Album review: KARMAMOI – The Day Is Done

Sonicbond [Release date 30.11.18]

The fourth album from Italian proggers Daniele Giovannoni (drums, keys) and Alex Massari (guitars) aka Karmamoi is a concept album inspired by the story of two Syrian boys, one of whom died in the Grenfell Tower fire, and is more widely dedicated to refugees of war and poverty worldwide.

Having lost their bass player since their last release, The Day Is Done draws heavily on the input of guest musicians, most notably vocalist Sara Rinadli – one of several vocalists / lyricists last time out – but who this time is the sole singer / lyricist. Other guests on bass, flute and piano, include fleeting cameos from Colin Edwin (bass, Porcupine Tree) and Geoff Leigh (flute, Steven Wilson).

A genuine ‘prog’ outing, The Day Is Done paints an expansive soundscape, predominantly sculpted with pastoral, dreamy, ambient playing and ethereal guitar / keyboard work. OK, there’s a fair few familiar Floydian keyboard chord sequences, and the guitar work may not be as fluid as that of say David Gilmore, or Andy Latimer, it’s none the less splendidly atmospheric.

And if it were 1967 and the UFO club was looking for a new resident band, it’s fair to say Karmamoi would be a ‘shoo in’. Times may have changed, but there’s still a market for their musical interplanetary drift – multi layered textures constantly washing around and over you, interspersed with the occasional orgasmic passage through an asteroid belt.
So if you’re looking for an ambient ‘space rock’ album you can listen to a dozen times or more and still feel ‘lost in space’, give The Day Is Done a listen, it won’t disappoint. Intergalactic. ****

Review by Pete Whalley

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)