Karnivool Appreciation Thread

[Kroaton]

Have been waiting for this ever since Sound Awake came out, and I'm not really diggin' it.

 

[fungwabus117]

I think I understand where people are coming from when they say they aren't digging it. When I first heard The Refusal a few months back, I wasn't into it at all. Same with We Are. Both these tracks grew on my immensely, particularly the latter.

I feel like this album needs many listens to full absorb it. There are some really powerful moments. For example, when the choir voices come in near the end of Float, the build up in Aeons. I think the mistake I made when I first heard the Refusal was EXPECTING a certain sound.

What's weird is with Tesseract's recent release, I also at first thought it was a bit of a grower. But when I thought back to the songs, they didn't excite me enough to go back and listen again and again. Something about this album compels me to keep listening!

 

[TDR]

There's just something about Karnivool that makes me want to pour a drink, get into a hammock and stare blankly at the sky until the music stops.

I love it.

 

[Joose]

I've never really, truly listened to these guys until last night. I had heard a couple songs off Sound Awake, but that's it.

And now I just listened to the stream of the new one... amazing.

What a band.

 

[ByDesign]

Love the album, although the track Asymmetry is god damn annoying.

 

[acrcmb]

I actually like that title track it reminds me alot of Colin Stetson's stuff although I can see why some Karnivool fans might be put off. I will say I miss those big expansive moments of clarity like they had on Sound Awake where all the sudden the song just opens up and settles into a real groovy or soaring moment, I kept waiting for one of those moments but they just did'nt come. I see alot people have the same issue as me and I see other people saying you have to give a few months and it will reveal itself because it's so complex, which I think is bullshit, the music should immediately absorb you in and grip you until the end, you know those albums that give you such an experience that when you finish listening to them for the first time you get kind of sad because you know you will never listen to it as the first time again. White Pony by Deftones is an album like that the first time I heard it I did nothing but sit and listen in awe but with this I found myself getting bored and distracted.

 

[Erockomania]

I don't think the raw recording suits them. Sound Awake was perfect, IMHO. This album is good, but it doesn't hold a candle to SA. There are very few parts of this album that get me excited to listen to it. Sound Awake had me captivated in the first 30 seconds and never let go. Maybe it will grow on me or maybe I'll eventually realize what mood I have to be in to listen, but right now it's mediocre at best. Bummed.

 

[Kroaton]

I actually like that title track it reminds me alot of Colin Stetson's stuff although I can see why some Karnivool fans might be put off.

Can't really get behind the comparison. Colin's work is way more textural and organic, and it has an intimacy and sensibility that the Karnivool track is really lacking.

I think that the whole album is a massive identity crisis shuffling through different influences and bits and pieces of older material.

It does not sound like the old Karnivool stuff, but neither does it sound like what most of us expected from a new release.

I've yet to hear someone say it's bad (which I take it is a great thing), and the general consensus is that We Are is a phenomenal song.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Been following them since the Persona days and if there's anything I learned from each subsequent release is that each album is a big departure from the last. If Sound Awake was miles away from Themata, then Asymmetry is even further away from Sound Awake. And the fact that each album took more listening patience as you dig deeper in the Karnivool discography. It's kinda like how each Tool album becomes a departure from the last... also a band Karnivool often gets compared to.

I had no expectations for the new album, and from what I said above, I would certainly not want Sound Awake part 2 to happen. Asymmetry took a fair bit of time to get into even more so than Sound Awake, but after a long drive through the rain today (seems appropriate for the music), the album grew on me, and a lot the charms started to shine (Eidolon and Sky Machine are my current favourites). This album takes a fair amount of spins to really sink in. But so far, I'm slowly enjoying it more and more. Obviously, Sound Awake was an easier album to get into but it was a bit of a transition from Themata, so naturally I expected another kind of transition here.

Regarding the production, I honestly think it's refreshing to hear an organic side to Karnivool, Asymmetry, IMO is the first time they sounded like a real live band on record and it really suits them.

Plus the DVD that came with the Deluxe edition is awesome!

 

[zuzek]

A highly disappointing album for me after over 10 listens. Karnivool seem lost, unable to establish dynamism between their mellow approach and desire for heaviness. A lot of tracks are incoherent and sometimes even contrived. It has incredibly tasteful moments that will make me come back again and again (Eidolon) and true horror in some of the worst music I've heard this year (The Refusal/Title Track). Their inability to incorporate passages that serve as interludes into the bigger picture is much more apparent than on Sound Awake, which I love to this day despite its flaws. This doesn't mean Asymmetry is stagnation as there is so much experimentation going on, but there is a too quick conclusion drawn as experimentation itself as a sign of growth. It isn't always so, and I'm very hesitant to say Karnivool have grown with Asymmetry.

Sorry Karnivool. I love you, but I can't love where you're going because I don't know where it is and I don't think neither you do.

P.S. Anyone else very bothered with how the snare sits in the mix on a lot of tracks? It's very distracting for me.

 

[flint757]

I actually really like the snare.

 

[Koop]

After a few listens my favourite tracks are Eidolon and Skymachine.. very cool melodies in those two. We Are is probably my third favourite... I just have to listen more to get a feel for the other songs.

 

[Erockomania]

A highly disappointing album for me after over 10 listens. Karnivool seem lost, unable to establish dynamism between their mellow approach and desire for heaviness. A lot of tracks are incoherent and sometimes even contrived. It has incredibly tasteful moments that will make me come back again and again (Eidolon) and true horror in some of the worst music I've heard this year (The Refusal/Title Track). Their inability to incorporate passages that serve as interludes into the bigger picture is much more apparent than on Sound Awake, which I love to this day despite its flaws. This doesn't mean Asymmetry is stagnation as there is so much experimentation going on, but there is a too quick conclusion drawn as experimentation itself as a sign of growth. It isn't always so, and I'm very hesitant to say Karnivool have grown with Asymmetry.

Sorry Karnivool. I love you, but I can't love where you're going because I don't know where it is and I don't think neither you do.


P.S. Anyone else very bothered with how the snare sits in the mix on a lot of tracks? It's very distracting for me.

Ya, agreed. The snare sound just sounds like all room and no close mic. They had THE BEST snare sounds on Sound Awake... inspiring. Really bummed out by the production on this one.

 

[sakeido]

I keep trying but can't really get into the new one. Only three songs I can say I like for sure are Nachash, We Are and the Refusal. Starting with Asymmetry, nothing makes an impression on me.. I hear something that sounds like a slightly harder rocking Gotye song, then a long and rambling song (Sky Machine I think) then just a couple other tracks that blend together. First half is great, second half is just yuck

Mix overall is a massive step back from Sound Awake too. Sound Awake is one of the best mixes I have ever heard, easily in my top 5, but on this one the mix is flat and despite the very low level it has been mixed at, is not overly dynamic either.

 

[bhakan]

So after a couple more listens the jury is still out for me. It isn't topping Sound Awake for me, but I never expected it to, because Sound Awake is a near perfect album and nearly impossible to top, but I enjoy it. I think the new direction is cool and well done, but I'm missing some of the awesome riffs from previous stuff. Time will tell though, as the album is a lot to take in and I expect to find more and more cool things as i listen more.

As far as the mix, there are times when it doesn't work too well, but over all I think it fits the atmosphere. Sound Awake is one of my go to reference mixes as I think it is absolutely fantastic, and I can't imagine this being the same, but the raw sound fits the sound they're going for and is something different from the super processing modern sound that is prevalent now.

 

[Sebski]

Does anyone know what the voice clip in Om is from?

 

[bhakan]

Does anyone know what the voice clip in Om is from?

According to the Heavy Blog is Heavy review it is "philosopher Gerald Heard’s famous account of the wondrous insights experienced by minds opened by LSD"

 

[TIMEwaveXERO]

It's just not doing it for me ....yet.

 

[Vhyle]

Can someone explain it to me? I don't get it. This post isn't about the new album, as I haven't even heard it yet.

But what is the big deal about Sound Awake? Please don't misconstrue. I'm not hating on it, in any fashion. It's a good listen, but I've noticed a copious amount of people who are so consumed in it. I just don't hear why it's so mindblowing. Again, I'm not hating on it. The production is top-notch, and the album does have several creative rhythmic moments. But as a whole, it's wholly decent to me. Not their best.

However, I LOVE the Themata album. Such a huge "wall of guitars" sound in moments, creative and energetic rhythms, and crystal clear production. I think it's fantastic, and much more enjoyable to me than Sound Awake is.

There, I said it.

 

[bhakan]

Can someone explain it to me? I don't get it. This post isn't about the new album, as I haven't even heard it yet.

But what is the big deal about Sound Awake? Please don't misconstrue. I'm not hating on it, in any fashion. It's a good listen, but I've noticed a copious amount of people who are so consumed in it. I just don't hear why it's so mindblowing. Again, I'm not hating on it. The production is top-notch, and the album does have several creative rhythmic moments. But as a whole, it's wholly decent to me. Not their best.

However, I LOVE the Themata album. Such a huge "wall of guitars" sound in moments, creative and energetic rhythms, and crystal clear production. I think it's fantastic, and much more enjoyable to me than Sound Awake is.

There, I said it.

I'd say Themata is more straight forward hard rock, where Sound Awake is more "prog." Themata is full of catchy vocal hooks and huge riffs, while Sound Awake has those, but intersperses much more atmosphere and silence. It makes you wait for the huge riffs and through that makes them that much better. Themata has solid songs, but the songs on Sound Awake feel like a journey to me. Obviously there's nothing wrong with Themata, but Sound Awake (and Asymmetry for that matter) are more my taste. I can't really explain it well though.