Kamelot- The Fourth Legacy

Artist: Kamelot

Album:  The Fourth Legacy

Year:  1999

Rating:  91/100

“A Surprisingly Diverse Power Metal Album”

Kamelot are a band that I can’t say I’m a huge fan of.  Most of their work is solid, but there’s usually something that keeps me from calling them one of my favorite bands.  Nevertheless, there are some albums that I really enjoy from Kamelot; this one being the best and also the most underrated.  In fact, it’s one of the most underrated power metal albums of all time.  It’s the hidden gem of Kamelot’s catalogue. 

“The Fourth Legacy” has everything that anyone could want in a power metal album.  Songs are perfectly catchy, without becoming overly poppy.  The choruses are big and powerful, just like any respectable power metal (or really metal in general) chorus should be.  The riffs are actually quite nice, and more memorable than most of their stuff.  They range from being more traditional power metal riffs, to groovier type riffs (“Silent Goddess”, for example).   The solos are very nice.  Each one fits its song well.   The drums are pretty standard; however, this does not take away from the album at all.  They are quite interesting in the instrumental, “Desert Reign”.   Both the bass and the keyboards are like the drums, though the keys have a prominent role in some places.   The vocals are absolutely fantastic.  Khan is one of my all time favorite metal singers.  He can go from a rougher style of singing, to a smooth high pitched voice.  I have absolutely no complaints as far as the vocals go.

Another stunning attribute of “The Fourth Legacy” is the diversity presented in the songs.  They do not all blur together like on some other power metal releases.  Such songs as “Lunar Sanctum” and “A Sailorman’s Hymn” show a different and equally talented sign of Kamelot.  The Middle Eastern style instrumental “Desert Reign” is a little cheesy, but it leads perfectly into “Nights of Arabia”.  “Nights…” contains some of the most memorable verses on the whole album and a great slow section.  Following this, “The Shadow of Uther” is more conventional but a better song overall.  It might be my favorite from the album; I can’t get over the epic chorus.  Additionally, “The Shadow…” has a fantastic guitar solo and is filled with nice riffs.  “Glory” is a tastefully done ballad that has some good folk influence to contrast the rest of the album.  Overall, the songs are very well written.  The band knows where to keep it heavy and where to put softer parts and solos into the songs.  The songwriting is, perhaps, what makes this album so great.  It’s all just so memorable.

So basically this is a great power metal album.  There’s less neoclassical influence than normally found in power metal, and that’s pretty refreshing.  The songs are very diverse for such an album, ranging from oceanic ballads to Middle Eastern rockers.  The use of dynamics within the songs is done very well.  There is really nothing bad here at all, every song is executed in just the right way.  My score being lower than 98-100% is because I’m not the hugest Kamelot fan (and some parts of the songs do fall into the unnecessarily cheesy power metal cliché).  This is their masterpiece.  If you’re a Kamelot fan who hasn’t heard this album, it’s mandatory listening for you.  Additionally, as a power metal fan, I would recommend it to other fans of the genre.  The Fourth Legacy is a really well done and underrated masterwork.

Best songs:  “The Shadow of Uther”, “Desert Reign/Nights of Arabia”, “Alexandria”, “Lunar Sanctum”, “The Fourth Legacy”.