I’ve always been stalwart when I say that in order to lead to a healthy view of music and a healthy balance in style you have to keep your mind open. Otherwise, you become bitter and get upset at every other thing you hear that’s happening in the music world. That way of thinking led me to My Sleeping Karma. With my playlists being absolutely dominated by extreme metal involving bands like Cannibal Corpse and other metal acts all over, so there’s not a lot of truly calm moments that last the entirety of a song. The entirety of My Sleeping Karma revolves around instrumental rock soaked in psychedelia that really teases all the senses that then allow for an apex experience, and now we know what it’s like to experience it live. In the ten years that this band has been going, “Mela Ananda” stands as the only live albums that My Sleeping Karma has ever put out, and as someone who’s never been able to travel across the Atlantic this album is the very definition of a gift. We are given tracks from all over the discography that My Sleeping Karma has cultivated over the years, and it makes for a great time no matter how you look at it. You can truly feel the energy of the beautiful sonics weave through each member of the crowd, you can taste how delicious the stoner riffs are on every single track, and you can hear the bliss that My Sleeping Karma effortlessly creates by using only a handful of words throughout the entire performance. After all, “Mela Ananda” in English means “a gathering of bliss”. A perfect title for such a record, for that, is precisely what this show is in a nutshell. All ten tracks sound almost identical to their studio versions, which to me makes the performance infinitely more enjoyable for you know the magic of the studio albums resides in talent as opposed to fancy bulls**t studio magic. My Sleeping Karma has always been a band to watch out for as their records are always something awesome to behold, and now we can all say for an absolute fact that their live shows are just as much of a spectacle. “Mela Ananda” gives us access to an experience that most of us aren’t able to have as we can’t make it to shows, but now if anything I want to go to their performances more! This first live album from these Germans is something that so many others should hear, for this might show the true genius of this group and prove that My Sleeping Karma is a force, as calm it may be, that must be heard by so much more. And now, I return to my wait for their next record, but now I’ve another treat to help shorten the wait.
“Mela Ananda” releases on February 24th via Napalm Records! You can pre-order the album via iTunes here.
Track Listing:
- Prithvi (Live)
- 23 Enigma (Live)
- Glow11 (Live)
- Ephedra (Live)
- Vayu (Live)
- Akasha (Live)
- Brahama (Live)
- Psilocybe (Live)
- Tamas (Live)
- Hymn72 (Live)
Just a metal head who loves just about all metal. I want to spread the word about the REALLY great bands out there, well known and underground. I do this for fun and don’t want any sort of money from doing reviews. It’s its own reward. I also do daily reviews for my own review site, Head-Banger Reviews, where the reviews are longer and daily as mentioned. No bullshit, just here to have some fun, listen to cool music and meet cool people.