Kamelot are one of those bands I’ve been meaning to check out for quite some time, thanks to some interesting interviews as well as some great reviews. In the main this power/prog metal outfit hail from Florida, however vocalist Roy Khan make Oslo his base of operations, and it is this particular city that One Cold Winter's Night was committed to tape. The problem this reviewer has with most power metal releases of today is that I’m old enough to have seen most of the bands that influenced this generation of upstarts in their prime and, to be honest, most can't hold a candle to the progenitors of the genre. Kamelot though forget about the candle and take a bloody flame thrower to the competition and show all of their competitors how it should be done, with style and with grace.

Built around guitarist Thomas Youngblood and former conception vocalist Roy Khan, One Cold Winter's Night is Kamelot's first DVD release after seven studio album and one previous live album. As you would expect the set is, in the main, built around the last three studio albums a with an understandably large chunk of material taken from the most recent 'Black Halo opus. As my colleague rightly said in his review of the Black Halo album itself, (click here to read) Kamelot create an incredible range of emotions. Quiet, soulful sections (featuring a beautifully voiced young lady) and technical, soaring rock. It’s a fabulous blend. Goth opera and everything in between and is equally overblown and overplayed when required but each song sets it mood excellently.

One Cold Winter's Night is, arguably,the best music DVD released in 2006, and I’ve seen a few. It really manages to capture the feel of a live gig and the bonus disc is exactly that, unlike some so called bonus discs, as the band do a cribs like section as well as interviews and extra live and video footage.

On the strength of the DVD I treat myself, with my Christmas tokens, to the accompanying CD which is equally sonically excellent as well as two of the bands earlier studio albums, namely Karma and Epica. The tracks taken form these albums sound much fuller and heavier live than they do on their studio counterparts and it is for this reason I recommend that you pick up this DVD. If you’ve not heard anything by Kamelot before this is the perfect introduction. The only question after watchiong this is can the band really be this good live? I suppose I’m going to make my way to Cheltenham on March 31st 2007 when the band are special guest at Prog Power UK show  to find out in person. More info on this can be found via  www.kamelot.com or www.progpoweruk.com.

One Cold Winter's Night gets its UK release on the March 5th 2007 according to the press release but is available in Europe now.

Let us know your views on 'One Cold Winter's Night'

Track List

Intro: Un Assassinio Molto Silenzioso
The Black Halo
Soul Society
The Edge Of Paradise
Center Of The Universe
Nights Of Arabia
Abandoned
Forever
Keyboard Solo
The Haunting
Moonlight
When The Lights Are Down
Elizabeth
March Of Mephisto
Karma
Drum Solo
Farewell
Curtain Call/Outro

Line Up

Khan - vocals
Thomas Youngblood - guitars
Glenn Barry - bass
Oliver Palotai - keyboards
Casey Grillo - drums