Sweden has had a considerable amount of talent emerge in the progressive metal space over the past decade and a half, with some acts like Vildhjarta even creating their own sub-genres. Stockholm based Karmanjakah has been putting their own spin on things since their self-titled EP in 2016, but while that earlier effort retained some of the usual elements like screamed/sung vocals and heavier grooves the band’s melodic and pop sensibilities have taken over as they’ve moved forward. On their sophomore full length Diamond Morning this is more apparent than ever before, as while the ever-shifting instrumentation and heavier grooves are still prominent the tone is much brighter and there are a lot of influences from outside the rock and metal spheres on display. With brighter hooks and plenty of calmer moments to be found in between the heavier twists and turns, Diamond Morning has a sense of beauty and calmness to it that makes for a unique listen within the prog sphere.
Right from opener “Dove” it’s clear that Karmanjakah hasn’t lost the sense of scale to their sound despite the brighter flourishes, as despite the fact that the guitar melodies have a shimmering quality to them the heavier grooves and pounding drums come through like crashing waves bearing down on the listener. Early on this contrast between the heavy and light really makes the material stand out, as does the way the songwriting balances some of the more complex nuances with more straightforward hooks. “Eyes Seeing Eyes” feels very cinematic in how it builds and layers its peaks, hitting listeners with increasing amounts of density and volume. But what stood out to me the most about Diamond Morning is how the bulk of the album is built around complementary tracks. Your first encounter with this comes through the back-to-back of “Sun, astray” and “Moon, astray”, where the former has a much bolder sound with plenty of huge hooks while the latter is a bit more subdued and has a calmer progressive rock tone that feels perfectly suited for nighttime listening. This is continued with “Sapphire” and “Ruby” as well as the three tracks with diamond in their name, with “Thousand Horns” serving as one of the other standalone tracks that helps to break things up. I really liked how everything flowed on Diamond Morning, as even when the songs aren’t part of a suite or connected in some other way the transitions are seamless. Each one has plenty of huge peak, but after those first few times through you start to notice other musical elements at work. “Thousand Horns” has blast beats and riffs that remind me more of bands like Astronoid, while “Sapphire” shifts towards jazz instrumentation around the halfway point. “Ruby” and “Diamond Art” also come through somewhere between lo-fi ambient/hip-hop, while closer “Diamond Train” has some shoegaze qualities early on with its jangly guitar. The addition of these elements gives Diamond Morning a bit more variety than the band’s previous full length but retains the brightness and pop hooks that has made them stand out since their earlier days. It does feel like the album could’ve maybe used just one more track as it seems to end a little too quickly, but that’s also a sign of how enjoyable the material is.
Vocalist Jonas Lundquist has one of those singing pitches that soars over top of the recording and has an ethereal quality to it, which works well with the brighter flourishes of Karmanjakah’s music. Where the singing was very dominant on A Book About Itself and sometimes felt like it was overwhelming the instrumentation, here things come off as a bit more balanced and work in tandem to create some truly beautiful moments. A lot of bands in the progressive metal space like to employ gruffer singing or screaming, butLundquist’s approach gives off a tone much closer to the post hardcore/progressive rock side of the spectrum and sometimes comes off closer to something like Circa Survive. The last album retained a little bit of backing screaming, but here the band has opted to let the softer side take 100% of the focus. You do get some dips into spoken word on “Moon, astray” and “Diamond Art” though, where the cadence comes in somewhere between poetry recitation and softer hip-hop. These didn’t fully click with me the first few times, but I’ve come to appreciate how they suit the more relaxed moments.
On their sophomore effort Karmanjakah still has plenty of heavy grooves and huge moments on display, but the overall tone and atmosphere have more of an alternative rock and progressive pop vibe that makes it noticeably brighter and fun feeling than you might associate with music under the progressive metal label. The band has found an even finer balance between the heavy and light sides of their sound, and the exploration of additional musical elements makes for material that is immediately catchy but also has depth to discover as you spend more time with it. I haven’t seen Karmanjakah get mentioned quite as often as some of the other Swedish bands out there, but they’re definitely worth checking out.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg