Karnivool - Roquefort

Mon 6th Mar, 2006 in Music Reviews

It would be easy to say that the original is better. But I don’t think that’s the point. Karnivool’s re-release of their track Roquefort doesn’t really compete with the album version from Themata. Instead it plays around with an idea that was originally conceived for the song, but was never fulfilled due to time restraints.

Previously unreleased, Roquefort version two comes complete with a trumpet and trombone courtesy of Harry James Angus from The Cat Empire, and Kieren Conrau from The Empire Horns. The song structure remains the same but some brass lines were written in to the song. Other horn additions are improvisation.

Karnivool make rock music with a hard edge. Crunching and grinding guitars, offbeat time changes, powerful riffs and vocals. When listening to the original version again, you can hear space for brass squeaks which would enhance the heavy interchanges and co-exist alongside the guitar chords. The short horn bleeps in the new version certainly do that, and as a result, further bind and strengthen the song. If it had been left at that, the new version would have been a powerful contender against the original.

However instead, there is crazy horn improv throughout the song, which ends up confusing the core sound, and leaving the track messy. Not only this, but the excessive use of horns in certain parts makes the brass kind of annoying, for example, in the last chorus after the twisted “rabbit down a hole…” lyrical section.

The horns turn Roquefort in to an askewed Chicago style, big band production. Version 2 of Roquefort, (meaning a pungent French cheese), seem to reflect an increased boldness of character and subsequently, the song more aptly suits it namesake. However, I think that the single could have benefited more if the horns were kept sparsely woven into the already solid track.