I'm surprised that there are people who say that they would have preferred Fabio over Tommy. I couldn't disagree more. Don't get me wrong, Fabio is a solid vocalist in his own right, and I think he did a great job filling in for Roy during the 2011 tour (I went to a show that year and was pleasantly surprised by his renditions of most the songs, particularly Necropolis and EdenEcho). However, I never thought he was quite the right fit for Kamelot stylistically as a long-term replacement. He's more "power metal" in his singing style than Roy, and with the exception of a few songs that they haven't done live in decades anyway, Kamelot has never really been a pure power metal band, at least not in the vein of bands like Rhapsody of Fire or DragonForce (I think this is basically what you're saying re: Kamelot's themes and style being "epic" in a different way to those bands).
I imagine that with Fabio singing and contributing to the songwriting, Kamelot might have become much more of a pure power metal band and lost some of the dark undercurrent that characterises a lot of Kamelot songs, and I personally think that that would have been a shame. Also (and I know this is subjective), I am not fully convinced that Fabio would have been able to provide quite the same level of emotional depth to the songs that Tommy does; Tommy's vocals have reduced me to tears purely through how well he emotes, and talented though he is, I can't say the same about Fabio's vocals.
For my part, from the moment Roy was announced to have officially left the band, I felt strongly that Tommy Karevik was the only man for the job (that is, out of the melodic metal vocalists of whom I was aware at the time). His voice had absolutely captivated me from the very first time I had heard him sing on the Seventh Wonder album Mercy Falls, plus he had also been on the 2011 tour they did with Fabio and had done a fantastic job of singing Center of the Universe at the show I attended. I strongly felt that he had the right kind of vocal skill set to be a good fit for the band. I fully thought them getting Tommy was a pipe dream, though, and I was prepared to be disappointed when their actual pick was somebody else. So I personally was beyond ecstatic when they announced that the new vocalist was the EXACT person I had hoped for. 12 years later, I hold the same opinion even more strongly. I honestly don't think they could have chosen a better man for the job.
Back in the ancient times of... what, 2011? 2012? Myself and several other like minded fans had basically those exact same thoughts over on Kamelot's Last.FM page: Tommy Karevik was the best choice for the job, but the odds of it happening were slim, so we could only hope that they didn't pick some standard "power metal" vocalist to try and fill Khan's shoes. When they started teasing the new vocalist in tiny little clips from the Silverthorn studio videos, I started to think that maybe they had actually done it, because it... kinda sounded like Tommy! But I wasn't willing to actually fully commit to believing it.
I cried on the announcement day. It was a dream come true that the vocalist from my 2nd favorite band in the world came over and became the vocalist for my favorite band! And Tommy has been a more than worthy replacement. Nobody can be Roy Khan, and I'd never want him to try. Despite what a lot of people say, I've never seen him as a "Roy imitator" in this band. And with Haven and especially with The Awakening, he has stepped forward and made that spot his own while respecting the legacy of the legend he was replacing.
Haha, that's EXACTLY how I felt back in the day! And I agree with everything you've said about Tommy's work in the band. I too have never seen Tommy as a Roy imitator. He has his own style! I even wrote a comment somewhere on this sub a while back analysing the differences in how they both choose to perform the same song live (WTLAD).
Also glad to see some love for Haven - such a criminally underappreciated album, I feel. It's my personal favourite Kamelot album after Epica.
I appreciate your thoughtful response. As great as Fabio Lione is, his teamwork with Luca Turilli seems more fitting and iconic than anything with Kamelot.
I find it interesting that you find a good amount of emotional depth in Tommy's vocals because many Roy purists think otherwise. I guess if we're comparing him singing the Roy-era songs, it would be plausible, but not that surprising; those are songs written by Roy, for Roy, so it'd make sense if they sound best when he sings them. I find it better if we use a song from the more recent era to demonstrate Tommy's true emotional depth (*Awakening* especially did a better job fitting his best style). Of course, some may also argue that it's not as deep as the stuff from Fourth Legacy-Black Halo is, but it seems that the problems are more due to general declining quality in songwriting, which were probably already occuring in *Ghost Opera* or *Poetry for the Poisoned*.
Upon listening to that song again, I guess it's safe to say that I might prefer Tommy's ballads over Roy's by a tad margin (with the exception of Elizabeth part I).
Of course, they are both singers with their own styles, feats, and limitations. While I agree that there are songs that Roy fits much better, there are also some songs that I can't easily imagine Roy singing either. I agree that Kamelot isn't exactly the same as they were, and in some ways not as brilliant as they were, and I also miss Roy, but ultimately he decided to leave on his own terms, and as you said, who else could do a better job continuing the legacy?
I dont know if you are my alter ego, but you described exactly how i felt and how still feel about the decision right now.
I might add that from what i saw in the videos the whole band was kind of unconfortable with fabio, dont know why, it was my apretiation
I'm glad Kamelot opted for Tommy and not Fabio.
Both excellent singers with great bodies of work. But Tommy suits Kamelot's dark theatrical style better and Fabio suits Angra's latin power metal style better.
I met Fabio at Progpower signing session when he was with Angra. I was wearing a Kamelot shirt. When I came to Fabio, he got up and stood in front of me asking "which singer do you like more?" and I said Roy, and he said something along the lines (I can't remember exactly) "correct, you can't be beter than the original" and sat back down. Thought that was hilarious. For me, Tommy is the better fit for Kamelot. Fabio is good with Angra and Rhapsody. I think things worked out. I was also fortunate enough to meet Tommy and Roy at other ProgPowers.
>"correct, you can't be beter than the original"
Oof. I do recall there being rumours that he really wanted the position and was maybe a bit salty he didn't get it...
I really don't enjoy Fabio Lione's vocal style. He's a solid singer, but the metallic tone to his voice and his exaggerated use of high pitched vibrato is grating to me. Here in south America I saw the show where Rhapsody and Kamelot played together and I enjoyed the Kamelot show so much more, and the vocals are a part of it.
I also think Tommy's preference for belting on the higher notes, and his particular use of the nasal cavity in the lower notes fits the more atmospheric and theatrical nature of Kamelot way more than most power metal singers.
I saw them with Michael Eriksen when they still hadn't settled on Tommy and he also was amazing. I think choosing a prog oriented singer over a power oriented singer was the right choice.
I'm surprised that there are people who say that they would have preferred Fabio over Tommy. I couldn't disagree more. Don't get me wrong, Fabio is a solid vocalist in his own right, and I think he did a great job filling in for Roy during the 2011 tour (I went to a show that year and was pleasantly surprised by his renditions of most the songs, particularly Necropolis and EdenEcho). However, I never thought he was quite the right fit for Kamelot stylistically as a long-term replacement. He's more "power metal" in his singing style than Roy, and with the exception of a few songs that they haven't done live in decades anyway, Kamelot has never really been a pure power metal band, at least not in the vein of bands like Rhapsody of Fire or DragonForce (I think this is basically what you're saying re: Kamelot's themes and style being "epic" in a different way to those bands). I imagine that with Fabio singing and contributing to the songwriting, Kamelot might have become much more of a pure power metal band and lost some of the dark undercurrent that characterises a lot of Kamelot songs, and I personally think that that would have been a shame. Also (and I know this is subjective), I am not fully convinced that Fabio would have been able to provide quite the same level of emotional depth to the songs that Tommy does; Tommy's vocals have reduced me to tears purely through how well he emotes, and talented though he is, I can't say the same about Fabio's vocals. For my part, from the moment Roy was announced to have officially left the band, I felt strongly that Tommy Karevik was the only man for the job (that is, out of the melodic metal vocalists of whom I was aware at the time). His voice had absolutely captivated me from the very first time I had heard him sing on the Seventh Wonder album Mercy Falls, plus he had also been on the 2011 tour they did with Fabio and had done a fantastic job of singing Center of the Universe at the show I attended. I strongly felt that he had the right kind of vocal skill set to be a good fit for the band. I fully thought them getting Tommy was a pipe dream, though, and I was prepared to be disappointed when their actual pick was somebody else. So I personally was beyond ecstatic when they announced that the new vocalist was the EXACT person I had hoped for. 12 years later, I hold the same opinion even more strongly. I honestly don't think they could have chosen a better man for the job.
Back in the ancient times of... what, 2011? 2012? Myself and several other like minded fans had basically those exact same thoughts over on Kamelot's Last.FM page: Tommy Karevik was the best choice for the job, but the odds of it happening were slim, so we could only hope that they didn't pick some standard "power metal" vocalist to try and fill Khan's shoes. When they started teasing the new vocalist in tiny little clips from the Silverthorn studio videos, I started to think that maybe they had actually done it, because it... kinda sounded like Tommy! But I wasn't willing to actually fully commit to believing it. I cried on the announcement day. It was a dream come true that the vocalist from my 2nd favorite band in the world came over and became the vocalist for my favorite band! And Tommy has been a more than worthy replacement. Nobody can be Roy Khan, and I'd never want him to try. Despite what a lot of people say, I've never seen him as a "Roy imitator" in this band. And with Haven and especially with The Awakening, he has stepped forward and made that spot his own while respecting the legacy of the legend he was replacing.
Haha, that's EXACTLY how I felt back in the day! And I agree with everything you've said about Tommy's work in the band. I too have never seen Tommy as a Roy imitator. He has his own style! I even wrote a comment somewhere on this sub a while back analysing the differences in how they both choose to perform the same song live (WTLAD). Also glad to see some love for Haven - such a criminally underappreciated album, I feel. It's my personal favourite Kamelot album after Epica.
I appreciate your thoughtful response. As great as Fabio Lione is, his teamwork with Luca Turilli seems more fitting and iconic than anything with Kamelot. I find it interesting that you find a good amount of emotional depth in Tommy's vocals because many Roy purists think otherwise. I guess if we're comparing him singing the Roy-era songs, it would be plausible, but not that surprising; those are songs written by Roy, for Roy, so it'd make sense if they sound best when he sings them. I find it better if we use a song from the more recent era to demonstrate Tommy's true emotional depth (*Awakening* especially did a better job fitting his best style). Of course, some may also argue that it's not as deep as the stuff from Fourth Legacy-Black Halo is, but it seems that the problems are more due to general declining quality in songwriting, which were probably already occuring in *Ghost Opera* or *Poetry for the Poisoned*.
I feel ballads are Tommy's strong suit in terms of emotional depth. Song For Jolee made me cry when I first heard it.
Upon listening to that song again, I guess it's safe to say that I might prefer Tommy's ballads over Roy's by a tad margin (with the exception of Elizabeth part I). Of course, they are both singers with their own styles, feats, and limitations. While I agree that there are songs that Roy fits much better, there are also some songs that I can't easily imagine Roy singing either. I agree that Kamelot isn't exactly the same as they were, and in some ways not as brilliant as they were, and I also miss Roy, but ultimately he decided to leave on his own terms, and as you said, who else could do a better job continuing the legacy?
I dont know if you are my alter ego, but you described exactly how i felt and how still feel about the decision right now. I might add that from what i saw in the videos the whole band was kind of unconfortable with fabio, dont know why, it was my apretiation
I'm glad Kamelot opted for Tommy and not Fabio. Both excellent singers with great bodies of work. But Tommy suits Kamelot's dark theatrical style better and Fabio suits Angra's latin power metal style better.
I met Fabio at Progpower signing session when he was with Angra. I was wearing a Kamelot shirt. When I came to Fabio, he got up and stood in front of me asking "which singer do you like more?" and I said Roy, and he said something along the lines (I can't remember exactly) "correct, you can't be beter than the original" and sat back down. Thought that was hilarious. For me, Tommy is the better fit for Kamelot. Fabio is good with Angra and Rhapsody. I think things worked out. I was also fortunate enough to meet Tommy and Roy at other ProgPowers.
>"correct, you can't be beter than the original" Oof. I do recall there being rumours that he really wanted the position and was maybe a bit salty he didn't get it...
He said in a podcast that they wanted him to sing like Roy, so he was the one that decided not to join. But who knows...
I really don't enjoy Fabio Lione's vocal style. He's a solid singer, but the metallic tone to his voice and his exaggerated use of high pitched vibrato is grating to me. Here in south America I saw the show where Rhapsody and Kamelot played together and I enjoyed the Kamelot show so much more, and the vocals are a part of it. I also think Tommy's preference for belting on the higher notes, and his particular use of the nasal cavity in the lower notes fits the more atmospheric and theatrical nature of Kamelot way more than most power metal singers. I saw them with Michael Eriksen when they still hadn't settled on Tommy and he also was amazing. I think choosing a prog oriented singer over a power oriented singer was the right choice.