KHARMA COSMICKHARMA COSMIC
KHARMA COSMIC is a hot new Swedish band and their 3-track CDR I received a few weeks ago almost blew me away, just because the progressive melodic rock (with AOR influences) of this band sounds perfect. The songs are progressive, but very melodic and especially during the catchy choruses this band is sounding very sensational and the new hope for both the Progressive Rock and AOR scene. This band has an own style which can not be compared to any other band. I had the same feeling a few years ago when listening to the band LION'S SHARE, who also come out of Sweden, but I think this KHARMA COSMIC is even better. Let's hope my review and this interview I had with them is shaking the prog labels in Europe to sign this band as soon as possible. Here's what lead singer Martin has to say to us...
Please introduce us your band, when did
you form KHARMA COSMIC and did any of you played in bands before
KHARMA COSMIC?
Kharma Cosmic hails
from the north of Sweden, namely a small town called Skellefteå.
Very beautiful and quiet city, some might even call it boring but
I for one like it here. Ok, a short history lesson then; Micke
Israelsson (keys), Anthon Johansson (guitar) and Tobias Lundgren
(drums) formed the band Soulshield sometime in -97. In february
2000 the other guitarist, singer and bassplayer left to pursue
other musical projects. Then they contacted Johnny Johansson to
fill the guitarspot and since I (Martin)had worked with Johnny
earlier and kinda knew the guys, I auditioned for them and got
the gig as lead vocalist. After testing a couple of bassplayers
we found the right guy in Anders Söderqvist. With the new
members also came a change in musical direction. Soulshield
played more basic Power metal ala Helloween but we all wanted to
play more progressive and symphonic music. And as we started
writing new material, we totally hit it off! Man, it was pretty
awesome!
We have all been in numerous bands, but
this was something totally different. We simply share the same
musical vision. When we recorded the demo we decided to drop the
Soulshield moniker since we all felt it was too "Power
metal-ish", Ha ha! I came up with the name Kharma Cosmic,
but initially it was just intended to be a song title, but the
other guys loved it, so... Speaking of previous bands, wow,
there´s almost to many to mention! Johnny was a member of
hardrock band Purusam, who actually did pretty well in both
Sweden and Europe. Micke is a session keyboardist with
Vintersorg, a black/folk metal band, and so on and so forth. With
the exception of myself and Johnny, everyone is studying music in
high school.
Can you tell us all about your debut mini CD?
Well, we recorded
it at a very small studio in Skelleftea in december last year. We
pretty much did the works, engineering, producing, mixing, you
name it. It contains three tracks, Moment of clarity, Fallen from
grace and the nine minute epic, Left without a word. Musically
speaking, it is pretty diverse, ranging from all out prog to some
really heavy stuff. But the melodies are always the most
important thing.
Your music has influences from 80s
AOR/Melodic Rock as well as Progressive Rock/Metal, which bands
influenced you and when did you decide to play a mixture of these
styles?
To tell you the
truth, it just came naturally, we never decided on anything. We
just play and see what comes out of it. Influences? Damn, thats
hard.... But one thing we all have in common is that we all love
Dream Theater. But we all have very versatile musical tastes, I
mean, I´m a sucker for old school death metal, Tobias likes hip
hop, Anders plays in a blues band. Anthon and Johnny loves
guitarist like Vai, Eric Johnson and Alan Holdsworth. Both me and
Johnny worships 70´s progrock like Yes, Genesis, ELP and Pink
Floyd, neoprog like Arena, the list goes on.
Are there plans for a full-length CD release in the near future?
That pretty much
depends on what kind of response we get from the record
companies. We only shipped the demo last week so we haven´t
heard anything yet. But hopefully they like it!
So you have tried to get in touch with
record labels?
Yeah, about 15
labels. We´ll see what the future has in store for us. We all
believe in the strenght of our songs, so keep your fingers
crossed! If something happens, you guys will be the first to
know!
Are you popular in your area?
Yeah, I guess so,
ha ha! For instance, when we played the local summer festival
last year, about 400 people stayed through the entire set despite
the fact that it was absolutely pouring down! That was very cool,
indeed! But it is hard to get gigs since there are very few good
venues around these parts. Which is a shame since Kharma Cosmic
kicks ass in a live situation! We are no shoegazers, that I can
asure you
What are the plans
for the next coming months?
Basically writing
new material. We have already recorded a new song, another nine
minute epic, "Out of harm´s way", that actually
finishes the story from "Left without a word". And then
we have this monster track called "The sentient and the
cold" that is going to be great. Currently it clocks in at
15 minutes (prog-bands appearantly love long songs, huh!) and it
is going to be fucking massive, I tell you! Also, we have plans
for a website that will be online soon.
Finally, do you
have anything to add to our readers?
First of all,
thanks for the interview and your support! It was great! To the
readers, keep supporting AOR/hard- rock/prog! This is a true
underground movement since this kind of music is totally
neglected by the radiostations, music televison and the rest of
the media. Please support Kharma Cosmic! You can download the
demo at www.mp3.com/kharmacosmic You
will not be dissapointed! If you like it, don´t hesitate to
email us at kharmacosmic@hotmail.com Cheers!
Martin