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 Caught in the Carousel "There will be music despite everything"
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Karnivool
Sound Awake
Sin UK
When I first started listening to Karnivool's Sound Awake I thought that if it was 1977 and I was a stoned-off-my-ass teenage boy I'd think this album was freakin' awesome. Then I got deeper into it and my inner teenage boy took over. This Australian alt-rock band has proven just how good a sophomore effort can be with what can only be described as an album that truly defines "epic". The soaring vocals of lead singer Ian Kenny range from the angry anarchist in "Set Fire To The Hive" to the almost angelic chorus of "New Day" while both numbers' complex melodies are defined by the amazing talents of lead guitarist Drew Goddard. But this is not a guitar-driven album, this one's all about the rhythm section. With Steve Judd on drums and Jon Stockman on bass, this clearly collaborative effort is set apart from—well, from every other album you'll hear this year. Nowhere is this more apparent than in "The Caudal Lure," the most progressive cut on this 72-minute journey. This is a diverse and multi layered performance in which we are invited to explore the sound and look at it from different perspectives. And again, on the album closer "Change" (a 10 minute opus which was featured on the band's first album Themata as "Change Part 1" but then expanded and reworked for Sound Awake) it's almost as though you can walk around inside the song; reaching out to feel the textures and listening to the way it breathes. Karnivool will be launching a U.S. tour in support of Sound Awake—I think I'll take my inner teenager out to see them because this band really is freakin' awesome.
—Pamela Obenchain
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