Karnivool

Progressive metal can be bone-crushingly heavy or disarmingly beautiful. Perth, Australia’s Karnivool split the difference admirably on epic albums that feel more like miniature movie soundtracks full of emotional ebbs and flows. The group’s roots date back to 1997, when vocalist Ian Kenny formed a high school band that favored Carcass and Nirvana covers. The following year, Kenny decided to focus on originals, regrouping with a new lineup that released a self-titled EP in 1999 and then spent the next few years settling into a groove. Their breakthrough arrived thanks to guitarist Drew Goddard, who wrote every song on Karnivool’s 2005 hard-rock-oriented debut album, Themata. The band built on this momentum with the more expansive follow-up Sound Awake and the 2013 album Asymmetry; the latter topped the Australian charts, in part owing to its Tool-like complexity and ambient-metal tranquility.