How do you create success if you're already successful? How do you move forward when you've already come so far? That's the conundrum Karnivool found themselves in after the massive success of their debut album Themata from 2005. The Perth, Australia quintet had won awards (Best Hard Rock Act, Best Male Vocalist, Best Guitarist, and the list goes on...) and toured the world, propelled by fan support for Themata, but it had been four years since they had released an album. Instead of letting their success paralyze them, Karnivool stepped up to record a follow-up that's even more developed and fleshed out than their already impressive debut.At the end of 2008, the band entered the studio flanked by their trusty collaborator and producer Forrester Savell, who has worked with bands such as The Butterfly Effect and Dead Letter Circus. They were determined to do something different--not in that cliché "taking it to the next level" different, but to create something that launches from Themata into uncharted territory. The first and most important change they made was in their creative process. Instead of guitarist Drew Goddard taking the lead in songwriting, Karnivool took an organic approach of jamming and improvising, experimenting and playing around, sometimes scrapping everything to start anew in another direction. Jono Stockman, the bassist, explains: “No-one wanted to repeat Themata. The songs on Sound Awake all went through so many permutations and transformations that time was necessary to the process.” Vocalist Ian Kenny adds, "Writing this was like a feeding frenzy of five accelerated musical minds, and you bump heads as a result--it takes time to wade through it all."All the bumped heads resulted in Sound Awake, a sprawling progressive metal opus that reaches all corners of creativity. Sound Awake is like a voracious black hole that sucked in everything Karnivool deemed cool and interesting: from punk to jazz, other genres enter the fray to spice up the band's signature prog metal, and instruments like xylophones that seem like they have no place in metal make a triumphant appearance. The title refers to being sentient and open-minded in a world where it's easy to live on autopilot, as well as the fact that the record will challenge the audience to listen closely and deeply with their mind's eye open so they can absorb its complexity. With epic songs--some clocking in at 10 minutes or so--there will be a lot to digest, enough to tide fans over until the next Karnivool release, though we certainly hope it's not going to be another four-year wait.Check out "Set Fire to the Hive" the first single from Sound Awake on JamLegend and let us know what you think! You can find out more about Karnivool on their MySpace page or follow them on Twitter for the latest updates.