Karnivool  - Live - Islington Academy 2

From 18/10/2009

The opening of the doors of the Islington Academy 2 brought about some interesting news tonight. Although Karnivool are in fact planning to support Skindred on their UK tour later this week, an unannounced slot would allow the Welsh rockers to fill in for a short, exclusive set before official support act Forever Never take the stage. It’s a wonderful performance, full of energy and enough bounce to shudder this tiny undeveloped venue. Similarly, Forever Never belt out their brutal tracks in full vigour, without ever giving the small audience reason to find their doubt their ability. They finish their set on a successful note, happy that they’ve paved the way for what will be a night to remember for Karnivool devotees.

It’s always a pleasure to witness an overseas band on their first headline tour of the UK. However, tonight is an exception for Australian prog-rock group Karnivool. Rather, they are blissfully sublime. Despite the odd, early glimpse of anxiety, frontman Ian Kenny walks onto the tiny stage with a bottle of water in hand, nervously waving a little, before hurling himself into the monster of an opening track, ‘Simple Boy.’ The texture of the songs and the confidence in the stage presence displayed by all the band members is remarkable tonight, as seen in the executions of the complicated, gritty riffs of first album songs ‘Cote’ and ‘Roquefort.’ Back home, Karnivool are celebrated as iconic musicians, whereas on our shores, their intensely progressive music is only just about getting acknowledged. This is a little obvious when observing the size of tonight’s venue. Nonetheless, they make the best of it, and boy do they do it well. Final track ‘Themata’ culminates the evening in a hybrid of Arabic-sounding guitar licks and epic harmonies. It wouldn’t be surprising, judging on tonight’s performance, if Karnivool will be soon headlining London venues of a much larger capacity within the coming years. Their unique, creative sound suggests that they could well develop to become our Muse’s and Tool’s of the future.