Thomas Youngblood and drummer Richard Warner founded Kamelot in Tampa, Florida back in 1992. In 1994 the band signed a deal with Noise Records, and the release of the debut Eternity followed in August of the next year. The press praised the album as one of most promising debuts of all time.
In 1996 the successor Dominion hit the stores, an opus that was even more diverse and varied than the debut.
Then in 1997, drummer Warner as well as singer Mark Vanderbilt had to be replaced. Kamelot found more than just mere substitutes in Casey Grillo and former Conception singer Khan, who had already joined the band during the production of the third album, Siége Perilous. The new line-up undertook an extensive tour of Europe during the fall of the same year, only to return to the Gate Studio in Wolfsburg twelve months later to produce their fourth studio effort, The Fourth Legacy.
The summer of 2000 brought the New Allegiance Tour through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Greece and Spain, during which the recordings for Kamelot's first live album The Expedition were made. Only a few months later the band presented their fifth album entitled Karma, which took Khan, Youngblood, Grillo and Barry on yet another European tour.
Epica arrived in 2003 and combined all the fortes of the previous productions with new ideas and majestic sounds, followed by another tour as headliners in Europe, Japan, Mexico and the US, as well many top festival appearances. The Black Halo added another exciting and epic chapter to the band's brilliant history.
The continuation of their Faustus adaptation about the battle between good and evil that began on the predecessor album, Epica, again combined Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's opus with the band's own experiences and views. Kamelot's video ‘The Haunting' and ‘March of Mephisto' became huge hits on YouTube and prompted the band to launch their own YouTube channel, aptly titled KamTV. KamTV's initial launch hurled the band into YouTube's top 10 music channels and #1 Metal Channel, transcending all genres. With the release of The Black Halo, Kamelot started on a headliner tour in Europe, North America, Japan and Brazil, with countless festivals around the globe.
Following the hugely successful album, Kamelot released their first live DVD, called One Cold Winter's Night, directed by the well known film company Revolver Films and world-renowned director, Patric Ullaeus. The DVD was heralded by the press and fans alike and set a new standard for DVDs in the genre.
Ghost Opera is the beginning of a new chapter in the career of Kamelot, who still seem a long way from reaching the pinnacle of their popularity.
Following the release of the Ghost Opera album, the band embarqued on a massive touring schedule, their most intense and successful in the history of Kamelot. The band has travelled the US, part of Europe with the Ghost Opera European Tour Part 1 and finally embarqued themselves on their first Japanese Tour.
After the huge success of the Ghost Opera Japanese Tour in 2008, in April the band released their newest album, 'Ghost Opera - The Second Coming'. The release is a double album, the first one containing the Ghost Opera hits plus two enhanced videos, Memento Mori (Live from Belgrade, Serbia) and The Human Stain. The second disc is the amazing live recording from Belgrade and four studio cuts: Season's End, The Pendulous Fall, Epilogue and Rule the World (remix).
To celebrate their newest release, the band conquered new horizons, visiting countries like Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria. These shows were during the European leg of the tour, making a great impression on their audiences who had been so eager to see them live. Of course they also visited countries like the UK, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Sweden and others, selling out venues in London, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo and many more. The tour has had some very extraordinary moments for the band, like having played in the most significant and important European music festivals around. The band graced the Main Stage at the sold out Wacken Open Air 2008 festival along side bands like Iron Maiden, Avantasia and Nightwish, in front of an audience of more than 70.000 music lovers. After the huge success of the German show, the band chartered a private jet to Finland for yet another successful festival, the Ankkarock festival. There they shared stage with bands like HIM, W.A.S.P. and many more. Some days later the band visited singer "Khan..s" homeland of Norway and played at the Metal Rock Fest, playing right before music icons Twisted Sister. They ended the summer season with a fantastic show at the TT Circuit (The Netherlands) where the band played again with Iron Maiden in front of 30,000 screaming fans. Most of these summer shows have been shocking the fans with new songs on the setlists, amazing pyro effects and refreshing guest appearances.
The second leg of the tour will be in the US in Fall of 2008, (with special guest Edguy) and due to popular demand the band is back to Europe again with their Rule the World Tour 2009 for new cities and bigger venues. Be prepared for the best Kamelot shows up to date! |
Online Now!
