ARTmania Festival 2010 will take place between 13th and 15th August. Reaching the fifth edition, Artmania spreads the word that a powerful band from USA will be on the Large Square stage on the first day of the festival.
In the last four years various metal bands have at the festival: Nightwish, HIM, Opeth, Amorphis, Anathema, Lacrimosa, Tiamat, My Dying Bride or Within Temptation. ARTmania Festival is focused on concerts in the center of the city, but also on art exhibitions, club parties and many other cultural projects organized in the medieval fortress of Sibiu.
Kamelot is one of the metal’s unique, influential and prestigious acts to come along in decades. The group’s reputation among fans and media alike, is marked by enthusiasm as well as esteem, each of their seven studio albums to date surpassing its predecessor in terms of songwriting and production. Musically, Kamelot combine different styles which they blend into their own homogenous, distinctive trademark. Youngblood said: “We play power metal as much as progressive metal and gothic metal.”
Artmania Festival 2010 is organized by ARTmania Events in partnership with the Sibiu City Hall, Sibiu Local Council, Sibiu County Council and Continental Hotel Chain.
Kamelot is a progressive/power metal band from Tampa, Florida that incorporates progressive and symphonic elements into their music. The band was founded by guitarist Thomas Youngblood and drummer Richard Warner in 1992. In 1994 the band signed a deal with Noise Records; the release of their debut album Eternity followed in 1995. The next album, Dominion, was released in 1997.
Later that year, two of the band’s members were replaced; drummer and founder Richard Warner and lead vocalist Mark Vanderbilt. Respectively, their replacements were Casey Grillo and Roy Khan (Roy Sætre «Khan» Khantatat from Elverum in Norway – formerly of Conception). With the two new members, Kamelot released their third studio album, Siege Perilous. The new line-up undertook an extensive tour through Europe during the fall of the same year only to return to the Gate Studio in Wolfsburg twelve months later to produce the fourth studio effort The Fourth Legacy.
The summer of 2000 brought the “New Allegiance Tour” through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Greece and Spain during which the recordings for Kamelot’s first live album The Expedition were made. Only a few months later the band presented their fifth album entitled Karma, to the greatest critical success yet. Their sixth album, Epica was released in 2003. Both Epica and the band’s seventh effort, The Black Halo, which was released in 2005, are based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s version of the legend of Faust, a man who sells his soul to the devil. To support the new album the band went on tour through Europe and Japan during the first leg of the “Black Halo World Tour 2005”, they played a head liner show with Epica and Kotipelto. In Japan the support was Silent Force. They also played on the Bang Your Head Festival in Germany and the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.
In 2005 they shot their first music videos ever, for the songs The Haunting (Somewhere in Time) and March of Mephisto from the album The Black Halo. Both videos were shot by acclaimed director Patric Ullaeus a critically acclaimed director because of his cinematic styles, vivid imagination and fervent vision which has taken him all around the world to work with talented artists, advertising agencies and record companies. Patric is today credited for single-handedly launching the careers of many of his artists.
The 5th of October 2005 saw the addition of Oliver Palotai as the fifth official band member. Oliver will handle both keyboards and (additional) guitars.
On the second leg of the “Black Halo World Tour” they visited North and South America (USA, Canada, Brazil) as well as Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Norway). During this part of the tour the bands first live DVD was shot, with the main concert being shot on February 11th, 2006 at Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway. The shoot was again handled by Patric Ullaeus. The DVD (and live CD) called One cold winter’s night was released in November 2006.
Ghost Opera is the eighth studio album from Kamelot. It was released on June 1st, 2007 via SPV/Steamhammer Records, in Germany and then followed by releases on the fourth and fifth in Europe and the USA, respectively. The album was recorded and mixed at Gate Studios and Pathway Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany with producers Sascha Paeth and Miro. The first video from the album is for the track Ghost Opera, and can be seen on the band’s official MySpace site. A video for the song The Human Stain was shot and released later. A video has also been made for Rule the World and in May 2009, Kamelot released their fourth video from Ghost Opera, Love You to Death at Midnight on their official website.
Ghost Opera was reissued in March/April 2008 as Ghost Opera – The Second Coming with a new cover and a second disc with 14 tracks – 10 from a live show recorded in Belgrade, Serbia, plus four studio cuts being: Season’s End (bonus track of the limited edition of Ghost Opera), Pendulous Fall (bonus track of the japanese edition of Ghost Opera), Epilogue (bonus track of the japanese edition of The Black Halo) and a exclusive remix of Rule the World.
During the years of 2008/09, Kamelot’s original bassist Sean Tibbetts has been on tour as guest musician stepping in for Glenn Barry while he took time off for family. In January, 2009, Kamelot started working on their ninth studio album in a cabin in Norway. They frequently update their official video blog with clips. The material for the next studio album is also said to be heavier than the former material.
In December 1st 2009, Sean Tibbetts became the band’s official bassist. Then, Kamelot’s guitarist Thomas Youngblood stated: “Glenn called me a few weeks ago and told me he just couldn’t do it anymore, and has to step aside. He is like a brother to us and we’ve been through a lot of great times, so we wanted him to make this decision.”
Now they can’t wait to present their new offering live on stage to convince their fans of its qualities. The band will begin their world tour in Europe in June and return to the States for a headlining run in August/September. They are arriving in Romania on August 13th where they will play the last concert of the first 2010 touring leg.
Current Members:
Roy Khan: Vocals
Thomas Youngblood: Lead Guitar
Sean Tibbetts – bass
Oliver Palotai: Keyboards and Rhythm Guitar
Casey Grillo: Drums
Studio albums:
1995 – Eternity
1997 – Dominion
1998 – Siege Perilous
1999 – The Fourth Legacy
2001 – Karma
