Karnivool - In Verses (2026)

2020s is the decade of big returns after a over a decade of absence. It all started with Tool in 2019 (not 2020s but close enough), we then had Porcupine Tree, Boards of Canada and a whole lot more that I skipped or don't know about... Now we were blessed with the long-awaited Karnivool LP4.

Around half of these song were either known for years or at leased teased at live shows before. I remember hearing phone recording of "Animation" from some Australian festival and getting it stuck in my head for days and days... Apart from this song and "All It Takes" which was released 5 years ago (!!!), "Reanimation" and "Aozora" were also floating around the youtube and such, so inclusion of these songs in LP4 was almost certain, even though some of the lyrics and arrangements changed.

Anyway, let's dive into the album. It's a nice evolution of the bands sound. It sounds admitedly different that everything before of course, but in a very good way. Their sound is streamlined, spacious and unique. The record has its very strong identity and distinguishes itself very explicitly in the band's very limited discography. While "Themata" was heavy and rough, "Sound Awake" bright and dynamic, "Asymmetry" dissonant and noisy, "In Verses" is introspective and human. I've seen some guys in reddit calling it divorcecore as an allusion to a lot of the lyrics here being allegedly about Ian's divorce struggles. But it's not only that! The music just sounds very organic and lively, even when it's sometimes characteristacally (Karnivoolously) chuggy and mechanical. Still, the guitars here sound very jammy, at times even improvised. It seems to me that Drew sometimes just plays whatever, especially at songs like "Animation". Gone are the "Themata" days of robotic precission and pinpoint chuggy riffs. It may sound more lively and interesting, but sometimes results in songs souding muddy and messy. But let's talk about individual songs.

The opening track - "Ghost", instantly blew me away right off the first listen. What a song! The drumming is perfect, the bass is loud and menacing as always, the the phrygian scale sound is back! The song's intro really minds of the Themata's (the song's) early live only outro - pretty good stuff. The lyrics are also very interesting and the song is heavy af! What a great way to open a long awaited record.

"Drone", which was the first true single teasing LP4 grew on me a lot. I had some mixed feelings about it after the first couple of listens and my girlfriend said that it's "boring" and that nothing happens in it. Well back then I'd agree with her on some level, but now, about a year later it's a whole different story. The song does this "We Are" type of rhythmic riddle stuff and the longer you think about its time signature, the more ambigious it seems to be, at least for me. At first I thought it's in very swingy 6/8, but after hearing it more times and then experiencing it live, I know that it's just a weirdly expressed 4/4.

The second single, the one with which it was officialy revealed that LP4 is indeed coming, was a more energetic number - "Aozora". I listened to it a lot initially and it really is a neat and satisfying song, but I rarely come back to it nowadays. I really enjoyed it live tho! I'm also a big fan of this title, it just sounds exceptionally cool and memorable to me.

When it comes to "Animation", as I said earlier, this is a certified banger. The song is menacing and cryptic, the guitars sound HUGE and evil and the whole soundscape feels just mesmerizing. There's something exotic about the vocal melody and the lyrics. "We almost had it all" is a great one liner! My favourite thing about the song tho is gotta the way how enourmous the distorted guitar sounds when it enters the verse for the first time interrupting Ian's singing. I have some issues with guitars in the choruses like I mentioned - they are definitely too jammy and maybe somewhat too loud for my taste, but the song's too cool for me to complain about it that much .

"Conversations" is a song that may represent this album the best out of all its songs. It's kinda "Sound Awake"-y, but it has this almost post-rockish sensibility to it, that was absent from the band's discography up to this point. It's kinda built like a stream of consciousness, but nevertheless features this very vibrant, sing-alongy chorus that I always enjoy. But it's the outro that defines the track for me. I love when they do this arpeggiated guitar stuff. The section reminds me of songs like "Sky Machine" or "Aeons" but more organic and streamlined. Neat stuff!

When I saw that Guthrie Govan of all people will have a feature here, I expected something crazy, but what we got is "Reanimation" - a song known before that is admiteddly pretty forgettable. I don't enjoy the lyrics here I and have trouble remembering how the track goes ... The solo is nice but it could've been better. It's instantly recognizable as Govan but yeah I expected something more exotic and colorful that this.

We all know and love "All It Takes", it's been with us for approximately half a decade by now (!!! ), so it's very weird to see it here on this album, even as an allegedly "remastered" version. The song is another banger, what can I say... It's just really heavy, extremely headbangable and cool af. I never really understood the timimg of the main guitar riff tho. It's kinda offbeat but and the same time it really isn't? Classic Karnivool time riddle here.

I have little to say about "Remote Self Control". As I'm writing this I'm listening to this track a 2nd time ever! They haven't played it live yet too, so it's kinda forgotten and a deep cut. I'm not a fan of it... It has some interesting quirks - the melodies are unusual yet the riff and the structure is pretty simple. I know this track has its fans, but I'm not crazy about it at all.

Now we have the mighty duo of "Opal" and "Salva" - two monumental, emotionally intense epics. For me, these tracks are one of the band's best. Both are without a question absolute highlights of this LP. The former, "Opal" was released as the ultimate single, before the album's release in february and I simply did not like it. I was dumb as hell, this song is beautiful. It was the live show that made me fall in love with it. It sounded massive and monumental, like I said. It was played as a first encore, and while I heard a lot of people sigh in disbelief that this was played instead of "Fade", "COTE" or "Change", I've heard even more people sing along to Ian's emotional vocals. The song just feels vulnerable and heartbreaking. It has big Birds Of Tokyo energy too, something that is exceptionally rare in Karnivool's discography. The metal riff that serves as the song's breakdown is phenomenal and definitely my favourite guitar part off "In Verses"... It's too heavy for what it is!

...And we still have "Salva" to talk about. "Opal" was heartbreaking, but "Salva" is cathartic. Ian really poured his entire heart and soul into these tracks... It may be divorcecore, but what a song it is! It starts very shy and atmospheric, but slowly builds into something wild. Then it turns anthemic and triumphant after what is probably Ian's most intense and staggering vocal performance in the band's studio material. The we have the bagpipe solo?!? This song is packed! It has everything: the anthemic sing-along choruses, interesting rhytm section interplay, guitar soundscapes, visceral lyrics, BAGPIPES SOLO!!! I can't believe I've heard it live and that Ian performed it simply flawlessly...

Yeah this is just a fantastic album. I still prefer the first two, but this met my expectations and I'm immensly satisfied. Was it worth to wait 13 years for this? Hmmm I can't imagine how they could make this album better, this is still a song-focused prog-adjacent metal band, not some artsy Fantanocore project, so I believe "In Verses" is the best we could get from the boys. Can't wait for the next record one in 2090