album : Poetry for the Poisoned
artist : Kamelot
genre : Melodic Power Metal
year : 2010
Power metal happens to be my least favorite genre. Reason being the bands gracing this genre going overboard with absolutely everything. Be it the melody that is just too much to take, the guitarists playing all the solos they know in a song, the vocals being stretched beyond need, add to that the multiple vocals that increases the chaos. All this apart from the fact that they are always happy about something and they sing about how they ecstatic they always are. Well not bad, but they sure can turn back and say power metal is tough to play and produce. And the genre has some crazy fucking fans. Alright, Kamelot have loads of power metal in them and they too are needless to say, melodic.
Poetry for the Poisoned is their 2010 release for all the people who want a power trip, and its their ninth studio release. There are fourteen tracks and that is also what I dislike about Poetry for the Poisoned. What saves the boat is the tracks aren’t over eight or nine minutes. They all windup within a maximum of five and a half. Nothing too interesting about the release as the songs are quite monotonous.
The album includes a couple of guest appearances by Bjorn Strid (Soilwork, Darkane), Jon Oliva (Savatage), Amanda Somerville (Epica) and Simone Simons (Epica). Even that does not guarantee any upliftment. The only track that I did play twice was House on a Hill which is decently a cut above the rest. Vocals are good and all the instrument players do their respective jobs well but still the spark is missing.
Agreed I do not have a strong liking for power metal but then I have heard a lot of it and that is how I developed a dislike for the genre. So in comparison to many of the albums that have a power metal tag, Kamelot‘s Poetry for the Poisoned is not what I’d play more than once. You can avoid it as well.
Rating : 2.5/5
October 15th, 2010 at 6:33 am
Same here. I too cant stand power metal, except for Iced Earth, which is pure awesomeness, and few Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian and Alestorm.
October 15th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
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October 25th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
So, you readily admit that you dislike power metal, and you half-assed the review and only bothered to listen to the album once (with the exception of one song). Why even bother reviewing something if you don’t like the genre to being with?
For what it’s worth, this album is not NEARLY as “happy” or upbeat as most power metal. Are you sure you even listened to it at all? It’s without a doubt Kamelot’s “darkest” work to date…
October 25th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
mate I do not care to give explanations but here it is .. I never review anything keeping a pre-conceived dislike in mind n that is the reason I wrote all that about power metal but that had nothing to do with this album ..
There are other kickass bands that make power metal proud, even Kamelot does but not on this one .. might be their ‘darkest’ but I couldn’t associate this with them .. Move on .. there is already a power metal release out there from a certain German band and they have chewed Kamelot raw!