Kamelot - Dominion
Noise Records
US Power Metal
11 songs (46:38)
Release year: 1996
Kamelot, Noise Records
Reviewed by Ben
Archive review

Let's just skip that shitty intro track...

Well, hey look at this, Heaven begins the album with a fast song! A full on assault of double bass and snare with a bubbling bass guitar hits you right from the get go! Another notable notable is that the thorn in everyone's side, singer Mark Vanderbilt, went and got his over acting vocal performance out of his system and he doesn't do that shit that much anymore. For the most part, Vanderbilt has improved dramatically. He has a ton more control over his voice and now he utilizes a decently cool screeching wail in his vocal repertoire. So, right off the bat we have had two massive improvements from Eternity, fast songs and better vocals!

The guitars have also improved quite a bit for this album. We Are Not Separate actually can hold up to current band status. This notion is reinforced by the re-recording of this song on their first little live album, The Expedition. The main riff itself sounds like an actual Kamelot song! Still primitive in that it reminds the listener of a crossbreed of Fates Warning and Queensryche, but it's an improvement over the ceaseless drudgery that permeated Eternity. Birth Of A Hero is a decent enough power ballad with an actual admirable performance from Vanderbilt. Unfortunately, Song Of Roland is not related to Stephen King's Dark Tower books. That disappointment is big enough to not care too much about this filler song. Sin is a mid tempo song and hey, since this album isn't completely full of them, this is kind of welcome. It also doesn't hurt that again, a restrained vocal performance from their singer does much to not distract the listener. Troubled Mind might be one of the first songs that Kamelot did that had lyrics that dealt with a much more personal theme. Similar to Lunar Sanctum and its lyrics about astrology which happened to be on an album with a naked chick hoisting a decorated sword on the cover, this is about mental illness in a young person's mind and it's on an album with a golden crown floating in a stone courtyard.

This would be the last album for that "the other singer guy before Roy," Mark Vanderbilt. At least he went out on a better note than if Eternity was his only performance with the band. The biggest difference between Dominion and the debut is that this is actually listenable. It's by no means an album that will go down as a future gem, but for discography divers of the band, it does show massive improvement. Following that trend, the next album would introduce a host of changes to the band. Two key members that would launch the band came on board in singer Roy, and drummer Casey Grillo. Once again, things would improve dramatically, but even so, they didn't quite nail their potential until The Fourth Legacy.

Killing Songs :
Heaven, Birth Of A Hero, We Are Not Seperate, Sin, One Day I'll Win
Ben quoted 66 / 100
Other albums by Kamelot that we have reviewed:
Kamelot - Siege Perilous reviewed by Ben and quoted 75 / 100
Kamelot - Eternity reviewed by Ben and quoted 50 / 100
Kamelot - Haven reviewed by Joel and quoted 93 / 100
Kamelot - Silverthorn reviewed by Cory and quoted 84 / 100
Kamelot - Poetry for the Poisoned reviewed by Thomas and quoted 86 / 100
To see all 13 reviews click here
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