YMMV / Epica Album Series

• Awesome Music: Both albums are regarded as being among the very best of the genre. For example, on RateYourMusic, they are on #25 and #12 of the genre charts at the time of this writing, respectively. A lot of the songs have also become staples for live shows, especially "Center of the Universe" and "When the Lights Are Down" with their anthemic choruses, "March of Mephisto" with its heavy rhythms and audience participation, as well as "Abandoned" as an emotional power ballad. A lot of these are also often used for Reaction Videos, especially by vocal coaches/analysts.
• Climactic Music: The bridge of "Memento Mori", including the guest feature of Mari Youngblood and Shargath, a wicked guitar solo and, as Ariel himself calls it, the "finale", his "last recall" with Roy Khan at his most devoted.
• Even Better Sequel: The Black Halo to many fans. Epica is a fantastic album, but The Black Halo is widely considered to be a masterpiece.
• Narm: Epica's cover, with a muscular Ariel with wings and a castle in the background. When asked if there was one thing about Kamelot's career he could change, Youngblood suggested it would be this cover.
• Magnificent Bastard: The manipulative devil Mephisto refuses to bow to humanity, believing only God is worthy of his love. Taking a bet he can corrupt the soul of scholar Ariel, Mephisto lets him fall to his lowest, appearing to him as a beautiful archangel to sway him to revels, convincing Ariel to sign away his soul in a dark pact and introduces him to his lost beloved Helena to corrupt him further, slowly manipulating Ariel to further darkness and leaving him damned. Able to sway countless souls away from the path of righteousness, Mephisto combines a ruthlessness with unmistakable charm and charisma, leading his victims to damnation even after he names the terms to them in his quest to return triumphantly to heaven.
• One-Scene Wonder: Simone Simons in The Haunting, probably being the most popular musician involved in the making of these two albums.
• Signature Song: "March of Mephisto" became this for Kamelot in a way, even though it is darker and slower than most of the band's other material.
• Tear Jerker: Oh boy. Where to start? We have "Wander" and "III Ways to Epica" as examples on the Epica album, both showing Ariel at his most desperate. As for The Black Halo, nearly every single song qualifies in one way or another, given that Ariel suffers a profound existential crisis for basically its entirety. "Soul Society" (about his unfulfilled yearning for a better world), "Abandoned" (about how he feels left alone by God), "This Pain" (as his lowest low emotionally), and "Memento Mori" (where he faces death and reflects on his life) take the cake though.

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