An album with sublime Post-Rock music - meditative, ethereal, and dainty, sometimes with a timbre of Blackgaze when exploring the denser side of the musical scope it is immersed in.
If you are familiar with their first album (or their Stellar Session, which we premiered back in 2022), you might detect some musical predictions that pointed to what they have achieved on their sophomore album, especially with the last song, ”Banshee” on their debut Yōkai. Whatever the band planned, for me it points forward to the stunningly beautiful music found on this new album. It is carefully crafted around spirituality without wanting to press it on you. As a listener, you get carried away by the layered appealing 40-minute musical journey from this Grenoble-based trio.
You have to be creative musicians to make an album such as this enticing genre blender. They dip into many genres to achieve their musical vision and to immerse the listener. Post-Rock and Shoegaze are just a couple of said genres. On the first and last song, Darkwave is prominent, on the title song ”Karma” they dip into the heavier side of the gaze-music tangent with Blackgaze. During some parts, particularly in the song ”Mantra”, the high-pitched tremolo guitar is played in a way that reminds me of Surf Rock, the kind made by Dick Dale and refined by Los Straitjackets. On top of all this, strong, ethereal, dreamy vocals give a hint of Dream Pop. It is stunning how they melt the styles and create ethereal, meditative, and cinematic music.
The album opener is at first silence before dark sounds slowly build like fog seeping in on the stage before a gig. Clear guitars begin strumming in both channels carefully carving out a melodic theme, soon to be more distorted. The bass and drums appear and, as you will hear distinctly on ”Ghost”, the low-end bass is used to lay a soft foundation for the music and vocals to float on. As the bass goes deeper on this song, it mnakes for a darker and heavier substance to the lighter guitars almost engulfing them. The way the bass is used on this album it is underlining the relaxing and pensive sense that emanates all the way through.
After high-pitched tremolo guitars soar above the music on ”Ghost and form a translucent sphere laid upon the soft bass and tender drums, the song ”Mantra” continues with a clear guitar opening the song before the rhythm section starts the unhurried pace and another more distorted guitar follows. The song shifts with the drums and bass holding back for a guitar to ruminate alone before it fuses back continuing the former theme. The music does the same later, but then it is the guitars that hold back and the bass takes over with the drums in subtle company before the translucent six strings begin to hover above the low-end bass. The music dives heavier and more distorted in one channel and restricts the clear high-pitched guitar to the other as it moves forward surging and rising toward the end.
The title song is a bit heavier in its approach to the music. One high-pitched guitar from the previous song holds the melody, while the other guitar is more distorted and the rhythm section hits hard. It is an engaging piece of music until it simmers down with the low-end bass and drums. Guitars lighten the atmosphere as dreamy echoing vocals appear strong and soaring above the music. Towards the end, the music swells with a fast rhythm and slow swirling guitars make the song extremely cinematic when the music dives heavier and denser into immersing strong vocals.
On ”Anima” a distant theme emerges immersed in dark sound effects and subtle clear guitars playing as the music brings a sense of pensive mood, contrasting the denser end of the previous song. It is soft and subtle, very comforting and relaxing the way the guitars are played on clear stings, even when it grows a bit harder on the take. Here as on some of the other songs, the cymbals spread glistening light over the guitars. The next song ”Timeless” shifts between slow and fast tempos, and the strong vocals soar singing prolonged lines of lyrics. The music is driven forward and a higher-pitched guitar follows on the side as the music goes faster with a distorted glissando. There is an abrupt halt and the music settles down with strumming yet immersive sound effects before the dreamy echoing vocals are back. It is meditative and slowly gliding onwards supported by the bass.
”Sheol” is a faster-paced song working towards a fascinating section with one light and one distorted guitar surrounding the rhythm section with the vocals soaring above the music, dreamy even if there’s a bit harshness in its delivery forming a kind of crescendo as it is repeating a melody back and forth.
”Mirrors” becomes an introvert Shoegaze song as it paves the way for some strong magical vocals, close to chanting the words. Towards the end, the music tightens and is driven forward by the melodic interplay of the rhythm section. A new section with some reflective guitar work before synths then open the penultimate song “Temple” with subtle ebb and flow. It is at first a slow-paced song as if they are looking for a way to start the song with the rhythm section trying to incite the guitars to play along. The former then pulls back as a heavily distorted guitar takes over with the other guitar far away in the mix interwoven with high-pitched strings. The music drifts onwards before one guitar begins a wonderful tremolo solo dragging the rest of the music and vocals into a surge preparing for a reflective crescendo until it fades away.
The album ends with a slow pulsating piece of Darkwave music, ”Altar”, going to and fro and playing with darker and lighter synths emanating hypnotic sounds. It reflects the opening song. If ”Banshee” on the previous album was a pointer to the direction of Karma, then this last piece might be a hint at the next. Anyhow, the band has proven that they can probably fuse and come up with any style of meditative and reflective music using a range of influences: All of it is quite an effort.
