Karmakanic - Entering The Spectra


Year of Release: 2002
Label: Regain Records
Catalog Number: RR0209-013
Format: CD
Total Time: 54:09:00

Karmakanic is a bizarre name for quite a bizarre progressive rock album which features a number of famed Swedish prog musicians including Jonas Reingold (b) from The Flower Kings, Kaipa, Reingold and Midnight Sun, Roine Stolt (g/v) from The Flower Kings and Transatlantic, and the main vocalist is the wonderful Gøran Edman (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen and Glory, John Norum, and Brazen Abbott).

Many of these artists have crossed paths on previous occasions so it's great to hear so much new, versatile music coming from not only Sweden, but on this particular album. From the opening musical note, it almost sounds like a progressive rock version of the very weird metal band Midnight Sun and their album Metal Machine (the bass lines of Jonas Reingold gives it away) but it soon moves into very unfamiliar territory by throwing at you the 12 minute title track - "Entering The Spectra."

For a comparison, the closest would be Ayreon doing the progressive rock thing on The Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer. This is a concept album and it starts off 3000 years into the future. Although this album is far from a Hawkwind-like space rock extravaganza, its focus here is on ordinary people living their lives through the virtual world of computers. Ordinary people doing ordinary things. [Though] the music on Karmakanic is far from ordinary, it can be a little distant. Let me explain.

Most albums have a general musical theme running through it where you know it's a certain band playing. On Karmakanic, though, this is far from the case. Karmakanic, through the course of one song, change direction and time changes every 30 seconds, which means you are being thrown around whilst listening to the album. This can mean a very difficult listen, but for some reason, whether it's the song-writing or the vocal melodies of Gøran Edman, the whole thing makes perfect sense. The song-writing, mind-blowing at times, deserves to be highly praised. I'm unsure who wrote most of the songs, but the ease at which the album comes together has to be heard to believed ? especially during some of the lengthier songs.

Granted, this is not to everybody's taste. In fact, even I wonder how I get so much out of it. At times mellow, at other times complicated, at other times seemingly desperate, but it is all held together magnificently by the band.

There is so much to admire about a band who doesn't succumb to the challenge of playing what is currently popular. Music for musicians is how to describe it. Although I'm not a musician ? so figure that one out.

Similar To: The Flower Kings, Reingold, Midnight Sun, Transatlantic

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]


Tracklisting:
The Little Man (1:29) / Entering The Spectra (12:20) / The Spirit Remains The Same (6:01) / Cyberdust From Mars (3:34) / Space Race No 3 (4:36) / The Man In The Moon Cries / One Whole Half (5:17) / Is This The End ? (7:12) / Cello Suite No 1 In G Major (1:02) / Welcome To Paradise (9:19) / Bonus Track: Loser's Game (4:12)

Musicians:
Jonas Reingold - fretless and fretted basses, keyboards, and backing vocals
Roine Stolt - electric and acoustic guitars, vocals (2, 4)
Göran Edman - vocals (3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11)
Jaime Salazar - drums and percussion (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10)
Zoltan Csörz : drums and percussion (2)
Tomas Bodin : keyboards (2, 4, 6, 10)
Johan Glössner - electric and acoustic guitars (3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10)
Robert Engstrand - keyboards (5, 8, 10), grand piano (5, 8)

Guests:

Diana Nunez - The story teller (1)
Thomas Nyberg - backing vocals
Inger Ohlén - backing vocals (2), psychedelic voice (5)
Zapata Joy - tales from the bush
Chris Palm - electric guitars (7)
Richard Anderson - keyboard solo

Discography:
Entering The Spectra (2002)
Wheel Of Life (2004)
Who's The Boss In The Factory (2008)
The Power Of Two (w/Agents Of Mercy) (2010)
In A Perfect World (2011)
Live In The USA (2014)
Dot (2016)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin SE

Added: October 9th 2005
Reviewer: Gary Carson
Score:
Artist website: reingoldrecords.se
Hits: 2443
Language: english

  

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