name	Karnivool
background	group_or_band
origin	Perth, Western Australia, Australia
genre	Progressive rock Alternative metal
years active	1997–present
label	Sic Squared Records/MGM Distribution (Australia)Bieler Bros. (International)Cymatic RecordsSony Music
associated acts	Birds of TokyoFloatingMeRevolucion Street
website	Official website
current members	Ian KennyAndrew GoddardJon StockmanMark HoskingSteve Judd
past members	Brett McKenzieAndrew BrownRay Hawking }}

Karnivool are an Australian progressive rock band formed in Perth in 1997. The group currently consists of Ian Kenny on vocals, Drew Goddard and Mark Hosking on guitar, Jon Stockman on bass guitar, and Steve Judd on drums. Karnivool emerged from a band Kenny and Goddard formed during high school. Their two extended plays, 1999's ''Karnivool'' and 2001's ''Persona'', and their 2005 debut album ''Themata'', possessed an alternative metal and nu metal sound; their 2009 follow-up ''Sound Awake'' developed a more progressive rock sound.

History

Early years (1997-2003)

Karnivool developed from a high school band formed in 1997 in Perth, Western Australia, which played parties using a set of covers of Nirvana and Carcass with some original songs mixed in as well. By 1998, lead singer Ian Kenny changed their set to entirely original songs, removed all early members and officially named the band Karnivool, derived from an anecdotal description that the original members were "a bunch of clowns" around Perth.

Between 1998 and 2004, the band would go through a number of line-up changes over the years. The 1998 incarnation of Karnivool consisted of Kenny on lead vocals, Andrew 'Drew' Goddard on lead guitar, Andrew Brown on bass guitar and Brett McKenzie on drums. In 2000, Brown was replaced by Jon Stockman. Shortly after, McKenzie also left and Ray Hawking joined on drums. Mark Hosking joined as a second guitar player in 2003 and in late 2004 Steve Judd on drums replaced Hawking. This would result as the band's current line-up of Kenny, Goddard, Hosking, Stockman and Judd.

In 1999 the band released its debut self-titled EP, ''Karnivool''. This consisted of 4 tracks, named "Fool Me", "Konkrete Seed", "Box" and "Some More of the Same". This album did not get a lot of recognition, with many stores and archives listing their second EP, ''Persona'', released in March 2001 as their first record. Persona consisted of four new tracks and a re-release of the song "Some More of the Same" from the first EP.

After releasing "Persona", they won the Western Australian State Final of the National Campus Band Competition, and they competed in the National Finals held in Hobart, Tasmania. In October, the band were chosen to support the Rollins Band, but due to the Ansett collapse, Henry Rollins and his band were forced to cancel their Perth show. At the end of 2001 the band did end up playing a support concert for Fear Factory though.

''Themata'' (2004-2007)

Goddard wrote the tracks for ''Themata'', their first album, and he stated that Karnivool played songs from ''Themata'' together as a band only after it was recorded. Goddard not only wrote the tracks and played guitar, but also played drums on every track except "Lifelike", as Steve Judd had not yet joined the band. ''Themata'' was released independently on 7 February 2005, and was distributed via MGM Distribution. On 23 August 2006, Karnivool signed a licensing deal with indie label Bieler Bros. Records. The album was issued in the US on 10 April 2007 and in the UK on 7 May. The band also re-released the ''Persona EP'' 12 December, following the success of ''Themata''. The album was produced by Forrester Savell.

Karnivool toured on the Homeland Security Tour shortly after the release of ''Themata''. In late 2007, they took part in the Great American Rampage Tour in North America.

During this timeframe, Karnivool also contributed a cover of Gotye's song "The Only Way" to the album ''Mixed Blood'', which contains covers and remixes of songs from Gotye's ''Boardface'' and ''Like Drawing Blood'' albums. and not released on any Karnivool albums. Also, while not Karnivool music, members Goddard and Stockman played guitar and bass respectively on the title track of Perth/London group Pendulum's 2005 album ''Hold Your Colour''.

''Sound Awake'' (2008-present)

After returning from touring in the US, Karnivool returned to Australia in 2008. They entered the studio to write their follow-up to ''Themata''. Goddard stated the new album, ''Sound Awake'', would be a huge step up from ''Themata'', while Stockman stated that the writing process of the new record had been more of a collaborative group effort by the band than previous works, and that they were going into the studio with a new recording strategy: trying to focus less on minute details, and put together a more natural sounding album. The album was again produced and mixed by Forrester Savell.

The band continued to tour Australia as well, including the Big Day Out tour, Pyramid Rock Festival, Southbound, and Homebake. During their live performances in the Aeons Tour, they played some of the new songs from the album, such as "Goliath", "Deadman", "Pearogram" (All I Know), and "New Day". At Homebake in 2008, they debuted a fifth new song entitled "Set Fire to the Hive", which was confirmed as the first single from the album. The new songs were considered more mature, while still bearing resemblance to the band's previous work.

On 26 April 2009, the video for , "Set Fire to the Hive" was released,and on 9 May and peaked at #11 on the AIR Top 20 singles charts. The album was released on 5 June 2009. It debuted at #2 on the ARIA Album Charts. and #1 on the AIR Charts. The album received Gold certification for sales in Australia and in October.

The band toured nationally around Australia in support of ''Sound Awake''. The band played in New Zealand and then the U.S. to headline "Third Eye Gathering" in Los Angeles. From there, the band toured the UK, in September and October.

On 9 November 2009, Karnivool released a music video on YouTube for their second single, "All I Know".

''Sound Awake'' was released by Sony Music Independent Network/RED. in the United States and Canada on 16 February 2010. Karnivool followed the release with a co-headlining tour with Fair to Midland in the U.S.

After a successful tour of Europe and the United States, Karnivool returned to home soil and announced another national tour, the New Day Tour. Two Melbourne shows and a Sydney show quickly sold out, unprecedented in Karnivool's history and as a result further shows at capitals such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth were announced. The band took a break from touring so that Kenny could tour with his other band, Birds of Tokyo, but touring resumed by December 2010.

Sometime after returning to Australia in September, the band is planning on starting to write material for a third album. Hosking reiterated this, stating the band plans on demoing songs for the third album at this time, and described the material as, "...a departure from ''Sound Awake'' whilst still holding all the principles that make for a Karnivool album."

In March 2011, Karnivool announced three shows in their native Western Australia, commenting that; "These shows will be the last of the Sound Awake era, as well as a possible pointer of things to come." At these shows they debuted a new song "The Refusal", and Goddard stated that the band was currently hard at work in the studio on their third album.

In April they announced an Australian tour, which will be their only tour for 2011.

Awards

At the 2001 West Australian Music Industry Awards the band won 'Best Original Metal Act', with "Fade" from ''Persona'' nominated for 'Most Popular Local Original Song'.

At the same awards in 2007, Karnivool won five awards; for 'Most Popular Act', 'Most Popular Live Act', Best Male Vocalist' (Ian Kenny), 'Best Guitarist' (Andrew Goddard) and 'Best Hard Rock Act'.

Forrester Savell received an ARIA Award nomination as 'Producer of the Year', for his work on ''Sound Awake''.

Five Karnivool songs have featured in Triple J's Hottest 100:

2005 – "Themata" (#97)

2006 – "Roquefort" (featuring The Cat Empire horn section) (#45)

2007 – "The Only Way" (Gotye cover) (#62)

2009 – "Set Fire To The Hive" (#47) and "All I Know" (#63)

Members

Ian Kenny – lead vocals (1997–present)

Andrew 'Drew' Goddard – lead guitar, vocals (1997–present)

Jon Stockman – bass guitar (2000–present)

Mark Hosking – guitar, vocals (2003–present)

Steve Judd – drums (2004–present)

Former members

Brett McKenzie – drums (1998–2000)

Andrew Brown – bass guitar (1998–2000)

Ray Hawking – drums (2000–2004)

Timeline

Discography

EPs

''Persona'' - Sic Squared/MGM (SIC003) (1 March 2001)

Albums

''Themata'' - Independent/MGM (KARN001) (7 February 2005)

''Sound Awake'' - Cymatic/Sony (KARN004) (5 June 2009) AUS #2

Singles

"L1FEL1KE" - Faultline/Shock (FAULTCD005) (2003)

"Shutterspeed" (2005)

"Themata" (11 July 2005)

"Roquefort" (radio single) (2005)

"Set Fire to the Hive" - Cymatic (28 April 2009)

"Goliath" (radio single) (first air play, 3 June 2009, Triple J Home and Hosed)

"All I Know" - Cymatic (9 November 2009)

References

External links

Official site

Category:Australian progressive metal musical groups Category:Western Australian musical groups Category:Bieler Bros. Records artists Category:Musical groups established in 1998 Category:Nu metal musical groups Category:Alternative metal musical groups

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