Kamelot are one of those bands that just don’t seem to set a foot wrong. Even in the face of adversity with a massive line-up change between acclaimed vocalists, Thomas Youngblood & Co keep churning out some massive albums. With the predecessor ‘Silverthorn‘ being a masterwork in itself, it’s hard to see how its successor could follow up. But here, after a long anticipated 3 years, we have Kamelot’s new opus, ‘Haven‘, receiving the analysis to see how it weighs up in Kamelot’s legendary back-catalogue.

The first thing that any Korpiklaani fan would notice about the release of ‘Noita‘, is that this is the longest time between album releases that has ever passed for the Finnish folk metallers. A lot of people would argue, including myself that this could be a very good thing, as it gives the band some time to refresh, recharge and bring back some creative sparks. For Korpiklaani the band have traditionally opted to release albums almost a year after each other, sometimes even less and as fun as the band are – there seemed to be a developing staleness with creativity just appearing to run out. However now Korpiklaani have left 3 years since the release of ‘Manala‘, touring in between and gaining legions of new fans with their unique brand of folk metal, and now have their new opus ‘Noita‘ to offer. Has the extended down time paid off for the sake of the music?