Anand Venkitachalam
New Delhi, Feb 7 (.) After a very long and anxiety-provoking wait, Karnivool is back with their first album in over 13 years, and they are none the worse for wear. The Australian progressive metal veterans’ fourth studio album, ‘In Verses’ manages to accomplish the hardest thing to do: be completely uncompromising with quality.
I don’t say this lightly, because the Aussies have three other albums of insane quality preceding this, so needless to say they had their work cut out for them. And given that it has been so many years since they released anything new, there were always fears looming that they could possibly find themselves a tad uninspired, or be facing a writer’s block.
But fear not dear reader, for ‘In Verses’ has none of these problems. Not only is it an inspired and creative release, it sees Karnivool further push the boundaries of their songwriting, while still relegating it within the domain of their original framework.
You got heavy, chunky riffs, captivating and hypnotic melodies, odd time signatures, polyrhythms, great instrumentation, sombre and powerful vocals, and for the first time bagpipes! All of this leaves you with a strong sonic ambience from start to finish, leaving you with a great experience from start to finish.
One of the best things there is about Karnivool, is that for all its progressive and experimental tendencies with songwriting, all their pieces are surprisingly accessible, being equally pleasing to the ears of both your neck-deep prog fan or metalhead, as well as your average mainstream music listener.
Now, don’t get me wrong, this is not a flawless release, but has no glaring faults. In fact, if anything, it’s only real problem is that it is a bit inconsistent at times, going very strong and cinematic at the opening with ‘Ghosts’, but then we end up with tracks like ‘Animation’ and ‘Conversations’, which while quite good, tend to overstay their welcome, a problem plaguing the middle section of this LP.
But this is a very minor nitpick, as this album grows on you more and more, and what might sound like a strong complaint now, is in fact nothing more than furiously looking for flaws in a release so good, that there is practically nothing to really single out, like the white shirt which is sparkling like a diamond but has some very faded, barely visible dirt patches here and there.
The production is also a must mention. There is very good use of room, as there is a lot of breathing space given to all elements, bursting into loud walls of sound which are sublimely complemented by the more ambient, mellow, moments.
Overall, to summarise ‘In Verses’, it’s best summed up as a more mature version of ‘Simple Boy’ or their previous album ‘Asymmetry’, where it opens in a full-on cinematic style, then goes off on a more experimental theatre style middle-section which adds more and more momentum to the tracks, before it comes to the crescendo, delivered in an intense, bombastic manner, before ending on a surprisingly quiet note.
‘In Verses’ can, in more simple terms, be summed up as the complex interplay of the strong and quiet in a befitting manner, being neither too short, nor being too bloated. Instead, it knows when to pound the hammer, and when to stop hammering.
Verdict: A sublime release of great quality, which delivers! Score: 9/10.
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