Live Review: Karnivool, Northlane

Maybe it was the cold Sunday evening on the harbour that forced the masses to pile into The Big Top as soon as doors opened. Perhaps it was the hype surrounding metalcore hometown heroes Northlane but more than likely the heightened anticipation of seeing Karnivool after a substantial absence from our stages was motivation enough.

Northlane may be one of the buzz bands on the scene at the moment but their sound seemed an unusual fit on a prog rock bill. Songs like Quantum Flux and Dream Awake drew a substantial mosh due to the band's intense energy. A big thumbs up to the guitarist's novelty glow in the dark guitar, but a less favourable mention to the box that lead singer Adrian Fitipaldes appeared to have brought along to perch himself on.

It was fair to say expectations were exceedingly highly for Karnivool's return. When the title track from new album, Asymmetry, blasted through the speakers and Ian Kenny stood centre stage with fist in air, it was a powerful moment that declared “we are back”. They bravely launched into one of the most challenging songs on the new album, A.M. War. Surprisingly, it translated well live and the crowd lapped it up before being rewarded with Themata. As Kenny soon commented, Sydney were well up for it.

Karnivool played a very smart gig. They weren't self-indulgent enough to think that with only a few weeks' worth of listening, the crowd would have tolerated a set list dominated by new songs. They road-tested Nachash, We Are, Amusia, The Last Few, Alpha Omega and Aeons with a solid crowd reaction that had many singing along to every word.

It is interesting that songs from the last album, Sound Awake, like Simple Boy, Sound Awake and New Day, appeared to be the crowd favourites, which would suggest that promoting a more progressive and intricate album like Asymmetry might prove to be challenging.

Finishing on one of the new album's highlights, Aeons, provided one of those spine-tingling Karnivool moments. It also left you with a strong impression that once audiences have had more time to really absorb the complexity of Asymmetry and the songs have developed a life of their own in a live setting, the next time Karnivool return to our stages is going to be absolutely epic.