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Review:
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It’s been a long wait for Karnataka fans since the
wonderful ‘Delicate Flame of Desire’ back in 2003. Since
then the various members have gone on to form the excellent
Reasoning and Panic Room, leaving the lynchpin Ian Jones
to carry the torch, and this is the first album with the
new line-up. Old fans will be wondering whether there have
been any changes. Well, the key ingredients are still there,
take a goodly portion of Yes/Jon Anderson and put it into
a pot, add some Clannad, Renaissance, Pink Floyd and Pendragon,
and simmer for 60 minutes. However, there are two interrelated
factors that have changed, the songs are now twice as long
as before because of the long instrumental passages, and
I must emphasise the word instrumental, NOT flash soloing.
In fact if you add the opening two instrumentals to the
instrumental passages in other songs, especially ‘Forsaken’,
then over half the album is instrumental.
This is a brave, bold move, but it is in keeping with
today’s prog bands who are looking towards longer song structures,
for example Porcupine Tree, Transatlantic, and the Mars
Volta. The album open with Troy Donockley’s plaintive uillean
pipes, he will be very familiar to Nightwish and Mostly
Autumn fans. Listening to the second track, the instrumental
‘State of Grace’, it will come as no surprise that keyboarder
Gonzalo Carrera has played with various Yes tribute bands,
especially when you hear his climbing crescendos. ‘Your
World’ shows that Lisa Fury, with her crystal clear voice,
has done an admirable job of taking over the baton from
Rachel Jones on this Pink Floydish mid tempo number, powered
along by Ian’s funky bass. ‘Moment in Time’ is a lovely
Renaissance style song, and Lisa’s voice reminds me of Annie
Haslam, with a superb string arrangement and Enrico Pinna’s
Dave Gilmour style guitar solo. ‘The Serpent and the Sea’
is similar to Jon Anderson’s Yes, then ‘Forsaken’ has a
delicate piano and strings first section, before the band
cuts in for a long instrumental passage, showcasing Ian
Harris’s skilful drumming, and Enrico’s guitar work brings
to mind the great Nick Barrett of Pendragon. ‘Tide to Fall’
is my favourite track, an up-tempo powerful song very much
in the vein of the old Karnataka, and the album ends with
the epic ‘The Gathering Light’, which begins with Troy’s
yearning pipes as the mist rolls down the glens, then drums
thunder as the song opens out to reveal the band at their
most soaring and Celtic. Some people will say that some
of the songs outstay their welcome, and that a bit of judicious
pruning would not go amiss, but this album is a massive
grower, each listen revealing fresh nuances. This is prog
with the emphasis on melody and mood rather than technical
flash, and a must buy for melodic prog fans, old and new,
indeed anyone who likes their classic rock a little bit
adventurous. Available from all the usual outlets and their
webshop at http://www.karnataka.netmx.co.uk/index.html
9 out of 10.
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