Ladies and gentlemen, the unthinkable has happened.
No, Grand Theft Auto VI has not officially been released. No, hell hasn’t frozen over yet.
But something much cooler for us progressive rockers has indeed come to life.
Karnivool is back for the first time since 2013’s Asymmetry, marking the end of a thirteen-year drought. The band are also reunited with Forrester Savell, the legendary producer responsible for the band’s iconic sound from Themata and Sound Awake. To say this has been a long time coming is a bit of an understatement, given Aozora made its debut in the live domain back in 2015 and was quickly joined by All It Takes and Animation the following year. The band officially announced they were at work on this album in May of 2019, which led to the release of All It Takes as the band’s first single in 2021, alongside the Decade of Sound Awake livestream.
I must admit that I, like many others, was sceptical that this album would ever happen. That was, until the release of Drone in June of last year. It marked the first airing of a new song in studio form, rather than the live release. What’s more, it was a great song! In September of 2025, In Verses was officially announced, and I’ll never forget how happy I was to see the official announcement. Ten new songs, arriving in February of 2026. While it had originally leaked on Reddit, I didn’t believe it until that email arrived in my inbox.
And as Ian Kenny sang on All It Takes four years prior – it’s “worth the wait, I’m sure”.
In Verses is an album that culminates so much of the band’s past evolution into a sound all its own. If you were to imagine the grit of Themata, the progressive mastery of Sound Awake, and the beautiful abstract ambience of Asymmetry all funnelled into one cohesive sound, I think the result in your head would be very similar to In Verses. This is the sound of a legacy hard-earned and refined since 2005.
The opening track, Ghost, is a perfect statement of where the band is in 2026. I knew that this would be one of my favourites since I first heard it on the Ad Complementum Tour show in Fremantle on October 16th. It takes my attention even more here. This explodes into life with Jon Stockman’s powerful bass tones and Steve Judd’s driving drum grooves, coupled with the guitar duo of Drew Goddard and Mark Hosking before frontman Ian Kenny arrives with the stunning open lines. “Faceless, we’ve become / hoping that hope is enough / as the tyranny begins / we await the flood.” This is an epic, clocking in just shy of six and a half minutes, but it stands up next to songs like COTE and Simple Boy beautifully as an opener.
The singles, Drone and Aozora, follow in quick succession. These are already Karnivool classics to me; they capture so much energy that explodes in a way that only Karnivool can! Drone features a great singalong chorus and such a bouncy feel, whereas Aozora is more of a journey with a rather dark outlook on life and “waiting for the great escape”. Both are absolutely brilliant, and I’d really recommend Aozora to Haken fans. This feels like Virus, though written long before.
One of my favourites is Animation, simply down to Ian Kenny’s infectious vocals which are on full display here. I love the chorus here so much. This whole song is one giant earworm wrapped into a sub-5-minute masterpiece. I think this will prove to be a favourite for many fans and may actually be a gateway into the band for new listeners. I think I heard this one back in 2022 at Monolith, as that chorus is one I remember circling around my head for weeks after. Now that I’ve heard it again, I have a feeling I’ll be hearing “someday you will / someday you won’t / someday you will be fine” for quite some time.
Conversations is an interesting one. This is probably the most Asymmetry-coded track in my ears, reminding me a lot of songs like Aeons and the first half of Alpha Omega. This is much more of the ballad type than the previous four songs, and it sets a very nice change of pace from the heaviness, especially the opening minute and change of instrumental. Of course, with its eight-minute runtime, there’s a lot of ebb and flow within the structure of this one.
Reanimation is not quite the sequel one would think from the title similarity, taking on a massively different feel from its predecessor in pretty much every way. This is much bleaker, almost as if sung by one of the “some of you won’t” from the original Animation. Here, Kenny sings of meeting oblivion and having been left to believe there was something left to save, when ultimately there wasn’t. Here, they are joined by the legendary Guthrie Govan who lends a great presence to this song, including a short solo.
All It Takes is so much heavier yet cleaner in the new remaster, which is very welcome as the original was probably a little muddier than I’d have liked in comparison. This is a song that most Vooligans will already know very well, having been that first major release back in 2021, but it’s almost a new experience here with previously hidden layers brought up very nicely, including a pseudo-solo towards the end that I’ve completely missed in the single version. Once the album officially releases, this will be a playlist staple for sure!
Remote Self Control drew an impressed sound from me from the first beat. This is one of the six “new” songs (denoting it from the others that have been found in the setlist over the years) and it’s one of my absolute favourites already. This is honestly one of the best songs they’ve written since 2009 in my opinion. This is a peak performance from everyone! I don’t want to say too much about it because it really is that good. I’m a little surprised this wasn’t released as a single. I cannot wait to see how this one translates live.
Opal is a song that almost feels like it was brought over from Kenny’s other band, Birds of Tokyo. It’s a beautiful piece, but one that sits very differently to the majority of In Verses. I say that not as a bad thing, but as a point of differentiation. While the album has adapted to many different styles, this one sits as an outlier for me in a good way. This is very much a song of two halves, building from something fragile and melodic into something rather heavy and volatile by the end. This poses a question that I feel at my core. “How far will you go to finish / this desperate attempt to revive / something you buried long ago / where sleeping giants should lie”. This song hits hard.
Salva is now the latest track from Karnivool as the closer of In Verses. The intro almost feels like a dirge, then met with Kenny singing of “there ain’t no place I’d rather be / but I’ve got to go / I’ve got to run away”. As the song builds, the groove feels reminiscent of that from Nachash from Asymmetry, while the tone still stays almost floaty. This is such a beautiful closing track. This song is about death, and it actually made me shed a tear. I feel like this is the kind of song that could end a career, similar to The Garden on Rush’s Clockwork Angels. I truly hope it’s not the case, but if this is the last new song we ever receive from Karnivool, it’s a beautifully haunting piece for the band to say goodbye with. The final two minutes or so are easily one of the greatest codas to an album I could’ve ever asked for.
In Verses is an album that carries the weight of a legacy on its sleeve and carries the story forward beautifully. I feel like this is the perfect album for the band at a point when no one can be too sure if there will ever be another. It pulls no punches, delivering a band firing on all cylinders and yet offering a song that can act as either the pause between chapters or the final moment of a discography perfectly. And, as much as I pray a day will come where I hear another Karnivool album for the first time, if this is the final chapter that Karnivool gives us, it’s one well worth the wait.
In Verses arrives on February 6th, 2026 through Cymatic.
Order the album here: https://karnivool.lnk.to/inverses
Track list:
01 – Ghost
02 – Drone
03 – Aozora
04 – Animation
05 – Conversations
06 – Reanimation
07 – All It Takes
08 – Remote Self Control
09 – Opal
10 – Salva
Band Members:
Ian Kenny – lead vocals
Drew Goddard – guitar, backing vocals
Jon Stockman – bass, unclean vocals
Mark Hosking – guitar, backing vocals
Steve Judd – drums
Karnivool Social Media:
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Spotify | AppleMusic
Upcoming Tour:
14 Apr / Amager Bio / Copenhagen, Denmark TICKETS
16 Apr / Rockefeller / Oslo, Norway TICKETS
17 Apr / Debaser / Stockholm, Sweden TICKETS
18 Apr / Plan B / Malmo, Sweden TICKETS
20 Apr / Proxima / Warsaw, Poland TICKETS
21 Apr / Huxleys / Berlin, Germany TICKETS
23 Apr / Docks / Hamburg, Germany TICKETS
24 Apr / 013 / Tilburg, Netherlands TICKETS
25 Apr / De Casino / Sint-Niklaas, Belgium TICKETS
28 Apr / Carlswerk Victoria / Cologne, Germany TICKETS
29 Apr / Schlachthof / Wiesbaden, Germany TICKETS
1 May / Im Wizemann / Stuttgart, Germany TICKETS
2 May / Werk2 / Leipzig, Germany TICKETS
3 May / Roxy / Prague, Czech Republic TICKETS
5 May / Backstage Werk / Munich, Germany TICKETS
7 May / Simm City / Vienna, Austria TICKETS
8 May / Live Club / Trezzo sull’Adda (Milan), Italy TICKETS
9 May / Salzhaus / Winterthur, Switzerland TICKETS
10 May / La Rayonne / Lyon, France TICKETS
12 May / Bataclan / Paris, France TICKETS
14 May / Roundhouse / London, UK TICKETS
15 May / Academy / Manchester, UK TICKETS
