Review: Karmanjakah – A Book About Itself

Style: Djent (mixed vocals)
Review by: Callum
Country: Sweden
Release date: February 26, 2021

Mom jeans and scrunchies are back so I suppose anything is possible. Has it been so long that djent has died its death and now the revival bands are coming out of the woodwork? It’s more likely that I’ve overlooked what happened to this space due to a basic lack of interest. From where I stand, djent hit its peak a decade ago in my college days where the influx of 8-strings and Axe FX-wielding bedroom musicians exploded. I was all in on it back then, but have since fallen off the wagon. Another school of thought suggests that djent never died, rather it naturally filtered itself into other areas of progressive metal like the Periphery’s take on metalcore, the instrumental virtuosity of Animals as Leaders and Plini, and then the slightly more ‘traditional’ in Tesseract and Uneven Structure. Without wishing to offend or getting bogged down in all this genre mess, what I want to get across is that Karmanjakah surprised me. They certainly nail a lot of the 2010’s djent tropes, which ultimately isn’t going to tickle my fancy, personally. However, they bring in influences from the various offshoots mentioned above in a unique way and their songwriting feels fresh and exciting.

The record opens with “Nautilus”, a quintessentially djent-y track that hits hard. It’s full of big, chunky, groovy riffs. Drums are tight with cymbals shimmering brightly over the top of the low-tuned guitar string attack. The vocals stand out on this track especially, with the cleans soaring over the top of the instrumentation without being overpowered. They are extremely well delivered, although with a slight nasality to them that may be hit or miss for some. Harsh vocal sections are few and far between but are likewise well performed though I can’t quite grasp what they add to the otherwise vibrant and sparkling instrumentation. The riffs do get a couple of degrees heavier and more distorted at times, “First Sun” being one of the heaviest tracks, but screamed vocals here just seem to be at odds with the rest of the album. A case of ‘just because you can, doesn’t mean you should’ maybe? Lundquist’s vocals here and on ‘Wild Horse’ sound remarkably similar to Spencer Sotelo’s efforts on Periphery’s self-titled debut for what it’s worth.

Despite the obvious comparisons to Periphery, the unique sound I mentioned stems from a generally more uplifting feel in most of the songs as present in a lot of CHON tracks. The midsection of “Vårdkasar”, for example, drops into a slick, bouncy little groove, and “Paper Boats” builds to a soaring climax. The vocals do a lot to boost this powerful and passionate style. While the guitar work is not quite as relentlessly complex and twisted as Misha Mansoor’s style, they combine trippy timing and a “fun”-factor similar to Intervals. 

This 50 minute album feels long, which is not generally a good sign. Coming 5 years after their previous EP, it’s not surprising that Karmanjakah would be sitting on a lot of material but perhaps leaving out a couple of the tracks might have made the stronger tracks more impactful and memorable. I’m giving this album a +2 modifier for those that do enjoy music from bands like Erra, Scale the Summit, or Monuments. It’s not my bag, but the talent here is undeniable and A Book About Itself does breathe fresh life into a music style that I considered burned out years ago.

Recommended tracks: Nautilus, Paper Boats, First Sun
Recommended for fans of: Skyharbor, Time the Valuator, Periphery
Final verdict: 6/10 (8/10 if djent is your thing)

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Label: Independent

Karmanjakah is:
– Viggo Örsan (guitar)
– Jonas Lundquist (vocals)
– Lukas Ohlsson (bass)
– Sebastian Brydniak (drums)