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Review Summary: The poetic median Karnivool.
Much has happened since we last saw each other.
Quite like the pageantry of the bastardised nu-metal namesake, there is something bitterly nostalgic about a carnival washing up on your shores. A big top frayed by years of travels beyond the horizon. Are the marvels within the tent just an artefact of childhood wonder? Or does the theatrical genius endure with time?
Well. Here arrives the circus.
2013’s Asymmetry was a polarising and aptly named record. An album as jagged as it was sweet. A difficult digestion of dissonant guitars and off-kilter melodies. In retrospect, an omen of the road to come. Sound Awake, for many, was also an aptly named record. A full-frontal awakening. Those two albums, collectively, represent the light and the dark periods of life. A yin, and a yang. Both sit at opposite ends of a very long spectrum, yet they counterpoint each other so necessarily. In between these symbiotic poles sits an underswell of grey. Space between the highs and lows. Verses between the chorus.
With age, these metaphorical verses seem to grow in length. Explorations into life’s margins are fewer and further between. The dark moments can settle, but so too can the joy. Without close scrutiny, existing in this space can feel akin to a slowly numbing limb. Scar tissue amassing. An anchor into the in-between.
In Verses, then, finds itself aptly named as well. It is Karnivool at a meticulously balanced valence. Heavy, yet delicately light. For those following along since the now decade-old live demos, the final strokes on the canvas may come as surprise. It is an album that bears the scars of time, but also the wisdom that follows them. A collection of chapters that, while on the surface seem comparatively muted compared to previous works, tell a captivating story of love, loss, and the grey into which they lead us.
That is the quiet achievement of In Verses. It does not demand asymmetrical attention, nor does it freight in an awakening. Not all creative wonders are extracted from the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Sometimes they’re extracted from the space in between. The poetic median.
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I'm not gonna neg this, but I feel like this review doesn't really say much about the actual music or album. Or maybe I'm too stupid to read between the lines and parse the more abstract writing style.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
For sure; going for something a bit different this time. An album better felt than described IMO.
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This is both somehow worse and more pretentious than a pitchfork review. Kinda impressive.
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Well, this is a bit convoluted, but the main point is simple and clear enough.
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It comes out tomorrow I’m also not sure how you listened to this
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Wait until you find out about time zones, they’re fascinating.
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It slipped my mind you don’t gotta be a dick
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Haha nah nah. When you live Down Under gravity drops all the releases on you early. It’s dope.
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"Without close scrutiny, existing in this space can feel akin to a slowly numbing limb"
bro I'm stealing this line. Fire.
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Man, I know this is a bit of an emotional moment,
but this doesn’t even qualify as a review.
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Less is more.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Hahah, @Arthropod, fret not. Someone will be along to talk about the sik riffs, gnarly bass tonez, and crispy prod soon enough.
Conversations is possibly my fav track at the moment. Insanely catchy.
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On the second thought, I take that back.
This one's unconventional and to the point. Good job.
Shall listen soon. Firstly, because it's new Karnivool, of course, and secondly, because I need normal music after revisiting An Insatiable Violence today.
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Good piece of creative writing. I'm to assume the new album sits comfortably in the middle between Sound Awake and Asymmetry. I just don't get the justification for a 4.5 based off of what you wrote. It's a little too non-specific. Take out the band's name and album title and you could confuse this with a lot of things.
If that is a point being made in regards to the new album, then, it doesn't sound like a 4.5 to me.
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themata and sound awake have aged so well. band was well ahead of their time and got kind of written off as tool clones, which i never thought was a remotely fair comparison
drew goddard is a riff machine
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
@Christbait, thank you for your thoughts my dude. A fair point. My narrative is less about where they sit in terms of rank, but actually where they sit tonally. In Verses is the middle point of their spectrum of sound, which I think could be criticised by loyalists. My view is that they strike a very beautiful balance that avoids being too “epic” or too jagged, yet still evokes poignancy.
I personally think Asymmetry is bordering on being a masterpiece, as hard as it is to chew through. It took me a long time to arrive at that conclusion haha. It is let down somewhat by its production.
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I'm too young to remember that, but Karnivool certainly went for a specific blend of prog, post-metal and bits of Meshuggah with a cool alternative coating and a penchant for experimentation. The Tool comparison must have come from the "all prog sounds the same" type of mindset.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Anything remotely alt metal has been getting called Tool and/or Deftones since the 90s lol. Asymmetry releasing was a real shock to the system for a lot of people, including me. It almost felt like they did everything the could to divert away from their break through sound, which was puzzling at the time because Sound Awake was such a hit. With the benefit of time though, I can see what they were going for an I think it’s brilliant.
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Not dissimilar to the latest Avenged Sevenfold, puzzling but extremely fine. Took me years to appreciate Asymmetry, it's certainly a record that deserves attentive listening despite being as flashy as Themata.
I don't see stuff being compared to Tool as often as to Deftones, though the latter case is plain sickening. Deftones, Deftones everywhere.
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You can get a "conventional" review any day of the week, folks. Every once in a while it's nice to get a bit creative.
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