By Jase Walker
To say I’m excited about this show is an understatement. I have waited three years since the initial announcement for this show and almost ten years since I’ve seen these guys live last. Tonight’s show is a double bill of two of my favourite bands and excited just doesn’t serve enough to describe how much I’m looking forward to this show.
After the pandemic threw many bands’ travel arrangements, especially Australians, into complete disarray, it completely ruined Karnivool’s travel plans and almost forced them into calling it quits. Yet they’ve persevered and not only that, The Ocean have kept to their support arrangements and are along for this ride after the final rescheduling.
Slightly earlier than I thought they’d be, The Ocean take the stage under the cover of darkness. It’s also a bit amusing how they struggle to fit on Academy 2’s pretty big stage because there’s so many of them! After their brooding, atmospheric intro of ‘Triassic’, they drop into their thick, layered signature sound, god I love this. There really is no other band that quite has the delivery that The Ocean has, it’s oppressive yet intricately layered with subtle melodies and flavour added in all over the place. Surprisingly, The Ocean aren’t playing their new single, ‘Preboreal’ as part of the few songs they’re playing on this run, it’s a banger though and has some real promise for the upcoming album.
Finishing with ‘Jurassic | Cretaceous’, the raw delivery of The Ocean never ceases to amaze, whether it’s obscene blast beats, darkly atmospheric passages or just plain riffy stuff, the whole assault on the senses aurally and visually is unbelievably intense. They’re such a unique live show that just adds so much extra grunt to their recorded albums which even on their own have quite the heft to them and I feel quite spoiled to have seen The Ocean so often over the last year or so. If you ever see these on a tour lineup, or a festival poster then I urge you to get yourself along to see them. I can’t wait to get my ears around their new album, hopefully I’ll get to hear some of it done live later this year!
And finally, after so long, it’s time for Karnivool! Opening with my favourite song off ‘Themata’, ‘C.O.T.E.’, what a way to open and what an unbelievable sound they’ve got as well! Right from the start everyone else is clearly every bit as hyped as I am and screams the words back, we are set for an hour of singing along here, I’m totally ready to lose my voice. Making sure to get their latest single, ‘All It Takes’, out in front, hopefully an allusion to a new album when this tour is over – this one wouldn’t be out of place on ‘Sound Awake’ either. I’m loving the amount of ‘Sound Awake’ they’re leaning on for this show as well; if I remember correctly this was meant to be the European leg of the ‘Sound Awake’ tour when it was originally scheduled.
One of my favourites off ‘Sound Awake’, ‘Simple Boy’, with its glockenspiel intro followed by some of the meatiest bass playing you’ve ever heard, and an incredible chorus to boot. Continuing the run, ‘Umbra’ into ‘All I Know’ and then ‘Deadman’ is a master stroke of ‘Sound Awake”s strongest songs. Honestly I’m so wrapped up in screaming every single song they’re playing that I’ve barely had chance to get properly stuck into their stage production or remark on just how incredible the whole sets sounded so far. Getting towards the end of the set, it’s time for their biggest ‘bangers: what else could it be other than their ‘Themata’ title track, quite happy my two favourites from that album both featured on this set! I also think I might have ruined my voice by this point, feeling a little croaky!
The final song for the main set, ‘Change’, and the encore of ‘Alpha Omega’ followed by clear favourite by a large margin, ‘New Day’, sees the set out and all I can think about is whether I should have considered booking time off work to follow this tour around the entire ÜK (well, apart from the ever-omitted Northern Ireland). What an incredible band Karnivool are and it’s a shame they’re from quite literally the other side of the planet, so I’ll have to truly relish every moment I get to see these live. This was absolutely worth every minute of the agonizing wait, and they assure us it won’t be long before they’re back. Also, I need a throat lozenge.
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