Karmakanic - Wheel Of Life
Regain Records

file under prog / sympho metal

Ferdi: Fans of Dream Theater, Flower Kings and Transatlantic should pay attention. The waiting time till the release of a new album of any of these three is made easier by the release of Karmakanic (a project of prog icon Jonas Reingold) their new record, which bridges the gap between these three bands. ‘Wheel Of Life’ is Karmakanic’s second album. I can imagine that it was hard labour for these four men: the music consists of heavy soloing with just a small part being played by the James Labrie-like vocals and the scarcely used conventional songwriting. With the song ‘At The Speed Of Light’ the band proves that they do know how to make a good song, but they throw all this knowledge overboard in a song like ‘Masterplan Pt 1’ in favour of too many freaking on the fretboard. The result is a cd that has a number of good moments but fails to impress throughout. Additional points are deducted for the weak sound and the incredibly unattractive artwork.

Rating: 65/100 (details)

http://www.reingoldmusic.com