You released a sort of live album called The Expedition. Why did you not release a complete live album instead of this collection of bits ’n’ pieces?
    "The idea was originally to do an EP with only 5 live songs. The record company wanted to charge full price so we added more live songs and then we added some unreleased tracks. I mean, it’s not Kamelot’s only live record. It’s more sort of a snapshot in time of what we are doing. We plan on releasing another live record, which probably will be a double with DVD and things like that. The Expedition was more a treat for the fans until the next record would come out."

This new album is full of beautiful melodies. When you write the melody lines do you have a clear vision of what you want them to be before you put them to paper?
    "Pretty much. The way a lot of the songs came together was basically that we had vocal melodies or we had music that we wrote vocal melodies over. We usually always have the melodies written before we do the lyrics."

Where do you draw inspiration from when you write your melodies?
    "Music melodies just come out of the air, out of your head. I just play around on a keyboard or a guitar and these ideas pop out. There are also lots that are written that we don’t like which we throw away. When it comes to vocal melodies that’s just something Khan (first name Roy – vocals. The rest of the band is Glenn Barry – bass and Casey Grillo – drums) is able to create from the vibe he gets from the music. We also try to think about the way the melodies should fit the lyrical concept of what the song is about.
    On Forever the idea was Khan’s to use the Edvard Grieg melody from one of his songs. That’s the only one I know of that was actually inspired directly by a classical piece. Everything else that we’ve done is totally original."

You’ve named your new album Karma. Was it hard to decide on a cover to go with the title?
    "Not really. Elisabeth represents the side of Karma that we felt also fit into the title of the record. We wanted the whole record to have a certain kind of vibe, a sort of inspirational line that goes through all the songs and for us karma is a very important aspect of that. And also something that we feel in our personal lives is very important on how we treat the earth and
other people with a certain kind of respect that we want for ourselves. It did make sense to name the album Karma."

Given that the album is called Karma. Do you believe that man creates his own destiny?
    "I think that there is a certain path that you are given but you have to make the right decisions in your life to fulfil the destiny that is laid out for you. No matter what you do, if you have a destined thing to happen, it’s gonna happen, I don’t believe that at all. Whether it’s hard work or going through life you should make sure you portray a certain picture of yourself that other
people can respect. I think all these things are very important. I would say it’s sort of a 50/50. You have to really focus, whether it’s music or architecture, these things have to be done with big decisions that lay the foundation to these roads of life.
    Karma is more the way you live your life will be reflected when you die and when you come back if you believe in reincarnation. If you lived your life as an asshole and killing people and you come back you will pay for it in certain ways. In America when somebody has a certain vibe, when you meet somebody and you can tell that they are not really good persons you say that they have bad karma. You don’t want to have them around you, they bring bad luck whether it’s going out to dinner or whatever. The whole thing for me when it comes to karma is that I don’t want to be around people I don’t respect or other people don’t respect. For Kamelot, the team we have whether it’s the band, the producers or the road crew we make sure we have people that are cool and that everybody gets along and that there’s always a good vibe going on. It pays off in the long run."

Karma is more of an eastern philosophy. Are you into the Hindu or Buddhist concept of Karma?
    "Not exactly. As far as reincarnation, I’m not really sure I believe in that. I do believe that the way we react to each other and to the environment are very important to how it goes for us as individuals. That is something I try to subscribe to in my daily life. For me it works out. Things are going very well for Kamelot and me. A part of that is because we try to do things we feel are right."

On this album you’ve done a trilogy about Elisabeth Bathori. Given her bloody past the lyrics seem to deal more with her emotional state than her barbaric behaviours.
    "Other bands have covered the topic of Elisabeth Bathori (or "Erzabet Bathory" - ED)). She has always been portrayed as a vampire and we wanted to look more at the human side, who she was and why she became who she was. That was our spin on the whole thing. It’s easier to put out a really good lyrical atmosphere with the more emotional side of who she was. That’s why we wanted to portray her that way."

Do you believe that she was insane or just believed that she really could gain immortality?
    "A person who can do that, for whatever reason she did it for, must be insane. To kill 600 people and to think that their blood was going to make you young and preserve your youth, you have to be insane to think that. I also think that the story, just because in today’s society we are so obsessed with youth and beauty, sort of reflects where we are in today’s society.

But isn’t it strange that the people around here kept letting her do whatever it was that she was doing?
    "When you look a history there are always good examples of how these atrocities were allowed to go on and on until finally somebody gives something about it. It seems strange but she’s a countess with a certain amount of power and she can kind of cover things up until finally it can’t be denied that it’s something that needs to be taken care of."

When you eye through the booklet all the lettering is done in white except for the song Requiem For The Innocent. Is there a specific reason for this?
    "There are rumours that the red ink is blood. The actual reason is that this part of the story is where all the murdering takes place. We wanted the red to be symbolic of that part of the story."

Karma is your fifth studio album so you’ve been doing this for some time now. When Sweden’s HammerFall broke through did you notice that the interest in heavy metal rose or was it happening anyway?
    "I thought it was happening any way. I remember being at the offices of Nuclear Blast when they got the master from HammerFall. At that time I felt it was the right timing for them but it takes more than just a good record. It also takes a record company that is willing to push you to the limits and I think at that time Nuclear Blast did a great job with HammerFall. What that did unfortunately was that it brought out all these clone HammerFall kind of bands that flooded the market."

From what I remember you lived on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and Roy lived on the other side. Is it still like this?
    "Basically we are based in Tampa Bay, Florida and Roy lives in Oslo, Norway. The way things work is really cool for us because we’re able to travel and part of that travelling also brings inspiration to new songs. Roy has been talking about coming to America and living here for a few years but to be honest with you the way things work now I wouldn’t want to change it.
    The only real disadvantage is that we can’t rehearse as a real band. We have to get together
three or four times a year to do rehearsals and work on songs like that instead of being able to
do it once a week like a band would be able to in the same town. That’s the only disadvantage
but I think the advantages outweigh that.
    Khan for us is more than a good vocalist. He’s one of the best vocalists in my opinion. His input into Kamelot and his experience in the past has been an element to where we are today."

The impression I get is that Kamelot do better business in Europe than you do in The States.
    "Up until now we have but things are changing in America and Canada. I’d say that we’ll probably sell as much in Germany as we will here. Germany has always been our largest market and then the southern parts of Europe and then we have Scandinavia but I think America is starting to finally… the tide is changing. I think the Internet has helped that. I think that the kids that are coming up, learning guitar are tired of this crap that they hardly have to learn how to play guitar. I think metal will come back in a certain way. It’s gonna be in a newer form and the way bands work will be different in the next few years as far as the American market. Yes, it’s definitely picking up for us here.
    The best way to let the fans know about you is through adverts in magazines. The kids buy the magazines and they see it whether it’s articles or full-page adverts talking about the record. Letting the fans know about the reviews it’s received. Give them confidence that it’s worth their money to buy the album."

Something that I’ve been busting my brain trying to figure out is when and for what reason I got into heavy metal. Do you know when that defining moment happened to you?
    "I think I was probably 13 or 14 years old and I liked all kinds of music. Basically I liked what my sisters liked, my sisters are older than I am, so I listened to Peter Frampton, Yes and these old bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Part of the influence for me was that my sisters had these heavier albums and I started to hear of bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Iron Maiden was the first band that really turned me on to heavy metal because they were able to do songs and make them a bit more complex and they also evoked these certain images with their music and lyrics. I think that they were the main band for me when it came to heavy metal. I still like different kinds of music. Heavy metal was just what I chose to play. - The first drummer of Kamelot was a big Kiss fan. When I was younger I was more into the musical side of things and not so much the whole theatrical side. When I looked at Kiss I thought they were too simple cause I liked Yes and stuff like that when I was 13 years old. As I‘ve gotten older I’ve started to appreciate bands that aren’t that complex as well. So I think I’ve grown into appreciating all different types of music that aren’t so complex."