Live Review: Karnivool

It’s been a strange recent history for Perth prog-rockers, Karnivool – they were off the radar almost entirely last year, developing new music and returning to live music at Unify Gathering back in January. Stepping onto the stage, Karnivool looked ready to break the snug cocoon of strobes and smoke and get relentless, their captivating silhouettes striking rhythmically against the walls of the crowded balcony.

Karnivool performed like an otherworldly entity, their audience a symbiont feeding on their energy. Booming rhythms pulsated like a heavy fist pumping the heart, the guitars runs of Simple Boy elating and confusingly wonderful. Like a defibrillator, it was a frenzy of electricity as the crowd rabidly lapped up Set Fire To The Hive. There’s something to be said for being part of a united collective as hundreds of hands sang in rapturous praise “I see more than you” through Shutterspeed – you might even call it a cult movement.

The dichotomy in reception between the old and new songs was obvious – vocalist Ian Kenny struggled to sustain the high notes in Reanimation, and more than a few yawns were visible as Karnivool meandered for seven long minutes through the newer material. Pensive lyrics filled the room and the melodic outro brought cheers and whistles, likely more from loyalty than anything. The energy mid-set was very up and down, Karnivool in recovery through tepid songs before pushing into high drive – senses were, for example, indeed tingling through Goliath before dropping way down into a kind of numbness.

In a very necessary encore Karnivool really pushed the juice, wrapping a seesaw of an evening up with the polarising Roquefort and New Day. Regardless of the touch and go efforts of the band, last night only proved that Karnivool are as tight and as relevant as ever, and seem as excited as their crowd for the future.