KAMELOT play Grove of Anaheim May 15
Symphonic, power metal band Kamelot kick off their North American Haven tour, hitting the Grove of Anaheim on May 15 alongside Dragonforce, making their only southern California appearance.
Featuring members Thomas Youngblood (guitars), Casey Grillo (drums), Oliver Palotai (keyboards), Sean Tibbetts (bass) and Tommy Karevik (vocals), the band is releasing of their album Haven this month.
Their tenth studio album introduces a cinematic, power metal vision of a dystopian future. The recent release of their single “Insomnia” offers a sci-fi twist on the dystopian world, capturing the feel of the yet-to-be released album.
Concert Guide Live had a moment to talk with Palotai about Kamelot’s upcoming tour and the inspirations behind their new album.
CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: What are you looking forward to during this North American tour?
OLIVER PALOTAI: Especially for me being a European musician touring the US, I enjoy the special character of the US fans. Always friendly and enthusiastic while still being polite and knowing where the “inner circle” of a musician starts. That little bit of privacy you have being on tour. Some nations don’t care about that which makes touring sometimes difficult.
CGL: How does the new album Haven differ from past albums? How will it surpass the chart-topping Silverthorn?
OP: At this stage of our career, it is not about producing a “better” album than the ones before, while still evolving as a band and composers. Silverthorn was our first album with our new singer Tommy Karevik, which meant establishing a new relationship and a new working flow in songwriting and composing. So, with Haven, Tommy became even more an integral part of the process. Haven brings back some of the virtues of the Black Halo era and even before, while adding the never-ceasing, experimental flux which is at the heart of Kamelot.
CGL: What was the inspiration behind your sci-fi video “Insomnia”?
OP: We debate a lot the changing of society while being on tour or in the studio, the influence of the new technologies and how it can end up in the wrong hands. Insomnia is a visual catalyst of all that: Surveillance, enforced political conformity, suppression.
CGL: Before you started writing Haven, did you have the dystopian society idea already in mind?
OP: Yes, it was the starting point. Kamelot was always about similar projections, philosophy, history and science. Instead of reflecting the past, like on Silverthorn, we wanted to write music about the present and the near future this time.
CGL: How has the band changed sound-wise in the past 20+ years?
OP: We’ve always been open to influences from very different styles, not only those considered being modern at the times. At the very heart of Kamelot lies the urge to change and to experiment, not deliver basically the same album over and over again. Since we work a lot with orchestra and electronic sounds and grooves likewise, we have infinite possibilities to colour our style, while staying always heavy at the core.
CGL: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it?
OP: Metal, symphonic, some progressive elements. But, most important: Listen for yourself!
CGL: Anything else you have on schedule after this tour?
OP: We have a couple of European festivals coming up, then the main European tour in September/ October. Second leg of the US tour in November/ December. 2016 then Australia,South America and Asia.