KARMAKANIC (Goran Edman) – DOT (2016)

Easily among the strongest progressive acts from the last fifteen years, Swedes KARMAKANIC return with their fourth album “DOT“, as always commanded by imperious bassist/producer Jonas Reingold and outstanding vocalist Göran Edman.
Needless to say that both, and all their accompanying guests, are dazzling, world-class musicians. Enough about that – let’s determine how “Dot” stands up in the context of all this expectation.

First song is title track “Dot”, crafted around a series of cosmic sound effects, introducing the album’s thematic context (that the Earth is just a tiny dot in the universe and humanity’s conflicts are insignificant in the greater scheme of things). It is a sonic prelude that builds to the opening of the magnum opus that is “God, the Universe and Everything No-one Cares About Part 1”.
When Karmakanic create a long-form composition, they don’t mess around. “God…Part 1”, at almost 24 minutes, has everything an authentic Prog epic should have, and then some. Imagine a soundtrack to the journey of a 25th Century spaceship exploring the cosmos with a message for and from Planet Earth, encountering interstellar danger, beauty, mystery, conflict, wonder, mayhem and revelation.

This excellent composition starts with a gentle piano arrangement – which also ends the album. Reingold’s signature fretless sound provides the foundation, and Edman’s immediately recognizable voice sets the lyrical scene. Matters become surprisingly heavy quite early after the first verse, followed by a fat vocal bridge in 14/8 timing.
Then the core compositional theme is presented in Baroque guitar, flute, keyboards, bass and who knows what else, until the vocal progression gives way to a gentle middle section that is breathtaking in its beauty.
It’s complex, it’s interesting, it’s provocative and it’s challenging. And it’s fantastic. Filled with melodic and rhythmic complexity, peaks and troughs, highs and lows, weight and light, stabs, rests, solos and surprises, “God…Part 1” has everything, and every passage is new and musically fulfilling. Myriad moods abound in this masterpiece, so that just when you think you have grasped it, a new surprise awaits you.

Third song “Higher Ground” is a brilliant piece of Melodic Prog in which Edman’s lustrous voice is given centre stage. Every musician in this band is an absolute virtuoso, and that just cannot be ignored, but Edman’s lead vocals are never to be underestimated in this context. Without his immaculate voice, the instrumental exploits of his band-mates would not bear the illusion of accessibility that Karmakanic’s complexity deceptively also offers.
His voice is at once rich, smooth and melodic. It is also unique – I can’t imagine Karmakanic without him. The chorus is so utterly gorgeous as to extract tears from the listener, and the song then builds to an understated but hugely emotional crescendo.

“Steer by the Stars” is a surprising highlight of the album for me. It has a straight-ahead feel based on uplifting pop/rock melodies with soaring harmonies and a strong hook. It’s even close to Melodic Rock, rich in harmonies and brilliant instrumentation based on a simple yet somehow not uncomplicated premise.
That unmistakable fretless bass once again introduces fifth song “Travelling Minds”. The core theme reprises, only this time at the hands of the bass maestro. Before long the song explodes into a full, slow, bluesy expedition that one feels would not be out of place on a Yes album in their heyday.

Final piece “God, the Universe and Everything Else No-one Really Cares About – Part II” completes this astonishing journey of introspection with a massive symphonic and vocal re-examination of the core theme, bringing us back in glorious fashion to the original delicate piano riff that began “Part I”.

Karmakanic, as musicians, were moved by new questions and emotions when they created this new album, and you can hear it. Thus, in addition to the now familiar stellar musicianship of each band-member, “Dot” also offers something new that is just as valuable as Karmakanic’s famous virtuosity: a beautiful, philosophical lyric approach and accessible melodies like never before.
If you love beauty, if you appreciate stellar musicianship, if you are remotely interested in music that will move you deeply, you cannot fail to love Karmakanic and “Dot”.
Simply sublime.

01. Dot
02. God The Universe And Everything Else No One Really Cares About Part. 1
03. Higher Ground
04. Steer By The Stars
05. Traveling Minds
06. God The Universe And Everything Else No One Really Cares About Part. 2

Göran Edman – Lead Vocals
Jonas Reingold – Bass, Fretless Bass
Lalle Larsson – Keyboards
Morgan Ågren – Drums
Nils Erikson – Keyboards, Vocals
Krister Jonsson – Guitars
Andy Tillison – Hammond B3 (2, 6)
Christine Lenk, Alex & Norah Reingold – Vocals

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