Karnivool – In Verses

With only four studio albums released over the course of two decades, Australian prog rockers Karnivool are anything but prolific when it comes to putting out new music. Their fourth album arrives almost 13 years after the release of its predecessor, Asymmetry. Entitled In Verses, the album sees the band reuniting with producer Forrester Savell, who previously worked on their landmark 2009 album Sound Awake as well as their debut.

And while Asymmetry was, of course, a very good-sounding record, it didn’t quite capture that Karnívool magic to the same degree as Sound Awake. But did the band and Savell manage to recapture it on the new album?

The short answer is yes. The overall warmth and balance – which also characterize their live sound – are very much intact on In Verses. Each instrument has its own place in the mix, yet nothing stands out unnecessarily. The sonic textures match and support the emotionally charged songs and themes, resulting in a deeply captivating experience.

In Verses pays tribute to the band’s career while also moving forward. Not in a direct or blunt way, as its experimentally charged predecessor did, but rather through the way the band allows songs to develop and breathe. Throughout the album, Karnivool meld determined authority with uncompromising vulnerability, and that’s where the true magic arises. Outward technical skill never takes center stage; instead, it serves the emotional weight, songwriting quality, and carefully crafted arrangements.

The opener “Ghost” slowly guides the listener into the album before a massive main riff kicks in. There is an elegance to the tension build-up, awakening memories of similarly powerful album openers such as “Triassic” by The Ocean Collective and “Ceremony” by The Cult. With a running time of over six minutes, “Ghost” is not among the longest tracks on the album, yet it carries a distinctly epic feel. The downtuned riffs are immense, as are the layered arrangements. Ian Kenny moves fluidly across his vocal and emotional range, while Steve Judd delivers a blistering rhythmic backdrop that drives the song’s push-and-pull dynamic.

A more direct and approachable quality defines the follow-up track “Drone,” which was one of the five songs released ahead of the album. “Azora” places itself somewhere between the first two tracks and comes across as utterly catchy while remaining diverse and complex.

Halfway through the record, things grow even more epic with a couple of strong, slow-moving tracks that showcase the band’s understanding of how to create beautiful, almost cinematic atmospheres without compromising dynamics. The latter of these, “Reanimation,” sees Karnivool welcoming Guthrie Govan for an epic guitar solo that only he could deliver.

The band then picks up the pace with the remastered version of their 2021 single “All It Takes” and “Remote Self Control,”. The latter, draws parallels to the bands debut,  however, it struggles to find its place on the album and somewhat disrupts In Verses’ otherwise excellent flow.

The album slows down toward the end with the stunning “Opal” before closing with “Salva,” which reveals more with repeated listens but somehow doesn’t conclude the album with the expected intensity and weight.

Much like when Tool released their first new album in 13 years with Fear Inoculum, the question of “was it worth the wait?” inevitably arises. Such discussions are largely purposeless. What matters is that Karnivool have released an exceptional album where time, craft, and emotion are not only apparent but deeply moving throughout. With In Verses, the Australian band have created an extremely strong record that captures all their defining qualities in an utterly poignant collection of music – and even though we are only a month into 2026, this is clearly an album likely to appear on many end-of-year lists.

www.karnivool.com