Karnivool, 21st June 2024, Hades, Copenhell Festival, Denmark

Photo: Zoran www.sonic-shot.com

15 years have passed since the pivotal release Wide Awake from Australian progressive metal band Karnivool and more than ten years have passed since the release of their latest album. But it’s not like the band was inactive and did premiere some new music. Nevertheless, it seems that some new music (preferably an album) is long overdue.  Last year the band played their first concert in Copenhagen in ten years, and it was one of the best sounding shows, yours truly, has ever witnessed.

Their 2:45 PM show at Copenhell also started off sounding rather good and a couple of songs in the small adjustment to the sound made the sonic experience even better. Majority of the crowd didn’t seem familiar with the band, but many chose to spend some time with the band, also at the hill where people were enjoying the show in the sun, knowing that rain was on the way.

The band opened with the newest song they’ve released, “All It Takes” from 2021, which set the stage for what this band was about. Fortunately, lots of people felt that they were worth checking out. And while the sound was really good it didn’t really match that of their last years visit to Copenhagen. Nevertheless, the clarity and warmth of the sound was rather impressive, especially taking into the consideration that this was an open-air festival gig.

Halfway through their set, Karnivool began to take more grab of the audience. “Deadman” served as an almost overwhelming display of this band’s sophistication and sense for detail, and as such it most certainly appealed to fans of Tool, who were set to play Copenhell next day. A couple of songs from their debut album Themata, “Roquefort” and the title track displayed the band’s heavier side, and it was hard not to be taken by those heavy riffs, which are at the same time filled with infectious hooks.

Karnivool closed the show with the closest thing they have to a hit, the 8-minute progressive rock beauty that is  “New Day”, which even resulted in some sing-alongs.

This might not have been the optimal setting for the band and perhaps playing Copenhell’s smallest stage Gehenna later in the afternoon would be more appropriate. Nevertheless, this was a really good booking by the festival, and it’s without the doubt that Karnivool has gained some new fans after their hour-long show.
Now it’s time to release that new album and get back to Copenhagen for a headlining venue show. And talking about a possible new album, it most certainly should include “Aozora”, which has been played live for almost a decade now, but never recoded. It simply deserves a good studio version.

SETLIST

1. All It Takes
2. C.O.T.E.
3. Goliath
4. Aozora
5. We Are
6. Deadman
7. Roquefort
8. Themata
9. New Day