KAMELOT's THOMAS YOUNGBLOOD On Upcoming Tour: 'Even Though We've Been Around A Long Time, We Really Focus On The New Songs'

In a new interview with MikeP of TotalRock's "The Autopsy" radio show, KAMELOT's founding guitarist Thomas Youngblood spoke about how he and his bandmates go about choosing a setlist for their tours. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " Yeah, that's very hard. We always start with the new album. We save four to five new songs always with each tour, so that's five songs that we have to eliminate from the setlist. And then — like on this upcoming tour, we're gonna be bringing back some songs that we haven't played in a while. But that is definitely difficult, and it's also difficult when you pick the five songs from the new album. Obviously, usually you kind of start with the singles and then you kind of figure out which ones are gonna work live, which ones are gonna translate the best live. But that's always, with 14 albums, it's always the biggest challenge, is just putting together a setlist...

"We are a band that, even though we've been around a long time, we really focus on the new songs, the new material," Thomas explained. "And I think that's one of the important aspects of how the band has maintained relevancy, is not kind of falling back on songs from 20 years ago. And we still play a couple of songs here and there from the older albums, but in general, we always try to focus on the most up-to-date material. And I think that's kind of been a really special aspect of our shows, to always present new music and believe in the new music. A lot of times, any artist that's been around a long time, they don't really believe in what they're doing now. They make an album just so they have a reason to tour, but they only play old songs, which is not something that we want to do, not only for the fans, but for ourself personally. We wanna play new music… It's something that we believe in. We believe in the new material, and so we focus on that, for sure."

Regarding the stage production for the upcoming North American leg of KAMELOT's "Dark Asylum" world tour, which is scheduled to launch on August 28 in Orlando, Florida, Thomas said: " No spoilers, but obviously we wanna try to recreate some of that asylum on stage. And there'll be some surprises. Obviously, the deco and everything in terms of the way the imagery is on the stage is gonna be something that we always try to kind of recreate every night. I mean, if we were doing a residency in Vegas, we could do the same show every night. So every show is gonna be a little different. But in general, we always try to bring a big production, which, for this tour, will be no different. So it's gonna be awesome. There's gonna be some surprises for the fans, which is gonna be fun too."

KAMELOT's new album, "Dark Asylum", will arrive on August 28 via Napalm Records.

So far, two singles have been made available from the effort, "Ashen World" and "Godlike Alchemy".

Longtime KAMELOT producer Sascha Paeth returned to helm the LP, alongside Jacob Hansen, who oversaw mixing and mastering.

Ignacia Fernández, the 28-year-old model who was crowned Miss World Chile 2025 (Spanish: Miss Mundo Chile) during last year's finals of the talent competition, makes a guest appearance on the songs "Ashen World" and "Sanctuary".

"Dark Asylum" unfolds through fifteen interconnected compositions that expand the RavenHill narrative while moving between orchestral passages, heavy guitar-driven arrangements, atmospheric textures, and character-based storytelling.

Formed in Florida in the early 1990s, KAMELOT became one of the defining names in modern symphonic and progressive power metal through albums such as "The Fourth Legacy", "Karma", "Epica", "The Black Halo", "Ghost Opera", "Silverthorn" and "The Awakening". Across more than three decades, the band has built an international following through conceptual storytelling, orchestral arrangements, and ambitious live productions.