If you know me, you know I love metal, no matter what country it comes from. It's time for another one of the genre cross-over posts. Previous posts have featured bands like Nightwish, Beast in Black, Sabaton, and Epica, all of which in some way or form have a connection to Japan.

Kamelot is a band I haven't brought up before, but I'm going to take the opportunity to do so now. I've been listening to them for a solid two decades, ever since their 2001 album "Karma," which is one of the albums that cemented them as one of the power metal greats and has contributed songs that they play even now.

I've previously mentioned Battle Beast as having plenty of songs based on Kentaro Miura's Berserk series. It's been a while since they've come to America (five years, in fact) but they're finally back again. They'll be accompanying Kamelot on this tour, much like they did in 2019. This year's local stop will be at San Francisco's Regency Ballroom, which has played host to many a metal show and is probably the venue I've gone to the most times in my life along with The Warfield, also in San Francisco.

Kamelot and Battle Beast previously played at the Palace of Fine Arts in October 2019. This also happened to be the same date as a Babymetal show in San Francisco. You might be questioning my choice of seeing Kamelot and Battle Beast instead of Babymetal given the media we cover here on The-O Network, but my excuse is that I was already planning on seeing them the week after at The Forum in Los Angeles. As an aside, Babymetal does have a tour coming up with their California stops being at YouTube Theater in Los Angeles for two nights, on October 11 and 12.

I'm picking Kamelot again this year over another event, in this case, PAX West, which takes place this weekend. It technically begins on the same day as the San Francisco Kamelot show, September 1, but I decided to go to Kamelot first, and PAX on the days after. In any case, expect some coverage from us at PAX West in a few days.  Both Ken and Sal, two of our major contributors, will be there start to finish.

Kamelot is touring in support of their newest album, "The Awakening," which was released on March 17 of this year. One of the standout songs for me from "The Awakening" is the song New Babylon. It is, by far, the best song, and features Simone Simons from Epica and Melissa Bonny from Ad Infinitum (two more bands you should check out!). Also great songs are Eventide, The Great Divide, and NightSky. From looking at some of the initial setlists for the tour, the band will be utilizing Melissa Bonny quite a bit as guest vocalist. The band will be balancing "The Awakening" against some of their other albums and you can count on hearing some classics like Rule the World, March of Mephisto, and Karma.

Battle Beast doesn't have a new album as of this year but they did release "Circus of Doom" in 2022. I recommend the tracks Wings of Light, Master of Illusion, Eye of the Storm, and Armageddon. For those looking for the Berserk songs, check out Kingdom, Victory, Iron Hand, Show Me How to Die, and The Eclipse.

You may have also heard vocalist Noora Louhimo as part of League of Legends' metal band Pentakill. I was a little shocked the first time I heard that oh-so-familiar voice during one of the pauses during League of Legends' annual Worlds tournament.

They'll be joined by Xandria, another killer band from Europe. The newest lineup features Ambre Vourvahis on vocals joined by founding member Marco Heubaum, along with Rob Klawonn, Tim Schwarz, and Dimitrios Gatsios. I'm really pleased with the new lineup. Ambre has the capabilities of both growls and operatic vocals which you will be able to hear on their newest album, "The Wonders Still Awaiting," which was released earlier this year. Reborn, You Will Never Be Our God, and Asteria are some strong songs from the album that you should check out.  It's been a while since I've had the privilege of seeing Xandria in the states and they've always been a good band to check out.

For those of you in Japan, Kamelot will have a few shows in November. They'll be in Osaka on November 1, and on November 3 and 4, in Kawasaki (south of Tokyo). One of my friends lives over in Kawasaki so it might be cause to visit, wink wink. Japan happens to be the only Asian country that Kamelot will be visiting this fall.

Thus ends this crossover post for now.  We'll be back with coverage of the San Francisco show if all things go as planned.  After that, we'll be resuming our Japanese coverage with the group Passcode as they embark on their first United States tour.

Tour dates as follows:

8/17 Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
8/18 Worchester, MA - The Palladium
8/19 New York, NY - Webster Hall
8/21 Montreal, QC (CA) - Corona Theatre
8/22 Toronto, ON (CA) - The Opera House
8/24 Chicago, IL - The Vic Theater
8/25 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
8/26 Kansas City, MO - The Truman
8/27 Denver, CO - Odgen Theater
8/30 Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
9/1 San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom
9/2 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
9/3 Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren
9/5 Houston, TX - House of Blues
9/6 Dallas, TX - The Echo Lounge
9/8 Atlanta, GA - ProgPower USA
9/9 Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live

11/1 Osaka (JP) - Umeda Club Quattro
11/2 Kawasaki (JP) - Club Citta
11/3 Kawasaki (JP) - Club Citta