It has been a very long time but finally Perth’s five piece progressive heavy rock band, Karnviool have returned to Australia to tour the release of their long awaited and highly anticipated second album – ‘Sound Awake’. The last time I recall seeing this band live was at Homebake in December 2008 before heading off to tour in the US. I distinctly remember Ian Kenny’s soaring vocals and the heavy sound of their set with a small sneak preview of the new Karnivool material to come which has obviously proven to be well worth the wait.
It was no surprise to see that the Karnivool shows at the Metro Theatre in Sydney were all sold out. Luckily for me I came across a friend with a very late, last minute spare ticket to the Thursday night gig and I was more than happy to take the opportunity. I arrived quite late that night which meant I missed the support act Sugar Army whom I’m told were actually quite good. It would have been interesting to check out this support act as I have recently been hearing their tracks Tougues in Cheek and Acute frequently played on Triple J and was keen to see how they played and sounded to a live audience. From what I am told the response to this support band was very positive and they are most certainly bound to get some recognition and a following from touring around Oz with Karnivool.
It was after 10pm when I finally got inside and Karnivool had already started their set. As I weaved through the thick crowd to find my friends the new track Set Fire to the Hive began and from that moment on I knew this was going to be a big concert on so many levels. The band obviously has a very strong and loyal following and this became frightfully apparent as you looked around the room to see every person singing every word to every song both old and new. Although most fans were excited to hear the new material with tracks like Goliath and New Day it was evident that the fans long love lie with the first album hits from ‘Themata’ with highlights including the title track Themata, Shutterspeed and Roquefort.
In my opinion Ian Kenny is one of the best front men on stage at the moment. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His charisma and mesmorising stage presence is amazing and quite similar to that of Nick Cave’s performances. His soaring vocals and brilliant harmonies are never lost within the music and are equally as powerful as the heavy sound produced by the guitars, drums and bass that also share the limelight. The technical precision of these five musicians is outstanding as each track is perfectly intertwined with dueling guitar melodies, deep bold bass lines, aggressive drum beats and harmonising vocals. The combination of all these elements is what makes Karnivool so great live.
Even the encore track Change left the crowd in awe with the fusion of Ian Kenny’s power house vocals in between playing an acoustic guitar as well as perfectly complimenting the heavy, loud and progressive sounds of the full band in electric. This was definitely an impressive show from a band that is destined to go far with their music and live stage performances. Perhaps if Ian Kenny were to take a back seat from his other band Birds of Tokyo, the year 2009 could quite possibly be a big one for Karnivool.
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