ROY KHAN Says Both His Debut Solo Album And Upcoming CONCEPTION LP Are 'Coming Out Great'

In a new interview with Sakis Fragos of Rock Hard Greece, 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 if the songwriting process for the LP has already been completed, Roy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Mostly. I'm doing the solo thing, and at the same time we're doing the CONCEPTION production [for the next studio album], so the productions sort of go parallelly. We try to isolate periods to be able to focus on one thing at a time. And, of course, there's gonna be some time between those releases. And both of them are coming out great. And there's a lot of understanding on both sides, or in both camps, in the sense you can define CONCEPTION as a different camp, as I'm in both. But I think it's gonna be possible to do this in a way that actually benefits both, let's say, projects, that we're gonna be able to feed off of the synergy of both these things sort of happening at the same time."

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 Caio Kehyayan (FIREWING) 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 month, Khan was asked by Yiannis Dolas of Rockpages.gr why he hadn't released a solo record earlier. Roy responded: " 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."

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 — whose full name is Roy Sætre Khantatat — 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.

Khan 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".

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".

Image credit: Roy Khan Official