After an impressive and well-received set of albums released to date, it's hard not to feel like something of a reactionary by stating that Tunisian sensation Myrath have stumbled rather badly with this, their sixth full-length since 2006. Sure, they've always had a potent vein of melody in their music, not least thanks to their cultural heritage which was previously implemented extremely well into their sound, creating a very unique style all of their own. And Karma doesn't quite shed that entirely as the opening to first track To the Stars proves, yet the album quickly shows itself to be more interested in symphonic rock elements rather than the previous focus on the ethnic and progressive aspects to the band's sound. Which is a problem, not least because then all the music has to stand or fall upon is the quality of the songwriting and whether that alone can elevate Myrath from a crowded field, instead of the previous situation where it was easy to make a case for the band existing pretty much in a genre of their own.

Much of Karma will seem downright watered down to fans of their previous works, the likes of Into the Light managing to feel uplifting thanks to the backing symphonic keyboards yet being let down by otherwise largely abandoning the cultural elements to leave it feeling like a lesser Avantasia piece overall with songs written to appeal more to arena rock fans than progheads. And yes, although there are still moments included like Temple Walls' ethnic melodies and the hand-percussion on Child of Prophecy, it can feel a little drowned out by how slickly commercial a lot of the work here is, not helped by a clunky production which makes the symphonic elements feel plastic and highlights the bass equally if not moreso than the guitars, making the likes of Candles Cry feel weirdly funky.

Elsewhere, the sheer overload of melodic syrup on tracks such as Let It Go is more akin to Within Temptation's recent output than the Dream Theater comparisons that would have once made sense. There are even moments on the album where Myrath approach outright pop metal, such as the opening section of Words Are Failing. The aforementioned Let It Go's chorus especially verges on Eurovision territory, which might be a compliment from some (not least me given the right mood) yet certainly isn't here! True, the band have a solid grasp of hooks and can make effortlessly catchy songs at the drop of a hat, yet even the best moments here turn out unfavourably when put up against previous albums. Heroes comes a little late in the tracklisting but is a fairly solid prog-power song that is more genuinely metal when contrasted with the rest of the album, making it seem worse in comparison. It's easy to imagine an intensely prog-minded fanbase calling the band sellouts over this album, even before taking that suspicious AI-created artwork into account! Perhaps it's more of a final warning than a step too far, yet those who appreciated Myrath for their unique aspects will feel a little let down by this - still talented musicians, still with a great voice in frontman Zaher Zorgati, but pretty tame stuff compared to past glories.