Jonas Reingold from The Flower Kings, Midnight Sun and
Reptilion has a new project called Karmakanic, and along
with him he has a bunch of people. There are Zoltan Czörs
(The Flower Kings) and Jamie Salazar (Midnight Sun, Lats
Tribe etc) on drums. Tomas Bodin (The Flower Kings) and
Robert Engstrand on keyboard. Roine Stolt - guitar, lead
vocals,(The Flower Kings etc) Johan Glössner also on
guitar and last but not least there are Göran Edman (Y
Malmsteen, Glory etc) on lead vocals. Jonas himself has
produced "Entering The Spectra" and it was recorded at his
studio Reingold Recording studio. It was recorded in 2001
and released in 2002. Jonas is a very good producer and
it sounds really good. The cover is also very good
looking.
The symphonic/progressive rock had a rebirth during the
90's with some well-known bands like Yes, King Crimson,
Spock’s Beard, and The Flower Kings. Karmakanic is
following the footsteps of those groups. Music-wise there
are big similarities with the groups mentioned above.
Reviewed by: Anders Sandvall
Rating 9,5/10
Karmakanic
Jonas Reingold-bass
Robert Engstrand-keybords
Jamie Salazar-drums
Göran Edman-lead vocals
Johan Glössner-guitar
Roine Stolt-lead vocals,guitar
Thomas Bodin-keybords
Zoltan Csörsz-drums
The album contains 10 tracks and it’s a theme album. It’s
a story that takes place 3000 years ahead in the future.
The album tells a story of a man and his ordinary life
and of his visions on life. And it’s up to the listener
to make their own reflection about this man and his
life. And about their own life.
"Entering The Spectra" demands several listenings, but
when you’re into it the album is really good. It’s a lot
of tempo-changes in the tracks and a lot of solos here
and there. Even though this should be refered to as
symphonic/progressive rock I sense some 70's heavy metal
influences too.
"Entering The Spectra" kicks off with "The Little Man".
It has an intro where a woman tells the story about the
man and his visions of life. "The Little Man" and the
title track "Entering The Spectra" drifts together and
divides into several parts. First there is "Yellow"
(Instrumental), then comes "Black" (The Innocent) with
some vocals. "Red" is also pure instrumental just like
the next episodes "Purple" and "Indigo" are. On "Green"
there are some vocals again and it’s also more melodic
than the rest of the colors.
It ends with "White", which is very beautiful and melodic.
"The Spirit Remains The Same" is more melodic rock, it’s
incredibly beautiful. In "Cyberdust from Mars" there are
some melodic rock music with a lots of tempo. There are a
lot of guitars in "Space Race No. 3". In "The Man In The
Moon Cries", there’s some nice choirs involved and they
backs up Göran very nicely. "One Whole Half" is an
instrumental track and Jonas takes the lead in this track.
He impresses a lot!!!! "Is This The End" is a 3 part
track. Part One (The End) is beautiful with only piano
and Görans voice, Part One drifts over to Part Two (The
Light). It’s instrumental and very short. Then there’s
Part Three (The Question). Now it’s more rock and there
are some choirs involved again. Another instrumental
track is "Cello Suite No.1 in G major". Here Jonas shows
another time that he is a real demon on bass. Needless to
say is that he impresses big time again. "Welcome To
Paradise" is almost 10 minutes long. It’s more of heavy
rock with choirs. And there’s a nice keyboard solo too.
If you’re a fan of symphonic/progessive rock you should
look this up. Jonas has built a beautiful, magical music
landscape that really shoots your ear.
Jonas is not only a world class bass-player, he’s also a
music/lyric writer of high standards. Even though this
demands several listening it’s very impressing and I
really enjoy listening to this.