KAMELOT's THOMAS YOUNGBLOOD: 'We Don't Tour As Much As A Lot Of Different Bands, And There's A Reason For That'

In a new interview with Chris Akin of The CMS Metal Show, KAMELOT guitarist Thomas Youngblood was asked if he and his bandmates still enjoy touring as much as they did two or three decades ago in the earlier years of KAMELOT. Thomas responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The thing is we don't tour as much as a lot of different bands, and there's a reason for that. There's a balance that I've learned over the last 20 years of work and touring life and home life. And a lot of bands that just tour, they get burnt out or they lose their relationships at home, all these kind of things. And it's a conscious effort that I've made is to tour where it makes sense, to play shows that are meaningful and do it in a way where you have a balance. So that way when you do see the band on stage, we're energized, we wanna be there, the conditions are... I look at all the venues, I look at the days off, I look at everything when it comes to the tour — the type of bus we have, the hotels — because at the end of the day, you wanna enjoy the whole process. It's not just about making money and saying I played in this city or this city. It's all about the full experience. So, from that aspect, we've been really good at kind of being able to balance all those things. Now, of course, whatever it is, there's always things you gotta consider in being away from home or being in an off town or something where there's nothing to do, those kind of things. But we are the last people to complain about situations and touring and stuff. I mean, the costs have gotten crazy. Everything costs more for everybody, not just us. So, long answer to your question is, yeah, we still love doing it."

Youngblood also addressed the fact that bands rarely cite poor ticket sales publicly when tour dates are canceled, a trend recently dubbed "blue dot fever", referring to a sea of unsold seats on Ticketmaster and other ticketing platforms. Asked if the sheer volume of tours competing for fans' attention and dollars right now makes it "incredibly hard" for a band like KAMELOT to tour in 2026, Thomas said: "Well, it comes off of your track record, the previous tours, really, where the promoters kind of gauge what room they're gonna put you in, these kind of things. I have to say for this [upcoming North American] tour, the pre-sales have been fantastic. But I don't know. I'm not the typical kind of concertgoer. I go to concerts, but, yeah, I don't know what the psychology is now with buying tickets. I mean, the fact that people wait till it's closer to the show kind of makes sense, I guess. But we've never canceled a tour except for 15 years ago when someone quit the whole band and we had to cancel a tour. But that's the first time and it's the last time we've ever had to do that. And people can trust when KAMELOT's coming."

KAMELOT will release a new album, "Dark Asylum", 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.