, and better produced. both write good songs. Rush would likely score better in 3 of 4 fields... yet i don't own a Rush album and "Circle The Wagons" got more spins than anything else I bought last year. Rush is a better band, which i'll admit, but I enjoy Darkthrone more.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| R'Vannith ghedengi Elite Posts: 3099 |
Written by BitterCOld on 26.05.2011 at 18:58 Fair enough, but should the 'enjoyment' factor of an album even come into the final rating for a review? After all readers would be more interested in whether an album is 'good' or not rather than whether the reviewer enjoyed such 'good' (or not) music. Then again its all opinion anyway, so why not factor in your enjoyment?
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| Matheus Posts: 2 |
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| IanYeara Posts: 9 |
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| Epictemptation Posts: 45  |
This is the only website that has gave this album a bad review, this staff can't find the true power of PFTP, but he will eventually 
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Epictemptation on 30.10.2012 at 16:26 Found this on the first page of Google: http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=17794 Found this on the second: http://absurdhistory.com/2010/10/15/album-review-poetry-for-the-poisoned-kamelot-2010/ Found this on the third: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/kamelot/silverthorn/index.html Etc. You should find the true power of Google search.
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| Epictemptation Posts: 45 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 30.10.2012 at 18:29 Lol all albums have bad reviews, it's just that this one seems to harsh, but thanks for the links:)
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6101  |
Written by Epictemptation on 30.10.2012 at 18:56 Since Kamelot have just released a new album, I went back to Poetry for the Poisoned to see how it stands now, after 2 years. I'd rate it even lower, with a full round 5 now, if I were to write this review again. So, too harsh for you, not harsh enough for me. To each his own...
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| Nemo Atkins Posts: 257 |
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| Epictemptation Posts: 45 |
Written by Nemo Atkins on 30.10.2012 at 22:59 Yah it's an album with mixed review so some will like it and some won't . You know what r u gonna do about it right? I hope the album will enhance you as much as it did to me:)
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| Epictemptation Posts: 45 |
Written by Daniell on 30.10.2012 at 22:15 Lol it's your opinion and I respect it:)
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| Epictemptation Posts: 45 |
Written by Daniell on 30.10.2012 at 22:15 Again it's a mixed review album so some will like it and some won't
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| Nemo Atkins Posts: 257 |
Written by Epictemptation on 30.10.2012 at 23:15 Well, it certainly proved to me that synths and Kamelot don't mix very well!  On a serious note, my main issue is more the fact that it had the potential to be a lot better than the uncatchiness of the music (although that's certainly a factor: I'm not usually a fan of prog music). There was a lot of potential in this album, but very little of it actually bore fruit for me. Which is a real shame, since it's obvious that a lot of work went into this album...
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| Epictemptation Posts: 45 |
Quote:Quote:Quote:Quote: The album is good but not great, but its also an album to remember about if you are a kamelot fan, I'm seeing many comments on how "Silverthorn" isn't as great as PFTP and many comments that's its better than PFTP. So I'm guessing "Silverthorn" is going to be a mixed review album as well.
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