The American power metal band Kamelot has released the new album “Dark Asylum” on August 28th via Napalm Records. It is a conceptual masterpiece that invites the listeners to the dark halls of the “RavenHill Asylum” psychiatric clinic. Once built as a grand cathedral, now it is transformed into a cripple institution where science, faith and madness live together.
The album is a psychological journey through memories, madness and redemption. It starts with the intro “Sanctuary”, and the song “Ashen World” that follows it nails the audience with its chorus and powerful sound. The guest vocalist is Ignacia Fernandez from Decessus.
Next is the title track “Dark Asylum”. The dramatical music has complex progressive elements and brings pressure. The refrain is very melodic.
The fourth song is “Sanctuary” with guest vocalists Clementine Delauney from Visions of Atlantis and Ignacia Fernandez, vocalist of Decessus and current Miss World Chile. The song is dedicated to the hope and the escape from the madhouse “RavenHill Asylum”. It is a large-scale composition, worthy of a successor to “March Of Mephisto”. The following “Nocte Veritas” is a short chorus in Latin. The translation means “Truth By Night”. It is a bridge between “Sanctuary” and the next big composition, “One Last Masquerade”, with guest vocalist Tobias Sammet, founder and composer of Edguy and the superband Avantasia. The duet between him and the Kamelot vocalist Tommy Karevik is epic. The musical styles of Kamelot and Avantasia are stuck tight, transformed into one grand power metal operatic piece.
“Ivy, My Dear” is a love ballad which calms down the wild feeling from the previous track.
“Godlike Alchemy” is the cornerstone of the album, according to Tommy Karevik. The lyrics are about the mind’s ability to transform our deepest human fears, pain and chaos into “shining gold”, turning us into both the “key and the cage” for our own freedom.
“The Sleeping Mind (Orphic Paradigm)” is a metaphorical song, and the subtitle sends us to the depths of the underworld, and Orpheus travels there. The song and the following “Kaleidoscope“ are very dynamic compositions with virtuoso guitar solos.
“Enigma (Think of Me)” is a classical metal ballad.
„Cassandra’s Disease“ is a dramatic song with emotional vocals and melodic dark lines.
The ballad “Beneath the Moon (Tunglið)” is with the Icelandic guest vocalists the Icelandic vocalist Sólveig Sara Leupold and Rannveig Sif Sigurðardóttir (mezzo-soprano and soprano, known for her part in the rock opera Aina (2003) and guest vocals for Kamelot, Luca Turilli, and others). The violin part is performed by Lea-Sophie Fischer from Eluveitie. The Icelandic word “Tunglið” means “The Moon”. The song is a tender folk ballad. The contrast with the next song “The Puppet King” is too big.
“The Puppet King” is a heavy, dark piece. The lyrics of the songs tell of psychological wandering in nightmares. “Sanctum Requiem” is the symphonic instrumental outro of the album. It brings peaceful and glorious sound and feeling at the end.

The fourteenth album of Kamelot is again an epic journey into the depths of power and symphonic metal. Their longtime producer Sasha Paeth came back to work for the release of “Dark Asylum” alongside Jacob Hansen, who did the mixing and mastering in Hansen Studios.

“Dark Asylum” track listing:

01. Sanctorium
02. Ashen World (feat. Ignacia Fernández)
03. ⁠Dark Asylum
04. Sanctuary (feat. Clémentine Delauney & Ignacia Fernández)
05. Nocte Veritas
06. One Last Masquerade (feat. Tobias Sammet)
07. ⁠Ivy, My Dear
08. Godlike Alchemy
09. The Sleeping Mind (Orphic Paradigm)
10. Kaleidoscope
11. Enigma (Think Of Me)
12. Cassandra’s Disease
13. Beneath the Moon (Tunglið) (feat. Rannveig Sif Sigurðardóttir, Sólveig Sara Leupold, Lea-Sophie Fischer)
14. ⁠The Puppet King
15. ⁠Sanctum Requiem