I saw these guys at the Queensbridge Hotel in Melbourne about 18 months ago. The only other time I'd been to QBH was about 12 years ago when it was a seedy nightclub. Let's just say it was welcome change to see 'the vool' take to their craft live on the QBH stage rather than the bundy and coke, disco bikki infused patrons that were there all those years ago. Karnivool were brilliant that night and at the time, their magnum opus Themata was burning a hole in my brain and was firmly in my top ten albums (you may recognise the name of this blog site). I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Sound Awake for far too long.4 weeks in and I won't lie, it took me a few listens to get into it. Sitting at well over an hour long, it's well produced and is a definite progression from Themata. There are several layers of additional complexity in this album with the band opting for less traditional song structures and instead applying a more organic approach to transitions between angsty heavy grooves and more subtle passages.
I haven't studied the lyrics on this album in any detail, I've always found the soundscape created by Karnivool to be the real attraction to their music and as you'd expect, there are some stellar moments on this album - from the delicately unsettling introduction of 'Umbra' to the simply beautiful last minute of 'All I know' which you can't help but stop whatever you are doing to listen to it fade out. 'New Day' is a song that you connect with the first time you hear it and will etch itself in your head for the day, especially the simple but emotive vocal harmonies in its verse. 'The Caudal Lure' twists inside out and back on itself, demonstrating once again the more complex song structures and 'deadman', at just over 12 minutes is epic.
Overall, this is a more consistent album than Themata, but it was always going to be difficult to match such a brilliant debut for impact. Maybe Themata just came along at a time when I was desperately looking for something new but Themata is littered with moments of sheer melodic intensity - the crescendo of cote aching to 'sing alone, sing aloud to feel alive', the tension build up which is then unleashed in the chorus of 'Roquefort', and the brutal mayhem of 'Scarabs' will keep Themata as one of my favorites for many years. On a scale of 1 to 10, Themata runs runs at 8 most of the time, but moments like these push it to 11. Sounds Awake, sits closer to 9 the entire album long, nudging 10 every now an again.
Don't get me wrong, Sound Awake is another brilliantly crafted work and is pretty much on constant repeat at the moment - it's the sort of progression we'd expect from these guys. I'm just disappointed I missed the opportunity to see these guys live when they toured here at the forum last week!
