New album from the American talent Kamelot, the third one after the warmly welcomed "Eternity" and "Dominion". For this work, Thomas Youngblood (guitarist) & Co. take advantage of ex-Conception vocalist Roy S. Khan and new drummer Casey Grillo. No doubt that Roy does an amazing job, thus obscuring the name of his forerunner, Mark Vanderbilt: Roy's voice suits well the new Kamelot material, and has improved a lot during the last years, now being more personal and much warmer than many others. Also, we can hear some great songs, such as the theatrical opening track "Providence", the amazingly structured "King's Eyes" or the suggestive medieval tune "Siege". The problem is that, even if all the songs are very well composed, arranged and performed (I have to mention the work done by the keyboard player, David Pavlicko), the production isn't that good and, last but not least, this album does not manage to rise above most of the other power/progressive works published in the nineties. Maybe, if Kamelot had recorded "Siege..." three or four years earlier, they would have obtained a better result. I feel there is a lack of intuition or great ideas in these ten songs. Now, with so many power metal bands around, this album appears as nothing more than a very good work, for which it will be honestly difficult to stand out. It's not a huge problem after all, I think that if Kamelot have the talent they seem to own, they'll be surely able to do better on the next CD. While waiting, if you like power/prog/atmospheric metal, "Siege Perilous" can be a good choice.
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