The Karma Effect

London-based retro-rockers the Karma Effect deliver a time-honored strain of blues-infused, old-school hard rock that echoes the Black Crowes, Aerosmith, and ZZ Top.

The group came together in 2020 within the modest Surrey commuter village of Oxted, assembled from a circle of friends and acquaintances who shared both musical tastes and a common schooling background. Its lineup featured Henry Gottelier on lead vocals and guitar, Robbie Blake on guitar, Seb Emmins on keyboards, Liam Quinn on bass, and Ash Powell on drums. Conceived at first as an Americana project, the ensemble soon shifted toward a more robust sound. While tracking their first album amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the members worked remotely and convened only when lockdown intervals permitted, ultimately issuing the self-titled record on their own in 2022. The release earned enthusiastic notices from rock journalists, who highlighted the poise and refinement evident in the music, and quickly found favor among devotees of the contemporary classic-rock resurgence represented by Rival Sons, Black Stone Cherry, the Temperance Movement, and Greta van Fleet. Regular road work alongside Massive Wagons and Scarlet Rebels strengthened their standing, leading to appearances at eleven festivals throughout 2023, among them Winter's End and Steelhouse. Toward the close of that year the band joined the Earache Records roster, which already housed numerous acts of comparable style, and the label brought out their second album, Promised Land, in May 2024.