INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Music is subjective, and thus it’s near impossible to say that an album is ‘perfect’, butAsymmetrygoes damn close.
They say good things come to those who wait. It’s been four years since Perth pioneers Karnivool releasedSound Awake, the follow-up to their debut Thematathat was released another four years prior. 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.
There’s one thing you can bank on, and that’s that Karnivool do not release a record unless they’re happy with every single second of it.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 howAsymmetry sounds. You 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.
4.5/5 stars
BY GEORGE GREEN
Asymmetry is out independently.
