Great Album, Poor Production - Helpful Tip - This is a great album (I won t repeat what other reviewers have written), but it does suffer from poor production. Here s something simple that can be done to dramatically improve the sound quality using Magix Audio Cleaning Lab (I used version 12).Import the CD. Set the Energizer plug-in to preset 10 Vinyl: wider treble. Set the Low mix to about 12 - 15% then export the audio.This won t solve the problem of the vocals being overpowered by the music, but the overall improvement is significant. The resultant sound is much richer and and no longer sounds like it was recorded in a closet. Even so, I still can t listen to it due to the problems with the vocals.
You people think this is bad production?!?! You haven t heard bad production! - I finally got this and, if you people think this is bad/sloppy production well...all I can really say is, you ve never been exposed to REAL bad production. Yes, this isn t anywhere near the best and certainly not up to the standards of the recent Kamelot releases, but no one in their right minds should ever call this lacking or terrible compared to many, many other CDs that are out there!!!You really want to hear terrible production? Listen to the original release of Sabbath s Born Again (which I otherwise love simply because I love Gillan), or the original CD release of any of the first 4 ZZ Top albums, or, more recently, the godawful Riot CD Brethren of the Long house, another recent purchase that is SO bad it even degrades the music. It has NO high end at all, almost thought my tweeter fuses were blown!!! THAT is bad production, this is NOT!! And, given time I could probably make a list of HUNDREDS of CDs that sound worse than this!!As for the music, I like it!! Almost up there with The Black Halo and Ghost Opera and, in my opinion, is better than The Fourth Legacy and is at least as good as Epica and Karma. But, with only 5 listens, I m not quite sure about those last 2 yet, time will tell. And my faves at this point are Expedition, Parting Visions and Irea.Bottom line - if you like Kamelot and already have The Black Halo, Ghost Opera and the great live CD and DVD One Cold Winter s Night you won t be disappointed by this. But, if you don t already have all those, get them first. As for the bad production reviews I honestly say I don t think it s all that bad and haven t read anything about my copy being a re-mastered release!
Raw Kamelot - Many reviewers have said it all:the production is really lacking.There are obvious ghosts of Queensryche and even Fates Warning in the music. Really, the only salvagable aspect is Kahn and Youngblood. This release is more commercial and and accessible to the listener.Nonetheless it is complex. The melodies need polishing Kahn is still feeling his way and at times sounds very distant. Surely good for completists. Could have been good.It grows well on you as it is a prelude to the greatness to come.3.5 stars
It s strength lies in its obvious deficiencies... - Anyone who has ever listened to music has had the experience of listening to an album they know is rough around the edges and has its share of flaws, but in the end is a joy to listen to. Others may think you re crazy and wonder why you re infatuated with such a work, but you yourself know better.In my case, Kamelot s Siege Perilous is such an album. At first glance, the album has a few key strikes against it in the eyes of most people: a rather sub-standard production, the lack of any real raw power, a seemingly slim track diversity and the band s songwriting isn t as strong as it is today. While this would seem like enough problems to bury any self-respecting album, these are relatively minor infractions when you consider what was done correctly.First off, the album s lack of what many consider real, raw power isn t a result of the album s production values, rather it results from the songwriting itself - simply put it s a artistic choice by the band that gives the music a subdued and suppressed feel. This is proven with songs such as King s Eyes and Millennium, which easily could have been much more aggressive than they are had the band chosen to do so. Still, such songs come off beautifully the way they were done and in an odd-roundabout way the low-end production values actually add to this overall feel.The above also crosses over when track variety comes into play. Technically there is a wide variety of songs to be heard on Siege Perilous, but the album s production and subdued, suppressed feel ultimately robs the songs of some of their individuality. For example, Parting Visions is an upbeat number but because of the production its not to far removed from a slower number such as Where I Reign. This may seem like an error so to speak, but once again in an odd way it makes these songs feel as if they really do belong together.Songwriting wise, Siege Perilous isn t nearly complex or solid as The Fourth Legacy or the albums that followed, but the fact it is a major step above Eternity and Dominion speaks volumes. In the end, there is a bigger gap in songwriting ability from Eternity/Dominion to Siege Perilous than there is from Siege Perilous to The Fourth Legacy. This reason alone is enough to buy Siege Perilous since this is where the band really began to come into it s own before their breakthrough with The Fourth Legacy.In closing, forget about Eternity and Dominion - unless you must own everything Kamelot has ever released - Siege Perilous and the inclusion of Roy Khan as singer is really where it all began for Kamelot.
Great, dark, brooding. - The mix is not up to par on this one, I hear alot of people complain abou the production. But the mix is my only problem with this very unique album from one of the worlds best metal bands today.Jase