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The Black Halo | 
 enlarge | Artist: Kamelot
Label: Steamhammer Us
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $10.99
You Save: $6.99 (39%)
New (40) Used (7) from $8.77
Rating:  83 reviews
Sales Rank: 10993
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 69572
UPC: 693723695723
EAN: 0693723695723
ASIN: B0007OASII
Release Date: March 15, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
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| Tracks:
| • | March Of Mephisto | | • | When The Lights Are Down | | • | The Haunting (Somewhere In Time) | | • | Soul Society | | • | Interlude I: Dei Gratia | | • | Abandoned | | • | This Pain | | • | Moonlight | | • | Interlude II: Un Assassinio Molto Silenzioso | | • | The Black Halo | | • | Nothing Ever Dies | | • | Memento Mori | | • | Interlude III: Midnight - Twelve Tolls For A New Day | | • | Serenade |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Kamelot inked their recording contract in 1994 and released their debut, Eternity, the following August. The press praised the album as one of the most promising first offerings ever. 1996 saw the arrival of Dominion, an album that sounded even more varied and diverse than its predecessor. In spring 1997 Kamelot found Casey Grillo and the former Conception vocalist Khan, who joined the group during the production of Siege Perilous. In autumn of the same year, the new line-up embarked on an extensive European tour and returned to Gate studios in Wolfsburg twelve months later to work on the album that set a new standard for the band; The Fourth Legacy. In summer 2000, Kamelot's first live album was recorded during the New Allegiance tour, which took them through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Greece and Spain. Only a few months later, Khan, Youngblood, Grillo and Glenn Barry presented their fifth studio cut, Karma, and embarked on a European tour. Epica arrived in 2003, followed by another tour as Headliners in Europe, Japan, Mexico and the US as well many top Festival appearances. The Black Halo adds another exciting and epic chapter to the band's brilliant history.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Their finest August 3, 2008
Matt I. Federoff (my strawbale home on the range!)
The second part of the Epica saga is definitely the stronger- from start to finish, it's just a slam-perfect blend of metal, orchestra, and of course the awesome voice of Roy Kahn. The best tracks would have to be March of Mephisto (Featuring Shagrath, another great vocalist who uses death grunts and growls to create a splendidly horrifying Mephisto) and the Haunting, a less heavy more poppy kind of song but still absolutely chilling. (And it has the beautiful vocals of Simone Simons in it, so of course it's a winner.) The entire album puts together a tale somewhat like the story "Faust" about a man who is tempted by the devil. What a great topic for a metal album!
Overall this is my favorite Kamelot album, and in you want something new metal-wise... this would have to be it. If you're looking for more orchestra-metal fun, try some Nightwish too.
Best Kamelot Album July 16, 2008
Zenlatin (Chicago, Illinois)
The title says it all, this is Kamelot's best work. If you are looking for an album to start your collection of this band, start here. "Ghost Opera" is really good and "Epica" is stunning, but here is the peak of their music. And do yourself a favor and grab the live "One Cold Winter's Night", an awesome live album and DVD.
Power metal of Faustian proportions. July 1, 2008
The Wickerman (Austin, TX)
Whenever I come across a band like Kamelot, I just want to give them all a big hug and yell "Thank you!" at the top of my lungs. By this, I mean a band that takes a genre that consists of a LOT of mediocre to downright horrible artists, and makes it into something more enjoyable and more exquisitely crafted than you ever thought it could be. With "The Black Halo", they have made what is far and away the best power metal I have ever heard.
Where to even begin singing its praise? Well, the songwriting is definitely important. You could listen to literally dozens of power metal albums, and not not hear anything particularly memorable or distinctive about any of them. This album, however, has stunningly crafted songs, filled with perfect musicianship, layers of instrumentation, and more diversity in any one song than most bands of this ilk have in their entire catalog. The lyrics are actually cool too, retelling Goethe's classic "Faust" with striking diction and genuine emotion.
And of course, the vocals here are fantastic as well. This is evident from the beginning, with the opening track "March of Mephisto", which features the three-pronged attack of Roy Khan, the lovely Simone Simons, and the demonic growls of Shagrath from Dimmu Borgir (they even made a cool video, where you can see him in his hilarious hardcore black metal facepaint). These three very contrasting vocal styles meld together surprisingly well. A lot of albums have been referred to as "rock operas", but this is perhaps the only album I've heard that really felt like an actual opera to me, the way that each singer represents a character in the story, and the way the vocals are all so perfectly arranged around each other. Again, this is truly killer songwriting.
But obviously the real star, as always, is Roy Khan, who is hands-down the best singer in any sort of power metal band, and in my opinion one of the best singers, well...period. His tone, range, and inhumanly beautiful intonations all make him stand out far above the herd. Listen to "Moonlight", "Soul Society", "When the Lights Are Down", "The Haunting" (an amazing duet with Simone), the chilling ballad "Abandoned", and the hugely epic "Memento Mori", which are all carried perfectly by Khan's powerful vocals. Oh, and another cool thing about Khan: I can't quite prove this just yet, but I am 67% sure that he is a vampire. But that's beside the point...
I believe I mentioned the musicianship earlier, but let's expand on that a bit. Firstly, the guitar playing is among the best in the genre, ranging from thick and crunchy riffs, spine-tingling melodies, and brillianly crafted solos (no Yngwie wannabe crap with god-awful tone here ). The drumming is powerful and diverse, never descending into mindless double bass onslaughts. The keyboards are beautiful and multilayered synth melodies, and yes, Jens Johannsson (AKA the High Priest of Synth Cheese Suckitude) does contribute solos on a couple of songs, but they are surprisingly not awful (and even if you don't like them, it's only two little solos on two songs, so not a big deal). There's also lots of great piano, most notably on the aforementioned ballad "Abandoned". The song tempos range from fast speed metal to crunchy mid-pace stuff to grandiose melodies, and the album never gets repetitious or predictable in any way. Again, this is just really freaking great songwriting.
So, long story short, this is a really great album. As Lord Chimp so eloquently put it, why do other power metal bands even exist? I think this is pretty much better than every other power metal album I've ever heard put together (including other Kamelot albums). Fan of the genre or not, this is something that really needs to be heard.
 Hard Rock Teen Band that doesn't suck! June 13, 2008
H. L. Marcus
A excellent first effort for a group that brings Hard Rock/Metal back to basics. No Cookie monster growling vocals, no over the top endless guitar riffs, just basic fast hard bangin' music. Like it should be!
Really Quite Amazing For Symphonic Metalheads And Rock and Rollers Alike May 7, 2008
D. Perl (USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Anyone who enjoys the sound an lyrics of Queensryche would find Kamelot entertaining to the Nth degree. I picked them up because I was looking for something with a sound that I enjoy. I thought they might be something like Nightwish. This was not the case, but I was not in anyway disappointed. I found the entire album to be fantastic. Here we have great sound, vocals, and a very tight band. At certain points, I almost could imagine that I was listening to a new theme album from Queensryche.
I have only listened to "The Black Halo" one time. This album did not take any of the "getting used to the sound qualities." One listen and I was hooked. There is a story here, but I am not quite sure what it is. It seems to be about someone who committed a vial act, and he cannot live it down. If I am wrong, it does not take away from the fact that anyone who enjoys Symphonic Metal will love the tracks on this album. I could pop this puppy into my car CD player and just listen to it for days. It is one beautiful piece of work. Anyone who loves Rock and Roll will find Kamelot a must add to their collection.
There is one member of the backup vocals who has one of those raspy demonic voices, but his backup is minor and in no way diminishes from this instant classic. We are not talking "Morbid Angel" here (I am not a fan of noise). The addition of this demonic voice only adds to the wonderful operatic effect of the overall product.
Kamelot, in one listen, has become a respected group for me, and I look forward to hearing more of their music. I will most certainly check out their other albums, but for now I cannot more highly recommend "The Black Halo."
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