Karnataka "Secrets of Angels"

[flatliner]

I just got this a few days ago. Pretty surprised there is no thread about it yet. I loved The Gathering Light; thought it was their best so far. New CD is also excellent. Only 2 members are the same though. The new lead singer, Hayley Griffiths, is excellent! To my ears, she's a combination of Annie Haslam and Christina Booth! What a voice! I've only heard it once so far, but to me Gathering Light was a bit better. The big disappointment to me is the sound. To me the sound of this new CD is very mp3 sounding: not as dynamic and full as their last. But I still recommend it. Anyone else have this yet? Any other thoughts?

[emperorken]

I like this album quite a bit. A bit enigmatic, though. The first 7 tracks sound a bit poppy to me, although all are nice songs. But the 20 minute title track is definitely the highlight here. I agree the new singer, Hayley Griffiths, is really great.

[snowsnow]

I also thought The Gathering Light was their best album beating my previous favourite, Delicate Flame of Desire, by some way. I couldn't believe how quickly the line-up for The Gathering Light imploded and was very disappointed that the singer left along with other members of the band. Tempted to buy this just for the title track which seems to be going down very well.

[Guess Who]

I tend to prefer the second half of the new album to the first one (tracks 1-4, unfortunately, sound much more like Nightwish than classic Karnataka). Although I must say that Hayley Griffiths has a superb vocal.

[ca1ore]

Anyone try getting the FLAC download of this? I ordered it a few days ago and still no link - enquiries to the K store have gone unanswered.

[TheLongshot]

I also thought The Gathering Light was their best album beating my previous favourite, Delicate Flame of Desire, by some way. I couldn't believe how quickly the line-up for The Gathering Light imploded and was very disappointed that the singer left along with other members of the band. Tempted to buy this just for the title track which seems to be going down very well.

Given that there was another lineup between the original one and The Gathering Light lineup that also imploded, you gotta wonder what's going on there. Hopefully they can hold onto a lineup for a while.

[miamiscot]

I'm thinking this new one might be my favorite.

[Patelena396]

I tend to prefer the second half of the new album to the first one (tracks 1-4, unfortunately, sound much more like Nightwish than classic Karnataka). Although I must say that Hayley Griffiths has a superb vocal.

Perfect explanation. I completely agree.

[the ferret]

I've really enjoyed the new album. It's full of strong melodies & great playing. There's a bit less folkiness than on previous albums, I suppose, although Troy Donockley does his usual schtick on one of the songs. Is it as good as the Gathering Light? Yeah, I reckon so.

I saw the band live in Swansea last week & they were exceptional. Hayley Griffiths nailed the live vocals & the French drummer is completely bonkers. The two hour set comprised songs mostly from the last two albums & despite a disappointing crowd (especially for what's ostensibly a home town gig) you would have thought the band were playing at Wembley. The journalist Paul Jerome Smith was there so I'm hoping for a review in one of the British rock papers soon!

[ca1ore]

Finally got the link to my download. First couple of spins and I like but don't love it. Maybe that will change. First track is a bit wonky, vocals too low in the mix and some distortion I the left speaker. Fortunately the rest of the album is fine.

[Trace]

I also saw Karnataka on the recent tour, at the Bristol Bierkeller.
I agree the band were excellent and the singer was very enthusiastic, as well as hitting all the notes.
And yes, like Swansea, the audience turnout was disappointing, especially as the band have worked Bristol on the last couple of tours. I would have thought there would have been more interest.

[Progtopia]

I hadn't heard them before this album. It's fantastic. Might be my fave of the year so far. Gotta get more of the back catalog.

[yodathedog]

They've become way too generic Progressive Metal sounding. Hayley's a great singer, but there's nothing special about this album for me.

[robh]

Progressive Metal????? I would have no difficulty in telling Karnataka from Threshold or Haken.

I saw them a couple of weeks back and Hayley seems to be developing as a front person. The new album seems to suit her style better than when she was singing The Gathering Light. I prefer TGL to SoA, and I prefer both of these to the earlier albums.

[ca1ore]

I wouldn't call this album anything close to 'progressive metal' frankly. I really like it, which is not something I can say about any prog metal album. Still like DFoD best, but this and TGL are strong entries.

[Splicer]

Heard this for the first time since it's up on Progstreaming. My first impressions of this album:

1. A lot of sameness in the melodies and style. I suppose if you like them, every song works well for you.

2. I find it over-arranged and over-produced. I'm all for a "big" sound, but this borders on the kind of excess you hear in things like Trans-Siberian Orchestra or some of Neal Morse's work. When you think it's hit a crescendo, it goes for another crescendo, then a soaring guitar solo, followed by yet one more crescendo, this time with choir and then a guitar solo over all of it, pipes, high notes being hit, etc. It comes across as simply too much.

I don't recoil from it, but I do find myself chuckling at some of the things I hear as cliches.

[Kai]

I do find Secrets of Angels a disappointment. I agree that the style and melodies are very similar, especially on the first side. My problem there is that many of the melodies aren't as strong as on The Gathering Light (which also gets better the further it goes). Some work pretty well, some sound rather anonymous. The production also has a new kind of pondernousness that gets excessive at times and in a way does bring to mind the sound of Nightwish style of symph metal, even though this music really isn't metal. I suppose Hayley Griffith's more dramatic and caramelly (for a want of a better word) voice compared to Lisa Fury's contributes to this. She is more assertive, but that is not always a good thing.

Having said all this, I like the album because of the lengthy title track, which, funnily enough, is the prime example of that ”endless crescendo of crescendi”, especially with the anthemic pipe and guitar solos following each other before the final chorus. But it has the best melodies and dynamics on the whole album. It grows and breathes better than many of the shorter tracks. It makes the album worthwhile.

I'm left increasingly ambivalent about Karnataka after this album. I bought Delicate Flames of Desire at the time, and I honestly find it rather unmemorable and oldly mildly engaging. The few tracks I've heard from their earlier albums I found simply bland. And yet I was really excited about The Gathering Light when it came out and still like to give it a good spin. If Secrets of Angels is indication of their future development, it seems that The Gathering Light was their single golden BB, as far as I'm concerned. I'd like to be proven wrong.