Ex-KAMELOT Singer ROY KHAN On His Upcoming Debut Solo Album: 'It's Definitely Gonna Be Metal'

In a new interview with Yiannis Dolas of Rockpages.gr, former KAMELOT and current CONCEPTION vocalist Roy Khan spoke about his upcoming first solo album, which is tentatively due in late 2026 or early 2027. Asked why he hadn't released a solo record earlier, Roy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " I'm not sure I have any good answer to that. One answer is, of course, CONCEPTION, 'cause [we] reunited in 2016. That's when we started really looking into making new songs and getting into a new production. And after that I've been pretty busy. We've also had the pandemic, and a couple of years just disappeared. And now I've found a good group of people that I feel complement me in a good way. And I'm looking forward to do a new album, that's for sure."

As for the musical direction of his solo material, Khan said: "It's definitely gonna be metal, for sure. That's one of the reasons why I love this genre, is the melancholy and the heavy guitars. It's a must-have. But I'm also walking on the brighter and lighter side of life on some songs, but it's definitely gonna be metal. But I have other song ideas and songs that don't really fit this genre that well. I could, of course, adapt them to fit an album of this kind."

He explained: "Some of these ideas go way back, like way back. And they weren't used in the past either because we had the stuff we needed or somebody else in the team didn't like it or didn't feel that it fit style-wise. It's a good mix of new stuff and old stuff. And also old stuff that is modified and changed somehow."

Roy went on to say that some of the songs on his upcoming solo album were created as a collaborative effort with other musicians.

"I play the guitar and I play the piano, but it's always good to have somebody that can really, really play, so you can get the ideas out and they may have some ideas," he explained. "So some songs I've written with other people, which is a big part of the fun of doing this at all… There's one guy that is a big part of it. That's Caio Kehyayan. He plays in the Brazilian band FIREWING. He's been extremely helpful and he's good with recording technology and stuff like that. So, that's really cool. And he's a creative and really talented guitar player. I'm looking forward [to it]. I'm also bringing him [to perform with me] live."

Khan's solo album is being produced by Sascha Paeth, a producer, composer and musician with a long-standing career in European metal. Paeth is widely recognized for his fundamental role in shaping the sound of classic KAMELOT albums such as "The Fourth Legacy", "Karma", "Epica" and "The Black Halo", as well as for his work with acts like AVANTASIA, EPICA and ANGRA. His signature blend of heaviness, refinement and cinematic atmosphere aligns closely with the artistic identity Khan has developed throughout his career.

Alongside Paeth, the album is being co-produced by Kehyayan and Adrienne Cowan (SEVEN SPIRES),both of whom have been deeply involved in the songwriting process. Additional songwriting contributions come from Bill Hudson, best known for his work with TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, I AM MORBID and CIRCLE II CIRCLE.

Last July, Khan took the stage at Tokio Marine Hall in São Paulo, Brazil for a one-night-only performance celebrating the 20th anniversary of KAMELOT's "The Black Halo" album.

Originally released in 2005, the LP remains a landmark in metal history, featuring iconic tracks like "March Of Mephisto", "The Haunting (Somewhere In Time)" and "When The Lights Are Down".

Backing Roy at the São Paulo show were members of the Brazilian progressive rock/heavy metal band MAESTRICK, consisting of Fabio Caldeira on vocals, piano and synthesizers, Renato Montanha on bass, Heitor Matos on drums and Guilherme Henrique on guitar. Also appearing on select tracks was Cowan.

In the summer of 2023, Roy said that a number of things contributed to his decision to leave KAMELOT a decade and a half ago.

The now-56-year-old Norwegian singer announced his exit from KAMELOT in April 2011 after taking several months off to recover from a "burnout."

After his departure from KAMELOT, Khan, who is a devout Christian, joined a church in the coastal town of Moss, Norway.

In an interview with Justin Young of Monsters, Madness And Magic, Roy — whose full name is Roy Sætre Khantatat — was asked what led to his split with KAMELOT. He responded: "Everything. Too much travel. Too much work. I had my first kids. I got married and I was pretty much falling into every pit there was. And this whole character that I was creating was very different from the person that I was and wanted to be at home. And those two characters pulled farther and farther from each other and that whole thing just tore me apart. I wasn't really present when I was at home either. I'd come back from a six-week tour and just take my shoes off and sit right down on the PC and work on something, and it was not good. And I got mentally sick. That summer of 2010, I had a period of five, six weeks where I literally did not sleep. Maybe, I mean a little bit, of course, but there were so many nights that I did not sleep at all. I just wandered around the house and worrying about everything and nothing."

Asked if he became religious after his exit from KAMELOT, Roy said: "Religious? Depends on what you mean by religious, how you define that. But I've always been occupied with big questions and also spiritual things. I mean, those kind of things have always fascinated me. But there were some really weird things that happened to me in connection with me being at my lowest low ever in 2010. I mean, obviously, I was really mentally ill at that point, but we experienced things. I mean, I experienced things that other people experienced together with me, and the timing of things were really awkward. Whatever that was, it definitely made me completely change my mind on the whole issue, is there something out there that we can't see that affects us? I'm positive about that. And I still have to sit down and pinch myself in the arm and just remind myself that the things that happened happened. I mean, some of those things people surely will say are coincidence. Some will say that I just imagined it. Some people will say that — some people won't even believe. But for me, it was very, very clear. And, there's no doubt in my mind. That doesn't mean that that completely changed my life. I mean, it did, but it's not like I was a whole new being all of a sudden. I still have things that I struggle with. It's not like you go from being an arrogant, sinful bastard to being an angel. It's a process. But all those things, having those things in mind for me is definitely gradually changing me in my approach to other people, life in general and then how I look at the time that I have left on this planet."

Four years ago, Roy told Chaoszine about his split with KAMELOT: "I'm really, really extremely thankful that KAMELOT was able to continue without me, 'cause I had no intention to hurt the band. It was a very personal decision to quit the band and I simply had to. And I'm just glad that everything turned out in the end to be… They managed to go on without me, and I'm just very thankful for that, really."

Khan, who reformed his pre-KAMELOT band CONCEPTION eight years ago and released an EP, 2018's "My Dark Symphony", and a full-length album, 2020's "State Of Deception", previously reflected on the circumstances that led to him ending his long working relationship with KAMELOT during an appearance in 2021 on the "Breaking Absolutes With Peter Orullian" podcast. Roy said: "That whole thing was a cocktail of several things that just happened to climax at that point. As you all, KAMELOT was getting more and more popular, so I was away months every year — like half the year at least I was gone. I was having a family, and that right there was starting to tear me apart. And then I was living my life not very healthy — let's put it that way — and I did a lot of stupid stuff back then that… I knew in my heart that it was going down the drain."

He continued: "I remember every night when I sang [the KAMELOT song] 'Karma', I would feel that this shit is gonna knock me on the back of the head at some point. If it's gonna tomorrow, [if] it's gonna be two years from now, I don't know, but the way I live my life, that's not gonna work — it's not sustainable. And then it happened. I knew for so many years, actually, that this was gonna not work out, and then, all of a sudden, it happened. I broke down. I had a full summer where I barely slept — like six to eight weeks where I didn't sleep a whole lot of hours during those six to eight weeks, and I was going really completely crazy. And in connection with that, a lot of stuff happened."

According to Khan, leaving KAMELOT after a 13-year run weighed heavily on him at the time.

"Quitting KAMELOT was the best decision that I've ever made, and by that I don't mean that… KAMELOT was a fantastic thing in my life, and Thomas and the other guys — it had nothing to do with them; it was all me and the way I lived my life, and I just couldn't take it any longer," he explained. "And I was also overworked — I worked all the time. Even when I was home. The first thing I'd do when I got back home is I would kick my shoes off in the hallway and I'd just sit right down at the computer and start working. I was really not a good husband and I was not a good father. Lots of things weren't good about me at that point.

"Quitting KAMELOT at that point, it was easy but it was hard," he elaborated. "It was easy because I didn't really have a choice. I was really wrecked. And at the same time, it was hard because I'd been working to get to that point my whole life, basically — 20 years, at least — and finally I was there. And then I threw the towel in and said, 'Hey, guys, I'm not coming in for the next tour.' 'Okay. Well, what's wrong?' 'Well, actually, I'm not coming back at all.' And obviously, everybody… My mom was, like, 'Are you kidding me? Are you serious?' Then the guys in the band, they thought that it was gonna pass. But I knew in my heart that summer [of 2010], already in August, I knew that that's it."

KAMELOT officially announced Tommy Karevik as its new lead singer in June 2012. The Florida-based band has recorded four albums so far with the Swedish vocalist: 2012's "Silverthorn", 2015's "Haven", 2018's "The Shadow Theory" and 2023's "The Awakening".

Asked if he has listened to any of KAMELOT's recent material with Karevik, Roy told Italy's SpazioRock back in 2018: "Yes I have. I really like some of their new stuff. Sounds classical KAMELOT in my ears, and Tommy is a great singer."

Image credit: Roy Khan Official