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Rating: I was there, on the ground, scared and bleeding, looking at my hand: the one that, stoic like a frontline warrior in Ridley Scott's “Gladiator,” sacrificed itself on that path-battlefield in favor of my head. The skin of the palm looks like a tent raised where soil and pebbles have entered to party warmly, sipping a good glass of platelets hard at work. I try to push back these rebellious stone fans by using my shirt as a broom. Who knows, I think to myself as I bandage it as best as I can, maybe the wound will heal, and some tiny pebble will remain there forever to keep me company. Like certain memories, there is no mercury chrome or aureomycin that can hold them. They surface in my mind randomly: often, it's the notes of a CD that bring them back to the surface and then crash them onto the shore of the hypothalamus.
Roy Khan's voice is not only beautiful and technically impeccable. Over the years, I've often enjoyed having it listened to by ears accustomed to completely different musical genres, and that voice conquered them all. “Really crappy music: a guarantee as always Paolo, but this time you brought out an amazing voice!” One after another, pins fall, struck by the perfect trajectory of a strike. In this live album “One Cold Winter’s Night” from 2006, Kamelot shows an enviable amalgam, and with a good number of albums under their belt, they manage to offer the audience a top-notch tracklist. But everything pales in comparison to his performance: simply dizzying.
Touching, sweet, and fragile highs like the first part of “Elizabeth” bring to mind those lips that had become dry during those months; those lips that approach, hesitant at first, and then, suddenly, like magnets find themselves united again. They discover themselves to be thirsty and passionate once more, joining in an infinite kiss that turns back time. Pure melody in the duet with the beautiful Simone Simons of Epica in the harmonious “The Haunting” and then again, with “Moonlight”, to resurrect those romantic moments at dusk with the light wind as the only warm blanket on a bench and an ice cream melting amidst stupid laughter. Arguments and misunderstandings for absurd reasons that sprouted like mushrooms overnight after a downpour. In the blink of an eye, I see them resurface and come to life in memories thanks to the powerful “The Black Halo”, “Soul Society”, and “When The Lights Are Down”: rare metallic outbursts with fierce riffs well embedded in melodic lines that surely catch on in the chorus phase.
And then you make peace, and everything seems lighter, easier, and more airy; the melodic and stereotyped up-tempos like a Walt Disney movie “Center Of The Universe”, “Farewell”, and “Karma” capable of ending with a crescendo of fireworks on the scorching sheets. And then something cracks: no, it's not a healthy outburst, it's really a crack no putty can hold. A breach that will inevitably ruin everything. The sadness that “Abandoned” manages to convey brings all this back to the surface and almost makes me want to go open the drawer up there, in my room, to reread a bit of the past in the form of sappy notes and maybe regret it; why not?
"One Cold Winter’s Night" is such an engaging CD that it cost me 2,500.00 euros. Safety distances and wet road, reads the sad report written in typical and unreadable Italian bureaucratic language. Nonsense. The real reason I ended up kissing the metallic rear of that gray Golf is called “Nights Of Arabia.” I still remember it resounding while I try to remove myself from the airbag in an adrenaline bath. Damn Roy Kahn!
Tracklist and Lyrics
02 The Black Halo (03:39)
Come wind
Come snow
Come winterland
I have resigned myself to death
Come will to show the hidden hand
So I can draw my final breath
You could take me higher
So you said and I trusted you
I may be a liar, but betrayal lies on you
I can feel when the journey ends
Final call for a last defense
Darkness come tonight
I have no fear of what you hold
Darkness come alive
You are the stories I've been told
I possess the power
Of survival in the cold
Life is like a flower
As it stumbles out of fall
We all know when our time has come
This is where I will linger on
Darkness come tonight
I have no fear of what you hold
Darkness come alive
You are the stories I've been told
Darkness come tonight
Nothing can take my faith away
Darkness come alive
Life fades to black from silver grey
03 Soul Society (04:35)
If my soul could revive
From my carnal remains
What does it matter to me
If it all fades to black
If I'm born once again
Then no one really is free
How could I be condemned
For the things that I've done
If my intentions were good
I guess I'll never know
Some things under the sun
Can never be understood
How can we believe in heaven
Human reason counters all
Ideas of a soul society
My life is just a fragment
Of the universe and all
There must be more than I can see
In the dark we're the same
In the concept of time
We're like a grain in the sand
And we strive for the flame
As if death was our aim
Cause we cannot understand
How I wish there was a heaven
All for one and one for all
A flawless soul society
Our lives are just a fragment
Of the universe and all
There may be more than we can see
04 The Edge of Paradise (04:44)
Sleepless
Not really quite awake
Where the soul conforms
To deeper needs
Free within frames of custody
I revolve my spirit and exhale
On the edge of paradise
Poison burning
In my veins
Unavailing...compromised
My dreams remain the same
Soothing but yet so violent
In this world within the other world
Moonlight...in visions...heaven sent
I see demon eyes and wings unfurled
On the edge of paradise
Poison burning
In my veins
Unavailing...compromised
My dreams remain the same
On the edge of paradise
Powerless
I sail on by
Undermining life itself
My will to wonder why
05 Center of the Universe (06:02)
Move slowly
Beyond the colors of my eyes
Move slowly
Into the corners of my mind
Rising like the Pegasus
Each and every one of us
Released
Islands in the sea of dreams
Always searching harmony
And peace
All we find
Reject our mind
Don't you wonder why
If the war by heavens gate released desire
In the line of fire someone must have known
That a human heart demands to be admired
Cause in the Center of the Universe
We are all alone
Show me sign of paradise
A place we all would like to go to
Tell me what to sacrifice
So there's a chance for me to want you
All I find
Reject my mind
And I wonder why
If the war by heavens gate released desire
In the line of fire someone must have known
That a human heart demands to be admired
Cause in the Center of the Universe
We are all alone
I have a tale to be told won't you listen tonight
Follow me into the core of the fountain of light
Try to imagine that hope is our ship for the soul
[Over the ocean the quest of your life lies ahead]
Maybe together we'll find there's a place for us all
[Follow the star in your mind, sail along sail along]
06 Nights of Arabia (06:26)
came across the waters
a kingdom in the sands
unfaithful to the sultan
a killing was at hand
challenged to survival
a legacy of fear
eternal mystic legends
one for every tear
nights of Arabia
the queen has lost her right to life
nights of Arabia
her destiny in story lines
nights of Arabia
a thousand tales and one for life
these are nights of Arabia
whispers in the moonlight
a gathering of vales
circled round the fire
to hear this evenings tale
standing on the threshold
the crest of darkened nights
seduction of the hunter
the slave regains her might
"lost inside a shadow
erase the sins I've made
heavenly reward me
with mercy on my fate"
nights of Arabia
the queen has lost her right to life
nights of Arabia
her destiny in story lines
nights of Arabia
a thousand tales and one for life
these are nights of Arabia
Sheherazade will never die
the sultan relents his feeble hear
this love for the queen is greater than he'll ever know
"it's easy to let you feed my nights
someone to touch, someone to hold,
someone to feel, someone to love"
"here I am to die alone
voices from heaven above
hear my call awaken my soul
forgive me for what I have done"
challenged to survival
a legacy of fear
eternal mystic legends
one for every tear
07 Abandoned (04:10)
Once my life was plain and clear
I recall
Once my ignorance was bliss
Nightfall came
Like a serpent's kiss
To my troubled mind
Why my God
Have you abandoned me
In my sobriety
Behind the old facade
I'm your bewildered child
So take me cross the river wide
Binding promises were made
On my soul
Grand illusions lead astray
Ice cold winds swept my heart away
Bring me back to you
Why my God
Have you abandoned me
In my sobriety
Behind the old facade
I'm your bewildered child
So take me cross the river wide
[Helena]
I remember a song
Like in a dream
Where September was long
And winter unreal
Why my God above
Have you abandoned me
In my sobriety
Behind the old facade
I'm your bewildered child
So take me cross the river wide
08 Forever (07:55)
There's a pain within
That I can't define
There's an empty space
Where your love used to shine
From the night we met
Till the day you died
Do you think I wished
Do you still believe I tried
All too soon we were divided
And life had just begun
Will you revive from the chaos in my mind
Where we still are bound together
Will you be there waiting by the gates of dawn
When I close my eyes forever
I belong to you
You belong to me
It's the way things are
Always meant to be
Like the morning star
And the rising sun
You convey my life
And forgive me what I've done
All too soon we were divided
In the darkness and light
Will you revive from the chaos in my mind
Where we still are bound together
Will you be there waiting by the gates of dawn
When I close my eyes forever
Save me
Reverse how I'm thinking of you
Every breath I take
Brings me closer
Closer to forever, to you
I'm waiting for the day that I'm gone
10 The Haunting (Somewhere in Time) (04:33)
Merely the sound of your voice
Made me believe that, that you were her
Just like the river disturbs
...my inner peace
Once I believed I could find
Just a trace of her beloved soul
Once I believed she was all
Then she smothered my beliefs
One cold winter's night
I may follow her voice to the river
Leave, leave me for now and forever
Leave what you can
Somewhere in time
I will find you and haunt you again
Like the wind sweeps the earth
Somewhere in time
When no virtues are left to defend
You fallen deep
I was a liar in every debate
I rules the forced that fueled your hate
When the cold in my heart leaves
It comes to an end
Quietly I'll go to sleep
How could that first time recur
When memories linger on
What made me think you were her
Helena is dead to all, dead to all
Nothing can bring her to life
Don't pretend that I'll be loving you
Once I believed she was gone
I corrupted from within
Leave me for now and forever
Leave what you can
Somewhere in time
I will find you and haunt you again
Like the wind sweeps the earth
Somewhere in time
When no virtues are left to defend
You fallen deep
I was a liar in every debate
I rules the forced that fueled your hate
When the cold in my heart leaves
It comes to an end
Quietly now go to sleep
[Roy]
Follow me into the light
[Simone]
Like ice on a lake of tear
I'll take you through
[Roy]
Leave me tonight
[Roy]
I've gone too far to begin all anew
[Simone]
Life fades in anew
[Roy and Simone]
With someone like you
Somewhere in time
I will find you and love you again
Like the wind sweeps the earth
Somewhere in time
When no virtues are left to defend
You fallen deep
I was a liar in every debate
I rules the forced that fueled your hate
When the cold in my heart leaves
It comes to an end
Quietly now go to sleep
Sleep...
11 Moonlight (05:10)
I have never craved the system’s sympathy
I get restless over pitys smiles
Some precaution wouldn’t harm my history
If I had the will to wait a little while
You cut the silence like a knife
You know I can't repent for all
Moonlight falling over me
Sail on where the shadows hide
Moonlight crawling down on me
Just like you could not compete with my pride
Compensation for a misconducted life
Is it way too much to ask?
Hard to wake up
With your heart and soul deprived
When the morning comes
the second to your last
You cut the silence like a knife
At the edge of my last defences
You cut the silence like a knife
you know I won't repent for all
Moonlight falling over me
Sail on where the shadows hide
Moonlight crawling down on me
Just like you could not compete with my pride
Shine on silver from the sky into the night
Gaia shivers and I need your leading light
Moonlight falling over me
Sail on where the shadows hide
Moonlight crawling down on me
Just like you could not compete with my pride
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Other reviews
By VuFeRo-Rosso
"Khan’s voice ... is already in itself the essence of melody, an additional musical instrument to guitars, drums, and the whole shebang."
"A true gem, technically enhanced by a barrage of cameras, 18 to be exact, expertly directed by Patric Ullaeus."
