LIVE REVIEW: KAMELOT – DARK ASYLUM WORLD TOUR @ THE MASQUERADE – HEAVEN, ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 29, 2026

Nobody knows how to world-build quite like a symphonic metal band, and August 29th in Atlanta was a night of the best of them. Kamelot, celebrating the release of their newest album, Dark Asylum, took over The Masquerade for an incredible night full of headbanging, theatrics, and special guest appearances.

The night started with Frozen Crown, a power metal band from Italy, who stepped into the theatrics right away. Lead singer Giada “Jade” Etro emerged dressed to the nines, crowned in an icy headpiece as the stage was bathed in cool blue light. The band immediately set a high-energy tone, with plenty of headbanging across all members of the band. Engaging the room early, they taught the audience the melody of “Reborn” before getting them to sing further with a crowd-pleasing cover of “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. It was a fun and commanding opening set.

Next up was Visions of Atlantis, who transformed the stage with their intricately detailed set design, featuring ship walls, wooden barrels, glowing lanterns, and intricate pirate costumes. It started strong with dramatic walk-on music, and the group’s performance felt perfectly choreographed as co-lead vocalists Clémentine Delauney and Michele Guaitoli traded lines back and forth. The set was packed with props too. Guaitoli and guitarist Christian Douscha toasted each other with pirate mugs. Guaitoli later unfurled a massive flag to wave. Delauney donned a pirate crown. They also engaged the crowd in other creative ways. For “Pirates Will Return,” they instructed the audience to sit on the floor, place their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them, and row like a true ship crew. They had the entire room bouncing for “Melancholy Angel,” famously dubbed the “jump jump song” during their 2022 run with DragonForce, before closing out their set by teaching the crowd the chants “Hail Jolly Roger” and “Armada” so the audience could sing along to their song “Armada.”

When Kamelot finally took the stage, the crowd went wild. Right off the bat, they brought back Etro from Frozen Crown to do additional vocals, a pattern that continued throughout the night as both Etro and Delauney from Visions of Atlantis returned periodically, both in new costumes different from their opening sets to fit the Kamelot aesthetic. Right before launching into “Godlike Alchemy,” frontman Tommy Karevik paused to shout out the new record, excitedly announcing that Dark Asylum had dropped just yesterday, and introducing the track as one of its own.

Kamelot brought plenty of theatrical visuals to match their sound. For “Revolution,” a podium was brought out for Karevik to sing from, framed by heavy bursts of smoke that added to the drama. He then introduced the title track, “Dark Asylum,” joking that the song was “a mouthful,” before executing the vocally demanding track perfectly. The tone shifted with “Ivy, My Dear,” which Karevik introduced by inviting anyone who knew the words to sing along. The track brought the energy down in a distinctly cinematic way, with forest-like lighting washing over the stage as the band delivered a softer, more emotional performance.

The momentum shot back up with “New Babylon,” which opened with an eerie backing choir and a dramatic presentation of a skull. That then launched right into “Drum Solo,” where drummer “Alex Landenburg” absolutely crushed a performance alone as the rest of the band left the stage. Shortly after, Delauney returned to lend haunting operatic vocals alongside Etro’s sharp metal screams on “Sanctuary,” while Karevik reemerged in a dramatic new cloak.

The set closed out with bangers. Karevik waved a flag across the stage for “One More Flag in the Ground,” leading the room in a loud “hey!” chant, before leaning into more call-and-response moments during “Veil of Elysium.” He first sang the melody solo, prompted the crowd to echo it back, and then added the lyrics as the audience eagerly sang along. Expressing his gratitude to everyone for coming out, Karevik thanked the crowd one last time before launching into the grand finale of the main set, “Ghost Opera.”

Following a lot of cheering, the band returned for a dramatic encore. Landenburg and keyboardist Oliver Palotai stepped out first under  dramatic red lighting, joined by the rest of the band and once more by Etro for the powerful “March of Mephisto.” Demanding one last push, Karevik shouted, “This is your last chance to go freaking crazy” as the band brought the night to a high-energy close with “Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy).” Afterward, the members tossed setlists into the crowd and took a bow, closing out an unforgettable celebration of their newest chapter.

Kamelot Photo Gallery

Visions of Atlantis Photo Gallery

Frozen Crown Photo Gallery

Setlist

• Ashen World
• The Great Pandemonium
• Rule the World
• Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)
• Godlike Alchemy
• Karma
• Revolution
• ⁠Dark Asylum
• ⁠Ivy, My Dear
• New Babylon
• Drum Solo
• Sanctuary
• One More Flag in the Ground
• Veil of Elysium
• Ghost Opera
• Encore:
• March of Mephisto
• Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy)

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Live photography by Anna Daugherty for No Flash Needed. © 2026 No Flash Needed. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without written permission.