Kamelot‘s 2023 piece The Awakening already gave us that notion of a much refined piece of metal, produced with nary a hair out of bounds. Tidbits of metal music that this crew already heard somewhere before, revamped, and served with gusto. Kinda, sorta what The Awakening‘s predecessor already had in store. Back in time, a sort of an infinity mirror on its journey to nowhere. This syncs with the progression of Magick Metal Sorceresses or something on Kamelot‘s covers in various poses. All of them are pieces of fine art, but none of them rocked this crew out to space, either. Well, Dark Asylum‘s cover yet again sports one of them equally dark females. Omens abound, I tell ya.
If anything, Dark Asylum veers more into Symphonic Metal than its other records ever did. Moments of happy remembrance of modern Nightwish greet you in many nooks and crannies of this record. If by accident or design, we don’t know. But it should make the Holopainen man somewhat wary, at least. And yet again, the RMR crew found a piece fashioned to a fine point, sporting a massive gaggle of guest musicians of all couleur. Albeit, this time, only 11 graced this album’s lineup, compared to 14 on Kamelot‘s former record. I reckon that this is a good thing.
After a few tracks down the lane, the grouches over at the RMR Review Desk sounded the alarm. Yet again, there is this sense of overproduction. This mushy feeling baked into the whole shebang, present only when Sascha Paeth is in session. And sure enough, there he is in the production seat. Dark Asylum‘s structure feels like any of Avantasia‘s records, where Paeth was part of. Meaning, you go for a sturdy theme, which is always a great idea. Then you slam a gazillion guests onto the tracklist to find variety, I guess. And lo and behold, Tobias Sammet (Avantasia) even features on One Last Masquerade. Point made, despite Kamelot‘s best efforts.
And don’t get me wrong, the songsmithing is spiffy. The orchestration, the guitar work, keys, and vocals are beyond reproach. After all, this is a well-oiled machine at work over long years. Meaning, the execution won’t lack refinement, and every element has found its perfect place. Only this time, Kamelot went a bit too far down Cheese Road. For instance, Dark Asylum, the title track that should rock us out of that institution, contains lyric lines such as “…in the heart of my delusion, there’s truth in the confusion.” I mean, come on, guys. This is sillyware straight out of Amaranthe’s playbook. So, who are we going to hear next? Elize Ryd?1 Odin, give me strength.
Interestingly, once three-quarters of well-structured shiny objects washed over you, Cassandra’s Disease hits the tracklist. And now, suddenly, there’s fire in the tune and the proverbial spring in Kamelot‘s musical step. A sturdy track, garnished with one of the best solos on Dark Asylum. And this one is followed by Pagan Folk’s best, called Beneath the Moon2. An excellent folk ditty, beautifully interpreted by Rannveig Sif Sigurðardóttir in a duet with the totally unknown Sólveig Sara Leupold. The tasty violin sounds emerge from Eluveitie‘s own Lea-Sophie Fischer. Talk about a collision of styles on a Symphonic Metal piece. Yet that very same theme is carried through to the very end. Boy, if only this kind of energy and innovation would have permeated the rest of the record, this piece would be fodder for the listing season.
Ultimately, the record delivers the proficient sounds and flavors expected from any of Avantasia’s Kamelot‘s records to the expectant fan crowd. Thomas Youngblood‘s excellent axework, Tommy Karevik‘s soft ‘n’ tasty croons, drums, synth-work, and bass all create this perfectly assembled amalgamation that the fans o’ the realm will love and cherish.
Dark Asylum won’t get you any great load of delirium, though. No sense of foreboding, no fear of shackles, or wilted figures roaming desolate corridors. Instead, refined, shiny chunks of Metal o’ The Light will greet ye at any corner of this particular asylum. A sugary, sweet load of proficient metal that even Ignacia Fernández growls won’t be able to injure to any meaningful degree. Proficient metal containing a fair portion of déjà-vu that you’ll be able to rediscover when staring down that aforementioned infinity mirror.
Old tropes reinvented.
Record Rating: 5/10 | Label: Napalm Fucking Records3 | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 28 August 2026