Band - Karnivool
Kinda sounds like - A Perfect Circle with a punch to it
Album to listen to - Themata
Songs to start with - Cote, Themata

For the second installation of I know this band and you don't! I present to you Karnivool, yet another progressive alternative band from Australia. So what's this infatuation of mine for good rock from down under? I promised you a story, so here it is, before you, in written word form.

In the summer of 2008 I went backpacking through Scandinavia and western Europe, a little excursion that merited a plethora of interesting events and unexpected undertakings. When I've reached Amsterdam, I stayed at the Flying Pig Downtown, one of the best hostels I've encountered throughout my trip. The Flying Pig wasn't especially pretty and it definitely wasn't especially clean but it had a charm to to it that manifested itself in the amazing social climate it presented. The hostel's main desk was a bar. The hostel's lobby was a lounge. This prompted nothing but the desire to lie down, kick back and sip on your alcoholic beverage of choice and enjoying the location's obvious... aroma. It was not uncommon for weary travelers in the Pig to forgo venturing out to the city altogether, but instead opt to stay in the hostel in order to chillax and engage with the other hostel guests. The bar always had good music, and it was in that bar that I've first come to know Karnivool by means of a very cool Australian bartender. Sima picked really good music to play, and for a few days there, the Flying Pig was one of the first hostels to sport Solstice Coil on it's playlist! Since then though she removed me as her friend from Facebook so I guess the experience wasn't as mutual for her.

Aaaanyhow...  that was a long and winding exposition to a really short conclusion. Back to the matter at hand. Karnivool does hard rock\metal (and some might say, Alternative Progressive rock?) but in a very melodic sense. Lead singer Ian Kenny has an exceptional voice that manages to shear through with perfect balance and harmony the walls of distortion the band lays down. The tracks themselves are meticulously composed and arranged, consisting both drive and raw emotion. Themata, the title track, for example has a brilliant main riff with great hook and groove that keeps you on your toes. Roquefort - is just cool and gets stuck in your head. a lot. A worthy mention is Sacarabs - a short prog metal piece that leaves you dumbfounded. Even now after almost three years of listening, I still can't figure out what the hell is going on in that song.

Karnivool is just one of those bands that are just hard to distinctly describe in words and set aside, but once you start listening it's easy to love and appreciate this little gem.