KAMELOT's TOMMY KAREVIK Admits It Was A 'Challenge' To Replace ROY KHAN, But Says 'Now It Feels Like My Band'

In a new interview with Ethereal Metal, KAMELOT's Tommy Karevik spoke about what it was like to replace Roy Khan nearly a decade and a half ago. The Swedish singer has appeared on the band's last five studio albums, 2012's "Silverthorn", 2015's "Haven", 2018's "The Shadow Theory", 2023's "The Awakening" and the upcoming "Dark Asylum" (2026). Asked what the biggest challenge was in finding his own identity within something that already had such a clearly established sound, Tommy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's been — what is it? — 14 years. I guess it's enough time for it to start feeling like your own.

"Of course, it's a challenge. Anyone would understand it's a challenge to step into someone else's shoes [that is] immensely loved and talented," Tommy admitted. "And I would lie if I said I wasn't nervous about it in the beginning. I didn't understand the magnitude of KAMELOT before I started researching it, but when I saw and when I understood, I just took it upon myself to make sure, in the beginning, that I wasn't trampling all over sacred ground, that you have to take care of this. And so it was important for me to research the structure of the songs, what kind of vocals, what kind of melodies, intervals in the melodies, were used, and kind of work with that to make it not too far off what it had been before. Those were the first two albums, maybe.

"It's so funny 'cause I read a lot of comments [after the release of 'Silverthorn']. I don't usually read a lot of comments because it can get you to dark places. But, of course, there was a lot of people writing about things in the beginning, and I remember seeing a lot of comments, like, 'Obviously, the songs were already written. They had Roy's songs already,' so I just sang them. But literally nothing was written. And it's so funny to hear people think they know things. But I took it as a compliment because I had to do my homework to make sure that that was the way that people felt. So, from day one I wrote the melodies and the lyrics, with help from [co-producer] Sascha [Paeth] and [keyboardist] Oliver [Palotai], too, in the beginning. But, yeah, it's funny. But now — now it feels like my band, for sure, since a couple albums. I think with 'The Awakening', I started taking more space. And I think with this album ['Dark Asylum'], I maybe take even more space again, exploring even more."

Back in 2021, Karevik told MetalTalk about the task of replacing Khan: "I never thought about it as, 'I'm gonna replace someone,' to be honest. I thought about it as I wanna honor the legacy that was already there but bring something new into the fold as well. I thought of it as a huge challenge, of course. But my view on it was never, 'I'm gonna go in and replace this guy,' because I know he was loved, and he is still loved, in the metal community, and he will always be loved because of his talent and what he brought to the table with [Roy's pre-KAMELOT band] CONCEPTION and KAMELOT. I never thought that that was my job to go in and replace him. I just wanted to take on what he had going for the band and just bring me — my personality and my energy.

"In many ways, it's a different band," he continued. "It's a little bit of a different energy now. But still, people have all these albums that they can listen to from the beginning, and they have new albums, and they will continue to have new albums with great songs. That's kind of my take on it."

At the time, Karevik also talked about the KAMELOT fans' response to his addition to the band. "I have to say, it's never an easy thing, especially coming in after someone that was so renowned," he told MetalTalk. "Thinking back, in hindsight, it couldn't have gone any better, to be honest. I'm so happy that the fans were so accepting and really welcomed me with open arms. So I have only positive things to say about that. I thought it was gonna be more stressful, with the metal community often maybe living in the past a little bit, here and there.

"If I think about my favorite albums, for example, of my favorite bands, I also live in the past," he admitted. "Let's just be real — I glorify some of the stuff in the past. And I think, 'Ah, it's never gonna be the same again.'

"If my favorite band had to replace its singer, I don't know what I would do. So I come from the same thought. So that's why I'm so happy that everyone, or most of the people, were so welcoming."

Khan 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. He has since reformed his pre-KAMELOT band CONCEPTION and released an EP, 2018's "My Dark Symphony", and a full-length album, 2020's "State Of Deception".

In a 2018 interview with Italy's SpazioRock, Roy called leaving KAMELOT "the best decision I have ever made" and praised Karevik, saying he "really" liked some of KAMELOT's newer material with Tommy on vocals. "Sounds classical KAMELOT in my ears, and Tommy is a great singer," Roy said.

Karevik currenty resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his wife, KOBRA AND THE LOTUS lead vocalist and songwriter Kobra Paige.

"Dark Asylum" will be released 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.