Kamelot continues their ascension to the top! Kamelot is one of metal's most unique, influential and prestigious acts to come along in decades. The group's reputation among fans and media alike is marked by enthusiasm and esteem, with each of their eight studio albums to date surpassing its predecessor in terms of songwriting and production. As one of the most difficult-to-categorize artists on the Metal scene, Kamelot are poised to assault the planet with their most insightful and ambitious project to date, "Poetry for the Poisoned", proving once again they are invictus in the Metal scene.
Ready to continue their rise to the pinnacle of Metal royalty, founding guitarist Thomas Youngblood and vocalist Roy Khan are joined by drummer Casey Grillo, keyboardist Oliver Palotai, and new bassist Sean Tibbets to complete their journey to systematically alter the face of Metal. Throughout the recent years, their releases have achieved cult status around the world, and "Poetry for the Poisoned" will once again raise the bar for others to follow.

Biography


1994-1995
In 1994 the band signed a deal with Noise Records, and released the debut Eternity in August of the next year. The press praised the album as one of most promising debuts of all time. Recorded at Morrisound Studios in Tampa the band spent several months finishing this very important debut.

1996
In 1996 the successor Dominion hit the stores, an opus that was even more diverse and varied than the debut.

1997-1999
Then in 1997, drummer Warner as well as singer Mark Vanderbilt had to be replaced due to lack of commitment to the demands that Kamelot needed. 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 through 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.

2000-2002
The summer of 2000 brought the New Allegiance Tour through many European countries, 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.

2003-2004
Epica arrived in 2003 and combined all the fortes of the previous productions with new ideas and majestic sounds resulting in a conceptual album that was an adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faustus. The story and the way the band told it fascinated fans all over the world and rocketed the album sales of the band. It also took them on another tour as headliners in Europe, Japan, Mexico and the US and they did several top festival appearances.

2005-2006
The Black Halo added yet another exciting and epic chapter to the band's brilliant history since it was the continuation of their Faustus adaptation that began on the predecessor album, Epica. 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 Patric Ullaeus at the well known film company Revolver Films. The DVD was heralded by the press and fans alike and set a new standard for DVDs in the genre.

2007-2009
Their eighth studio album, Ghost Opera, was the beginning of a new chapter in the career of Kamelot, who still seem a long way from reaching the peak of their popularity. Following the release of the album, the band embarked on a massive touring schedule, the most intense and successful in the history of Kamelot. With Ghost Opera Tour Part 1 the band firstly traveled the US, then part of Europe and finally embarked themselves on their third Japanese Tour.
After the huge success of the Ghost Opera Japanese Tour in 2008, in April the band released the album, Ghost Opera - The Second Coming and to celebrate this newest release, the band conquered new horizons selling out venues around Europe.
The tour also had some very extraordinary moments for the band, like having played in the most significant 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 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 shocked the fans with new songs on the setlists, amazing pyro effects and refreshing guest appearances.

During the second leg of the tour the band traveled around the US in the fall of 2008, with special guests Edguy, playing in cities they had never before and packing venues across the states. During and after the US tour the energetic world fans of the band continued showing their support for the band, making Kamelot stand out in the music radio station Last.fm, making the band pass the ten million plays (http://www.last.fm/music/Kamelot). Also, the band, very aware of the benefits of new technology, accepted the invitation to join the roster of Royal Artist Club (powered by Nokia) where they offered the fans a glimpse of their own everyday life through videos and pictures taken by their own mobile phones (www.royalartistclub.com/kamelot).
A couple of months later, the band visited singer Khan´s hometown, Elverum, Norway, for a special outdoor headliner show. The organizers for this event used the biggest mobile stage in Norway for Kamelot's first concert in Elverum. More than 3.000 fans showed up for this amazing event and it was the cultural highlight of the year for the region. A day later they shared stage with bands like Dimmu Borgir at the Rock Feast Festival in Trondheim. The band was also confirmed once more for one of Europe´s most important Metal festivals, Sweden Rock Festival, for the summer of 2009. After this great start, they rocked the Sauna Open Air Festival in Tampere, Finland, with bands like Mötley Crüe and many more.
Finally, after two surprise shows in Frankfurt and Bochum Germany and a special appearance at the Hard Rock Cafe Cologne, Kamelot played at the Sonisphere Festival in Netherlands, sharing stage with Metallica and Slipknot.
Since 2005 the band has treated their fans and the media exploring the musical video world and proving they can provide the highest quality videos like The Haunting, March of Mephisto, The Human Stain, Rule the World, Ghost Opera and Love you to Death, all highly praised around the globe.

2010 and beyond!
Their new album "Poerty for the Poisoned" will be released very soon. In the meanwhile, Kamelot have toured Europe with their impressive Pandemonium Over Europe Tour, visiting 11 countries and selling out venues in many cities, including two back to back concerts at the Sentrum Scene in Oslo, Norway. The band, so close to their fans has teamed up with Hard Rock Cafe' and attended to two massive meet & greets in Hard Rock Cafe Madrid and Cologne. Before and during the tour the band topped music lists in Epic Rock Radio for 6 months straight. The band's Last FM page is now eclipsing the 16 million mark and will soon pass the 20 Million mark.

Summer Festivals
Word of Kamelot's hugely successful European Tour led to invitations to play Rock am Ring and Rock im Park's 25th Anniversary - two of Europe's largest and most prestigious festivals, sharing the billing with Rammstein, Muse, KISS and more.
The summer plans for the band includes top billing spots at the Tuska, Rockweekend, Norway Rock, Magic Circle, Vagos Open Air, Artmania and Sziget festivals around Europe, and again the renown Wacken Open Air. The band will massively tour the US and Canada, visiting 16 cities and predictably selling out venues everywhere. They will also headline ProgPower USA XI in 2010.

New Album 2010
The ambitions of the band show no limits! So now, in 2010 Kamelot returns with a new offering "Poetry for the Poisoned". It blends their trademark Kamelot sound with new elements and a creation of musical art that will set a new standard in the genre. The album is the first released on earMUSIC, the international Rock label of Hamburg based entertainment group Edel.

Mostly written in the remote woods of Norway, in the country's largest private cabin. That is where the seed for the new album was planted, from those first 3 weeks in Norway to the final songwriting sessions in Germany, to ears of the faithful and loyal fans of the Kamelot Nation. The compositions take the listener through many emotions and dynamics that touch the soul and the mind. "I think this album is by far our most diverse, fusing new ideas and elements along with the traditional Kamelot sound and style that we have established over the years." states Kamelot's Guitarist Thomas Youngblood. Recordings took place in the familiar Gate Studios in Wolfsburg Germany with producers Sascha Paeth and Miro. Additional recordings were also done in Tampa (Florida) as well as various studios in Sweden, Greece and the US. "Poetry for the Poisoned" features guest artists Simone Simons (Epica), Gus G (Ozzy, Firewind), Björn "Speed" Strid (Soilwork) and Jon Oliva (Savatage/TSO/JOP). The artwork includes many great artists including the world reknown Seth Siro Anton, Natalie Shau and Michal Loranc.

“"Poetry for the Poisoned" is a mix of Progressive elements, Modern Rock, Dark Arts and also Power Metal." states guitarist Thomas Youngblood. “It comes at a time where many people around the world are searching for something to grab on to spiritually, including myself. I recently lost my mother and to be honest it was very hard on me. So there are some melancholy moods reflected on this album."

Frontman Roy Khan assures that "Poetry for the Poisoned" will both please the band's existing following and expose the universe of Kamelot to a whole range of new fans: ""Poetry for the Poisoned" is our longest and toughest production so far, but when I hear the result I know it was well worth the struggle". Although Kamelot has always written songs that reflect the good and bad parts of universe, they continue to project a vision of hope and reciprocity.

After numerous soldout headliner shows on nearly every continent, the band is still hungry for the next step and you will be there with them!