DOT

A nice album!

After six years, Karmakanic returned with a new album in which mastermind Jonas Reingold recruited several talented musicians who put their grain of sand in a six-track record whose sound has the evident symphonic flavor, but that also adds some heavy passages, space atmospheres and even jazzy nuances. The album features 6 tracks, 4 of them are short, one a bit long and the other quite long but amazing.

It starts with "Dot", which is just a one-minute introduction with some computer-spacey sounds that lead to "God The Universe And Everything Else No One Really Cares About Part. 1" which is a magnificent 24-minute epic that let us know how challenging Reingold and co. are regarding composition and performance. The song is wonderful, with different passages and changes in mood and tempo. In some moments it can be smooth, in others explosive and deep, with even some lyrics that are easy to remember and sing. The use of piano and keyboards is prominent, as you can imagine, it produces that symphonic prog sound that Karmakanic uses to share. The bass lines are as usual wonderful, guitars can be soft and delicate, wonderfully accompanied by a flute that appears here and there. The song flows, there are not forced passages, in fact, every minute sounds so pure and has different things to add, so it is a rich track with delicious acoustic guitars and even some nice female voices at half the song. The form it constantly morphs is exquisite, so the 24 minutes pass so fast no matter if you are listening to heavy or soft moments.

"Higher Ground" has a catchy start with nice vocals and a friendly soft sound that in moments becomes a bit heavier, but only for a brief moment because it returns to its soft form. Actually, it could be a nice kind of prog-ballad with those keyboards that produce its symphonic spirit. In the last part the song becomes much different, more experimental and with some heavy hints that make it better, in my opinion. "Steer by the Stars" has a true catchy sound that might take you to the rockin' 80's. The song is nice but to be honest seems to be weak in comparison to the rest of the album., but at the same time it could be a cool radio hit.

"Traveling Minds" starts again with a tender and soft sound that is being developed with the pass of the minutes. The nuances created by keyboards are great as well as the feeling of Goran Edman with his voice. The album finishes with "God The Universe And Everything Else No One Really Cares About Part. 2", which since the first seconds provides a feeling of nostalgia and goodbye. As I mentioned, it is a very nice album, but I must say that I felt it a bit uneven, I mean, the long epic is extraordinary but the rest of the tracks are just ok. But well, I am happy and eagerly aiming to see Karmakanic on stage next Progtoberfest at Chicago.

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