Asymmetry
It’s been four years since Perth pioneers Karnivool released Sound Awake, the follow-up to their debut Themata that was released four years earlier. Sure, fans would love an album from them every other year but we all know that’s not how Karnivool operate. Their records aren’t just records, they’re journeys, and journeys don’t happen overnight.
Asymmetry is meticulously constructed. It is everything you expect a Karnivool record to be except it is in no way predictable. You can expect rumbling bass lines, chaotic, driving drums, epically huge guitars and vocals that ebb and flow from delicate to soaring. It is professionally polished as a whole, but each song, individually, is dirty and will shake you to your very core. This is not a collection of tracks; this is most definitely an album.
There’s no point breaking this album down track by track because each song relies on the others to give you a true perspective of the album. If you were to remove one song, even one of the interludes, you’d need to re-evaluate the album again from start to finish. Imagine removing a pivotal scene from a movie. Things just wouldn’t make sense, and this is exactly how Asymmetry sounds as a whole. You really need to immerse yourself in it from start to finish to truly ‘get it’, and even then you’re going to need to do it all over again to pick up little nuances that you missed first time around.
Asymmetry is a triumph forged from hard-work, talent, passion and guts. It is the mark of a band truly committed to their craft. Karnivool would have been forgiven for releasing a collection of tracks that would tick the boxes for radio or the festival circuit, but they have boldly released a record that is uncompromising and relentless, and filled with experimentation and self-discovery.
GEORGE GREEN
