With their third album, Kamelot sees a new vocalist enter the fray - the very talented Roy Khan (formerly of Conception), and this means two things - the sad, hysteric vocals which dominated the music on the two previous discs are gone, replaced by a much deeper and calmer voice; unfortunately gone also is the chivalrous, heroic spirit that was so evident on the previous two albums. Khan brings along with him that special Conception sound, and suffice it to say, its effect on the music leaves something to be desired. I really can't pinpoint my main problem with the disc, since it's more of a culmination of various warring factors; the production seems a bit muddled in places, the band never really sounds stellar, and most of the songs lack the energy and the finesse needed to express the medieval imagery...

Still, it's a good disc with a number of solid cuts including the opener "Providence" which features a somewhat subdued, bombastic tone; the (again, somewhat subdued) rapidly paced "Millennium", "King's Eyes", "Rhydin", "Parting Visions", etc. The top track for me is the slower paced and extremely layered, mood setting "Where I Reign", which would definitely be a true epic had the production done it justice - employing the same stop and go rhythm in the verses as do many Conception songs, and an all out Virgin Steele-esque chorus, this one belongs at the top...

Overall, despite it's flaws, I really can't call Siege Perilous a bad album; the band sounds lazy as hell, and the material just can't compete with what the band did in the past, but it's still a very nice disc to have...

Overall: 7.6
by Ilya Ulberg

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