Last week we informed you that Karnivool‘s new album is done and will see an anticipated summer release. Along with the announcement, the band promised the release of a new song that the band have been performing live called ‘The Refusal’ would be available. The song is now available for free download, and it’s surprisingly heavy. There’s some screaming and pretty aggressive riffing going on, which sounds great in the context of their prog rock sound. The song’s production’s a little weird though. Perhaps it’s unmixed/unmastered? I certainly hope so anyway. Stream the track below!
Sound Awake is my favorite album of all time. It’s the perfect mix of heavy and harmony, and it’s one of those albums you wish you could have written. However, it’s been four years since the band put it out, and although I’ll never tire of it, it’d be nice to have a new album or even just a new song to jam. Well, ladies and gents, it is nearly time.
01. Dance Like No-One’s Watching
02.Your Favourite Song
03. Cigarettes And Conversations
04.Circles And Squars
05. Monsters
06. Rose Coloured Glasses
07. Congratulations
08. Moonlight Highlights
09. The Executioner
10. The Art Of Illusion
11. Beautiful In Danger
[04/19/13]
[Self-Released]
Successfully composing layered epics of greater than ten minutes in length and thematically intricate concept albums is no doubt a feat of great skill and application, worthy of the praise and attention we laud upon the musicians who bless us with such challenging listening experiences. However, what is less obvious, and less often recognised, is just how difficult it is to write songs that are more compact in structure, yet are of such depth that they continue to reveal new secrets and subtleties with each repeated listen. Hailing from the current Australian school of alternative and progressive rock, JERICCO have, with their debut album, Beautiful In Danger, managed to compile a collection of songs that do exactly that.
Even though Karnivool‘s Themata preceeded it by just a few months, there can be no doubt that it was Cog‘s seminal 2005 debut album, The New Normal, that ushered in the golden era of Australian progressive rock that continues to this day. However, after the release of only two albums, and with seemingly so much more to offer, Cog disbanded quite suddenly in 2010, leaving many to wonder what the future might hold for this trio of talented-trailblazers.
Since that time, drummer Lucius Borich has kept himself busy with projects including FloatingMe and The Nerve, but until now, nothing has been heard from the enigmatic Gower brothers, Flynn and Luke. Last week, however, details began to emerge of a new project from the Gowers, called TheOccupants, the group also posting their first song to their Facebook page. Recorded late last year with Australia’s foremost alternative and progressive rock producer, Forrester Savell, the song is entitled ‘I’ve Been Thinking’, and showcases Flynn’s trademark vocals melodies, but is otherwise a noticeably more mood oriented and synth-styled song than the overtly guitar based and politically motivated music of Cog.
Few current day bands seem to divide the heavy music community, let alone Heavy Blog’s readers and contributors, like Periphery, and few musicians are as controversial and as outspoken as the band’s mastermind, Misha Mansoor. So when the band was recently in Melbourne for the Soundwave festival, I jumped at the chance to sit down with Misha and vocalist Spencer Sotelo for an extended chat regarding, amongst other things, their views on their expansive social media footprint and the utility of modern production techniques, as well as a world first exclusive insight into the definitive meaning behind their recently released video to ‘Scarlet‘. To be warned, this interview clocks in at around 6000 words, so if you’ve got a few minutes to spare, check out our interview below!
Guys, I can barely contain my excitement. Australian progressive rock act Karnivool crafted what is quite possibly one of my favorite albums of all time in 2009′s Sound Awake, and they’re finally poised to release a follow-up four years later. The band are wrapping up recording sessions in the studio and are in the home stretch to completion. The band uploaded a new album of photos to their Facebook page showcasing a few shots of the band in the studio during their final week of tracking. Since the photos have been published, it might be safe to say that they’ve already completed tracking and have moved onto the mixing stage by now. Yes, good.
Irish progressive metallers Shattered Skies (whom we have mentioned previously a timeor two) have unveiled their first ever music video and brand new single, ’15 Minutes.’ Since the band are of the prog persuasion, part of me initially expected the song to be 15 minutes long. I’m silly like that, I guess. The song still rules though; if you enjoy music from bands like Karnivool, then this should be right up your alley! Check the performance video below:
’15 Minutes’ appears on the band’s upcoming debut album (finally, a full length!) The World We Used To Know. No release date yet, but you can keep up with the band on Facebook for more info as it comes in.
I think we all agree now that 2012 was an awesome year for Australian heavy music, featuring an unprecedented number of quality releases, mainly from new and emerging bands. However, with the likely return in 2013 of some of the bigger and more established Australian names, this year is set to be even better!
Karnivool – TBA (Sony Music)
Anyone paying a bit of attention over the last few months might have noticed that Karnivool‘s 2009 sophomore album, Sound Awake, is considered by a number of Heavy Blog contributors to be among their favourite albums of all time, and so to say that the Perth quintet’s next album is eagerly awaited would be a gross understatement indeed! Thankfully, we can now say with confidence that 2013 will be the year, as on 16 October 2012, guitarist Mark Hosking stated on the band’s Facebook page that they were currently writing material for the album, and then on 20 November 2012, the band announced that from 1 January 2013, they would be spending six weeks recording. In accordance with some of the early speculation, photos already posted by the band have confirmed that they are at Studio 301 in Byron Bay, although so far, other than a few song names and string tunings, there have been no hints from the band as to what we can expect to hear when the album is finally released.
Nevertheless, despite the undoubted quality of their debut album, Themata, Sound Awake marked a quantum leap forward for Karnivool, their transition to a template of progressive rock resulting in compositions of considerably more depth and complexity than what they had previously produced, and should the new album continue this developmental trajectory, one can only quiver in expectation as to what the outcome might be. Quite helpfully, the band is posting photos and updates regularly, so if you are as excited about this as we are, follow their progress by heading over to give them a ‘like’ on Facebook.
With the demise in 2012 of Thrice, Alexisonfire and Underoath, it would be understandable to conclude that the post-hardcore movement has finally run its course, these being, along with Thursday, the best and most ambitious latter day exponents of a genre that had otherwise deteriorated during the 2000s into a rut of rampant commercialism, and something wholly unrecognisable from its raw and dissonant origins. However, by stripping away its excesses, Melbourne outfit In Trenches, which comprises, amongst others, guitarist Kevin Cameron of I Killed The Prom Queen fame and vocalist Ben Coyte from the now defunct Day of Contempt, have, with their second EP Sol Obscura, offered a challenging and insightful reinterpretation of the way this style of music can be played. Released in March 2012, and roughly translated as meaning ‘hidden sun’, Sol Obscura is as dark as its name suggests, and contains five tracks of virulent and uncompromising post-hardcore that is aesthetically gritty, oppressively discordant and utterly devoid of vocal melody. Beginning with the slow and sludgy ‘Beneath‘ before unleashing the fury of ‘Hollow Heart‘ and ‘An Impending Collapse‘, the EP is also peppered with post rock/metal build-ups and rhythmically complex riffs, the best of which can be heard on the eight minute closer, ‘Silhouettes‘. Furthermore, the production is imprecise and grimy, which enhances the EP’s overall rawness, as does the decision to hold Coyte’s harsh vocals back in the mix. Musically dense and pessimistic in outlook, Sol Obscura is, despite its relatively brief length, a fatiguing listening experience, but one that is well worth the effort. Hopefully it is also a sign of longer things to come!
The first decade of the new millennium was a big one for me, and also for the metal community. After the nu-metal craze and all the hoopla about grunge music, many metal acts began to feel disjointed, releasing boring or bad albums that stagnated them instead of letting them progress further. But metal always prevails, and in these first ten years it has seen a resurgence of bands that are the future. Some bands on this article are not “metal”, but are a type of rock music that is heavy in it’s message and lyrics, and not necessarily guitar tone. This list is dedicated to what I think are the most important albums of that first decade, and I hope you enjoy!
When it came down to it, I was torn. Both the #2 and #1 choice were still up for grabs, and I was wrestling with two releases. On one hand you have the ever almighty BTBAM, and on the other you have Karnivool, and Australian quintet that are arguably the biggest Australian band since AC/DC came around. But, the bottom line is, I had to go not only by which album I listened to more, but which album carried a greater meaning to me. And ladies and gents, Karnivool are the victor, and now that I think about it, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
This album is one of the best, simply put, because of how much it achieves. It has every type of song. From some songs that are more upbeat, faster songs like ‘Set Fire To The Hive‘ and ‘Illumine’, to the more toned-down prog influenced songs like ‘Umbra’ and ‘The Caudal Lure‘. It mixes their earlier alternative-metal style with a more centered prog-metal or even prog/rock style that really works well for them. There really is not a bad song on this album; even the interlude ‘The Medicine Wears Off‘ is a fun song to just kind of vibe to, singing the lyrics aloud and just relaxing.
JERICCO
In Trenches – Sol Obscura (EP)
