Sound Awake
Studio album by
Karnivool
Released5 June 2009
RecordedBlackbird / Kingdom Studios, Perth, Western Australia
GenreProgressive metal, progressive rock
Length72:10
LabelCymatic
ProducerForrester Savell
Karnivool chronology
Themata
(2005)		 Sound Awake
(2009)		 Asymmetry
(2013)
Singles from Sound Awake
  1. "Set Fire to the Hive"
    Released: 28 April 2009
  2. "All I Know"
    Released: 9 November 2009

Sound Awake is the second studio album by Australian rock band Karnivool, released in Australia on 5 June 2009. At the J Awards of 2009, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.[1]

At the 2010 West Australian Music Industry Awards, the album won Most Popular Album.

Recording

The album follows a four-year gap since their debut studio album Themata in 2005. Sound Awake was produced by Forrester Savell (The Butterfly Effect, Dallas Frasca) and recorded at Perth's Blackbird and Kingdom Studios over several months. It was later mixed at Melbourne's Sing Sing Studios and mastered by Tom Coyne (DJ Shadow, The Roots) at Sterling Sounds in New York City.

Composition

AllMusic wrote that "The core of alternative/nu metal that brought the group success on its debut album, Themata, still holds throughout the bulk of [Sound Awake], but there are little touches of something else."[2] The songs on Sound Awake are longer than those on Themata,[3] and more in common stylistically with progressive rock than any of the band's previous work.[4] In an interview, bassist Jon Stockman describes the differences between Sound Awake and the band's previous album, Themata:

The main difference would be that the bulk of Themata was written by Drew and arranged by a few of us whereas both the writing and arranging for Sound Awake was much more of a collaborative effort from everyone. In addition to that, a lot of Themata was written straight to a recording session before ever being played as a band, whereas we pretty much wrote most of the Sound Awake in a jam-room environment.

— Jon Stockman[5]

Release

The name of the album was conceived by Drew Goddard and the album cover artwork was undertaken by graphic designers, Joe Kapiteyn and Chris Frey.

We originally wanted a foldout design but found that the standard book worked better with the number of artwork pictures that we had in mind. In the end, the final cover was a mixture of input from all the band and Joe.

— Jon Stockman[5]

The album was released on 5 June 2009 through Cymatic Records and distributed by Sony Music Australia. The first single from the album, "Set Fire to the Hive", was released prior to it, on 28 April 2009, with a video being released on 8 May. The second single, "All I Know", was released on 9 November 2009, along with an accompanying music video.

Sound Awake was played as the 'feature album' on radio station Triple J.[6] They played the entire album, one song per day, with some songs featuring short spoken introductions by members of the band. On 17 July 2009 it was nominated for a J Award – 'Australian Album of the Year'.[7]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Bloody Disgusting[8]
Kerrang![9]
Sputnikmusic[10]

Adam Greenberg of Allmusic felt that often the band sounded too similar to the work of Tool, writing, "when Karnivool are simply innovating and trying out new elements, they turn out to be quite capable. They just need that last push to make the album really something special."[2] Jacob Royal of Sputnikmusic complimented Karnivool's experimentation and musicianship, writing that many of the tracks build in dynamics well and feature complex percussive arrangements from drummer Steve Judd. He considered "Illumine" and "Simple Boy" among the weakest points of the album, but praised most of the other featured songs.[10] Jonathan Barkan of Bloody Disgusting compared Sound Awake to the work of Tool, Porcupine Tree, Muse and The Mars Volta, "while still being able to sound original and unique".[8]

The album debuted at number two on the ARIA Album Charts on 15 June 2009, behind The Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D..[11] It was also the top independent release in Australia, debuting at number one on the AIR Charts.[12] The album received Gold certification for sales in Australia, and in 2012 was voted the #1 album of the years 2000–2009 by Heavy Blog Is Heavy.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Karnivool[13]

Sound Awake
No.TitleLength
1."Simple Boy"5:47
2."Goliath"4:37
3."New Day"8:20
4."Set Fire to the Hive"4:28
5."Umbra"7:50
6."All I Know"4:53
7."The Medicine Wears Off"1:49
8."The Caudal Lure"6:16
9."Illumine"5:12
10."Deadman"12:04
11."Change (Part 2)"10:47

Notes "Deadman" does not run until 12:04, it stops at 10:08, and after 4 seconds of silence, at minute 10:12 begins a hidden track: it is a re-recorded version of the closing song from Themata, "Change (Part 1)", which then segues into "Change (Part 2)". The re-recorded version of "Change (Part 1)" contains vibraphone instead of the ambience found on the Themata version, and only runs for 1:57, compared to the Themata version, which run to 3:28. It also contains slightly modified lyrics from the original.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[14]

Band
  • Drew Goddard – guitar, backing vocals
  • Ian Kenny – vocals, acoustic guitar on "Change"
  • Jon Stockman – bass
  • Mark Hosking – guitar, backing vocals
  • Steve Judd – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
  • Grant McCulloch – additional vocals on"Deadman"
  • Jason Bunn – viola on "Umbra"
  • Javin Sun – additional vocals on "Goliath"
  • Jessop Maticevski-Shumack – additional vocals on "Goliath"
  • Jules Pacy-Cole – additional vocals on "Goliath"
  • Louise Conray – additional percussion on "Simple Boy" and "Change"
  • Prue Glenn – conductor
  • Sam Pilot Kickett – didgeridoo on "Change"
  • Talfryn Dawlings – additional vocals on "Goliath"
  • Zak Hanyn – additional vocals on "Goliath"
Production
  • Chris Frey – concept and design
  • Dave Parkin – mixing on "The Medicine Wears Off" and "The Caudal Lure"
  • Forrester Savell – producer and mixing
  • Karnivool – producer
  • Nicole Norelli – photography
  • Rick Mafferty – mix assistant
  • Tom Coyne – mastering

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[17] Gold 35,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "The J Award 2009". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Greenberg, Adam. "Sound Awake – Karnivool". Allmusic. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. ↑ Boelsen, Scott (16 June 2009). "Album Reviews : Karnivool – Sound Awake". Metal Obsession. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Upton, Dan. "Karnivool – Sound Awake Review". antiMusic.com. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Karnovool". NZrock. 1 September 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  6. ↑ "Feature Album – Sound Awake". Triple J. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  7. ↑ "2009 J Award – Sound Awake". Triple J. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  8. 1 2 Barkan, Jonathan (31 January 2010). "Album Review – KARNIVOOL's Sound Awake". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Kerrang!. 3 October 2009 (p.48)
  10. 1 2 "Review: Karnivool – Sound Awake". Sputnikmusic. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Karnivool – Sound Awake". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  12. ↑ "Jagermiester AIR Indie Label Albums Chart". Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR). Archived from the original on 17 September 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  13. ↑ "APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  14. ↑ Sound Awake (Media notes). Karnivool. Sony Music Entertainment. 2009.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Karnivool – Sound Awake". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2009". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2009 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
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