Karnivool
Palace Theatre Melbourne
Thursday 9th January 2014
Karnivool image courtesy of spaceshipnews.com.au
Karnivool are a band not easily labeled. They contain elements of metal, progressive rock and ambient without truly falling into any of these categories, but whatever they are, most people can agree they are doing it well. Having recently won their first ARIA for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album, Karnivool have experienced huge spikes of popularity with each release, whilst simultaneously reinventing their sound in the process. Their first LP Themata (2005) contained a much heavier nu-metal sound, full of chunky riffs and tasty vocal hooks, but lacking the immense depth of their critically acclaimed sophomore album Sound Awake (2009). On that release they took a step back in regards to the writing process, and delivered an album full of intricately textured guitars led by a hugely technical rhythm section and disparate audio dynamics.
Karnivool image courtesy of progrockmag.com
My fan boy praise aside, let me tell you about their recent show at the Palace Theatre, supported by Australian progressive metal giants sleepmakeswaves and Dead Letter Circus. My first impression upon entering the venue was the anticipation of the crowd. I knew from previous Karnivool gigs that they have a hugely dedicated fan base, but it seems that with the release of their most recent album Asymmetry (2013), they have broken from the realms of niche metal obsession into full on musical revolutionaries, and rightly so.
This theme of musical deference was continued when the opening act sleepmakeswaves walked on and instantly made it clear how thankful they were for being associated with a band the caliber of Karnivool. Despite their claims of being second best to Karnivool, sleepmakeswaves are a band unto themselves, with similar slow building dynamics to Sigur Ros or Dirty Three. Their brand of instrumental progressive metal is full of slow ambient openings culminating in huge crashing waves of guitar noise and cymbals, and their live show is truly a sight to behold.
This theme of musical deference was continued when the opening act sleepmakeswaves walked on and instantly made it clear how thankful they were for being associated with a band the caliber of Karnivool. Despite their claims of being second best to Karnivool, sleepmakeswaves are a band unto themselves, with similar slow building dynamics to Sigur Ros or Dirty Three. Their brand of instrumental progressive metal is full of slow ambient openings culminating in huge crashing waves of guitar noise and cymbals, and their live show is truly a sight to behold.
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"Lodestar" by Dead Letter Circus
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Dead Letter Circus are another band who have experienced massive growth over the last few years. Front runners of the Australian metal scene, their melodically technical brand of progressive metal was somehow lost on me. Led by the energetic (and excessively tattooed) Kim Benzie, Dead Letter Circus burned through their set with all the energy and self-assuredness of a bunch of mid-weight rock stars, but as the set ended and the guitar feedback died away, I realised that I could not recall a single defining moment. Whilst their performance was incredibly tight and full of passion, their song writing lacked that x-factor to make their set memorable.
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Image courtesy of whothehell.com
Walking out on stage to a background of distorted feedback, Karnivool leapt right into ‘The Last Few”, a dissonant energetic beast of a song which fired the crowd up straight away. Next up, vocalist Ian Kenny initiated “Fade”, a pre Themata relic from Karnivool’s early days. Whilst it lacked the complexity of their later work, the pure moshability of the song totally made up for it in the live setting, as it does with a lot of simplistic metal. The title track of Themata followed, which boasts one of the greatest guitar riffs of this decade, and urged a now thoroughly sweat soaked crowd to keep jumping around. After a brief respite and a few appreciative words from the frontman, the band played several tracks in a row from Sound Awake, starting with the epics “Goliath” and “Simple Boy” before changing the tone down a notch to the more ambient and introspective “Umbra” and “All I Know”. By this point the crowd had fallen into a kind of hypnotic trance as the magicians of audio played new single “Eidolon” followed by “We Are” and “The Refusal”. Bringing the pace back up again, they busted out crowd favourite “Roquefort”, and then brought it right back down again to deliver my personal favourite “Aeons”.
Having delivered a thoroughly enjoyable set list thus far with more emphasis on pre Asymmetry material than I had expected, I had no idea what lay in store for the encore. I was delighted when they played the anti-establishment epic “Alpha Omega”, culminating in the chant of “break the mold, let’s shake the ground, wreak havoc”. Last but definitely not least, the band ended their set with the uplifting tune “New Day”, proving once again that Karnivool are a band working on a different level to most in terms of quality, complexity and delivering an immersive live experience.
Patrick McKaskill
Having delivered a thoroughly enjoyable set list thus far with more emphasis on pre Asymmetry material than I had expected, I had no idea what lay in store for the encore. I was delighted when they played the anti-establishment epic “Alpha Omega”, culminating in the chant of “break the mold, let’s shake the ground, wreak havoc”. Last but definitely not least, the band ended their set with the uplifting tune “New Day”, proving once again that Karnivool are a band working on a different level to most in terms of quality, complexity and delivering an immersive live experience.
Patrick McKaskill