Karmakanic
In A Perfect World

How to start a little side project for fun and transform it, in just a few years, into one of the best prog bands around. We are talking about Karmakanic, a band founded in 2002 by Jonas Reingold, bassist of the Flower Kings, which reached its fourth official release in August 2011.

Undoubtedly, the prolonged break of the main band has benefited this small side project, in which the Swedish musician has been able to immerse himself, body and soul, since 2008. And given the parallel activity of the Agents Of Mercy, we will very likely have to get used to the idea that the Flower Kings are on hold indefinitely.
And so, after an excellent start like Entering The Spectra, the band has gradually refined the typical mannerisms of the genre, so dear to Swedish groups, and has achieved a unique yet unchallenging sound.

This In A Perfect World is a record full of verve, spontaneous, engaging, and not at all difficult to listen to; anyone who knows the Kings of flowers knows what I’m talking about. Simply put, the musicians themselves are having fun, even before the listener. Just listen to the splendid vocal performance by Goran Edman: it’s a sheer joy to hear him sing. 

This album presents us with seven tracks, each more beautiful than the last, for a total of about an hour. 1969 opens pompously, the most strictly prog piece of the bunch, with its grand quarter-hour of flowing keyboards and virtuosic guitars. The subsequent tracks stand out for their extreme freshness and cheerfulness, captivating the ears in an instant, even though they are long pieces with a markedly prog structure: alternation of slow and fast parts, endless rhythm changes, frequent instrumental digressions, combined with an average duration of 7-8 minutes, yet these pieces never seem heavy or boring.

The best are undeniably the joyous Turn It Up (they could play it on Virgin Radio) and the compelling The World Is Caving In, notable for its ability to reproduce the same verse that opens the song quietly and then magnificently leads it without respite. The same goes for and takes the same "song" form as the good There's Nothing Wrong With The World.

Note worthy of the genius of Can't Take It With You, which mixes prog with a South American salsa. Has Jonas Reingold listened to L'Via L'Viaquez by the Mars Volta?
Very good is the "Beatle-like" Bit The Gift, the only song with a modest length and relatively simple structure, if it weren't for a riff that gracefully borders on hard rock. Finally, the whispered When Love Comes In Town (to give an idea of the quality of this record, I thought it lasted 4-5 minutes, but it actually lasts 10, and it should be a yawning piece), which slowly closes an album without weak points.

In short, if with Who's The Boss In The Factory, Karmakanic had presented themselves as a true revelation of the prog scene in 2008, with this new creation, they confirm themselves with great success, proving to have become much more than a mere side-project.

8.0

01 1969   14.12
02 Turn It Up 6.53
03 The World Is Caving In 8.58
04 Can't Take It With You 5.42
05 There's Nothing Wrong With The World 7.22
06 Bite The Grit 4.57
07 When Fear Came To Town 9.55