Album Review: Karnataka - Requiem For A Dream

Sometimes, it feels like a reflexive answer that so many people say the best song on any given album is the longest one. I'm not sure exactly why, but there is a degree to which many people feel longer songs must be more 'artistic', or that simply being long is a hallmark of quality. That can be the case, but long songs can also be the albatross that drags down an otherwise brilliant album.

That is what happened with Karnataka's previous record, "Secrets Of Angels". That album was perhaps the best blend of rock, symphonic elements, and pop melodies, I've ever heard. The first seven tracks on that one are damn near perfect, and catapulted the record near the top of my year-end list. The problem, though, was the record ended with a twenty-plus minute title track, and that is where the problems started.

All of those glorious melodies and irresistible hooks vanished, as the 'prog' of the song took over, and the song got lost in its desire to be something more. Luckily, it was placed at the end to make it easier to skip, but having such a large chunk of the album be a disappointment does have a profound impact on the resulting score.

And Karnataka has done the exact same thing again.

This album follows the same structure, with (relatively) shorter songs establishing their blend of symphonic prog/pop being unchanged by the addition of a new singer, then concluding with a twenty-five minute song that doesn't have any of the melodic trademarks of what the rest of the album has to offer. To sit through the length of the title track is a chore, as there are few (if any) hooks to serve as periodic reminders that we indeed want to be listening to this thing. I really don't, and it's working into my theory that prog and I no longer even agree on what reality is.

Fortunately, there is almost an hour of music that comes before the epic, and that music is pretty darn good. It is proggier than "Secrets Of Angels" was, and I don't think it has either power or beauty at the same level, but it's not far off. Sertari does an excellent job, with her vocals able to switch from almost rock power to that crystalline classical lilt. Her versatility might explain the more expansive tone of the album.

My issues here are two-fold. One I've already explained, and the other is that the album is structured too similarly to "Secrets Of Angels". They both put the epic in the same place, and both work into it with a song ending on overlapping vocals that borrow some of the same melodic phrasing. This album continually makes me think about the previous one, and that's not what it should be doing, because all told I like "Secrets Of Angels" more. The more direct and powerful songwriting hit harder, and has endured. I found myself getting tired of this album far faster, as even when the melodies were good, they had more ambient and repetitive connective tissue to get through before they came around. The added length in the songs didn't enhance the songs. When "Forgiven" spent as much time as it did repeating the latin phrasings, or when "All Around The World" moved into a spoken word section, neither was able to hold my attention for long.

This is an album that I would sound much more positive about if it wasn't for the last one. There's still plenty to like on this album, but it also happens to be a bit disappointing when I compare it to the first time I heard Karnataka. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say that. I enjoyed the first hour of "Requiem For A Dream", but it isn't "Secrets Of Angels". Sorry.