For todays piece the tour heads all the way over to Perth, Australia to take a look at Karnivool's 'Sound Awake'.I first heard Karnivool through their track Themata which I caught on Scuzz TV once, which persuaded me to put them on my schedule for Sonisphere Festival 2010. We went to see them on the bitterly cold Sunday morning, and it was probably one of the best decisions ever.
They sounded pretty decent, although the crowd never really got into it and there was hardly anyone watching them. I remember how weird their singer Ian Kenny was as he danced bizarrely to their tracks and sang incredibly all the while. The song 'New Day' was the convincer though. It sounded so good when I saw it, I looked up what album it was from when we got home and went out and got it.
Which brings us to 'Sound Awake'. Their most recent of two releases, Sound Awake was released in June 2009, so I'm quite late on the scene for this.
The album opens with 'Simple Boy' which has the deepest bassline I can think of, and is also a very fine song. This one was actually a grower, and my least favourite track for some time (it may still be my least favourite, in fact).
Then we get into the good stuff. Track two is the absolute monster of a song 'Goliath' (I really had to try hard to not say it was a goliath of a song). It's got a huge chorus and is a highlight on the album, aswell as one of the stand out songs from their set at Sonisphere.
Third is the best song of all time, 'New Day'. This is eight minutes of genius. Ian Kenny's vocal is absolutley perfect, and the entire structure of the song is flawless.
Without wanting to do a track-by-track, the album takes you through a variety of musical places, sounding creative at all times and really pushing the boundaries of modern progressive rock music. Whether it's in the heavier songs like 'Set Fire to the Hive' or the amazing, floatier 'All I Know' (which has to be my favourite vocal track on the album), 'Sound Awake' is a masterpiece of an album that needs to be listened to properly.
The other track worth a particular shout out is Deadman, which is a ten minute tune which is followed up by a two minute intro to the final track of the album. It brings the album to a stunning close, at which point you'll be scrambling for the repeat button*.
This is without a doubt the best album I've listened to this year, and I would happily recommend it to anyone who is a fan of progressive music and good singers. 5/5 here.
*so long as you are a fan of music
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