Karnivool Have No Clue Where New Album Will Take Them

Karnivool

Karnivool are no longer just Perth's leading prog rock light. Nor are they Australia's. Since the release of their widely acclaimed second record, 2009's Sound Awake, the five-piece have truly become a global entity on the touring circuit. Drum Media catches frontman Ian Kenny arriving at Hurricane Festival in the northern Germany municipality of Scheeßel, where the band are due to perform later that evening on a bill that offers everything from Of Monsters & Men to Parkway Drive. The frontman is excited about the show, admitting that the band have long enjoyed a positive reception from hard rock-hungry Europeans, but seems unaffected by the pressures of trumping their current worldwide standing with their soon-to-be-released third album, Asymmetry.

“Well, we'll see,” he slowly begins. “We'll see how this record sits with Karnivool fans and we'll see where it goes outside that. Karnivool has a good thing happening in Europe, we've got a great thing happening in Australia, so we're going to keep focusing on those two territories and get back to the States... I dunno, we'll have to see. It's kinda too early to tell – we've just put [the album] to bed a few weeks ago so I don't really have any scope on the record yet until it gets out there and does what it does.”

First listens to Asymmetry reveal a band that are venturing to the edges of what's considered their 'sound'. Things are abrasive in parts, especially early in the record, Karnivool offering arguably more sonic aggression than they ever have before. But, those musical explosions are evened out by songs that are raw and revealed, the band left as exposed as they've ever been.

“This third record was just about exploration through Karnivool and a bit more experimenting with the band and seeing what we have in us and what's in the track,” Kenny explains. “I think this record, there's more band on it; we've left a lot of the performances in there, so it's not so heavily relying on production which maybe makes it a little more raw than the last two. But we're just pushing it and seeing what else we've got to say musically, and that's what we'll continue to do I think. That's what's exciting about Karnivool.

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