KAMELOT Guitarist Says 'Religious Aspect' Played Part In Singer's Decision To Sit Out Tour

Jorge Ciudad of Chile's PowerMetal.cl web site recently conducted an interview with KAMELOT guitarist Thomas Youngblood. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On recruiting singer Fabio Lione (RHAPSODY OF FIRE) to fill in for longtime KAMELOT frontman Roy Khan, who has declined to take part in the band's current tour:

Youngblood: "I've heard some songs with Fabio singing — some KAMELOT songs like 'Ghost Opera' — and he sings quite different than he does with RHAPSODY for KAMELOT, which also, of course, makes sense, because it's a different approach to vocals.

"The idea [to hire Fabio for the tour] came from Sascha Paeth, our producer, who also produces RHAPSODY. He suggested it because he has worked with Fabio and knows his abilities. But, obviously, the high range that he can do with songs like 'Center Of The Universe' or 'Nights Of Arabia', these are songs that we… I think over the years, Roy, his range has dropped, so a song like 'Nights Of Arabia' is no problem for Fabio to sing. So we're gonna add some songs [to the upcoming tour's setlist] that we haven't been able to play over the past few years that I think fans have been wanting to hear."

On the rumor that Roy Khan's "religious conversion" played a major part in his decision to sit out KAMELOT's current world tour:

Youngblood: "This is what we do, this is what we love doing — the band loves performing, we love touring. And I don't know if Roy has lost that… in his heart, in terms of what he likes doing. I know that there are some other issues. I know that there is a religious aspect to it now that I can't really 100 percent explain. Obviously, we were disappointed, and I'm not gonna lie, I was a little bit pissed off about it, but at the same time, we — the whole band, together — decided, 'Listen, we're not gonna slow down! We've got this new album and we wanna come to South America.' And that's what we're doing."

"Whenever we had a day or two off in Europe [on previous KAMELOT tours], [Roy] needed to fly home, which I thought was kind of extreme, to fly home, but that kind of was a sign was that I should have noticed that maybe the touring part was not for him. But the religious aspect of it is something that I want him to kind of talk about, but I know that he had been going to religious classes, for whatever reason. Obviously, over the years of working together and being, at times, best friends and things like that, we have discussed all kinds of topics about religion, so it's actually very surprising to me that this is where we are at now with him. But I don't really wanna talk too much more about it, because that's really something, I think, that he should come out about, in terms of what he believes or doesn't believe or whatever. All I can say is right now the band is unified and we're just not gonna slow down."

On the possibility that KAMELOT may need to look for a new permanent singer:

Youngblood: "I don't really wanna think about that until this touring cycle is over. All I can say is we're not gonna fire him; that's not my position and I... It is my position, but I'm not gonna do that. . . If Roy decides that he doesn't wanna do this anymore, he has to make an announcement. But right now, I think the smartest thing for us, and the most compassionate thing, is to just give him the time until the next record, until we start really working hard on the next album, and if by that time he is not ready to work and doesn't wanna work, then we have to look at the possibility of getting another singer, which is, obviously, something we are willing to do, if we have to do that."

You can listen to PowerMetal.cl's interview with Thomas Youngblood in the YouTube clip below.