KARMATRAIN

Music from the other side of the world.

A progressive rock band from New Zealand, well, that alone sounds truly exciting, doesn't it? But for me as a German, the geographical aspect is also crucial, there are many thousands of kilometers between our countries - but enough of the geography lesson.

With "Karmatrain", the five-member band presented their debut album last year. The music has several positive characteristics. On the one hand a very strong vocal presence of singer and keyboardist Mickey Brown, on the other hand a great rhythm work of Adam Tobeck and last but not least a very appealing guitar of Jonnie Barnard. But the three points alone would be too short. What really convinced me personally is the ability of the whole band to sound homogeneous and at the same time to act always diversified during a running time of more than one hour. The basic mood of the album always oscillates between a certain melancholy and a positive force that I would most likely compare with a band like Radiohead, also in terms of certain echoes of alternative rock in prog. And in contrast to many technically oriented bands of the scene, the emotion is in the foreground of "Outside In". Mickey Brown's voice contributes significantly to this fact - always present, rousing and emotional enough to get completely involved in the music. No matter what mood I listen to the album, it can reach me. Great! By the way, the band acts very cohesive, no one plays himself into the foreground, there is a pleasant musical flow, which nevertheless has many unpredictable twists ready.

Considering that we are talking about the band's first album at this point, one can only guess what they will still be capable of in the coming years. This is a great start to a group that I can strongly recommend to all prog fans. Greetings to the other side of the world!

Little fun fact: My girlfriend ended up helping herself to my CD shelf and picked "Karmatrain". She just said: great music! Now that's a statement.

Share this OUTSIDE IN review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Smurfreviews
• Report this review (#2637940)
• Buy OUTSIDE IN music online with PA partners
• Show all OUTSIDE IN MP3/Stream
• Go to OUTSIDE IN page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Karmatrain page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for OUTSIDE IN related discussions