UMUR "Void" is the debut full-length studio album by US progressive/sludge metal act Intronaut. The album was released through Goodfellow Records in August 2006. It saw a slightly more prolific label release (in Europe) through Lifeforce Records in November 2006 (featuring the bonus track "Fragments Of Character"). Intronaut formed in 2004 and released the "Null" EP in February 2006. The quartet lineup who recorded the EP is intact on "Void".

The first thing I always notice when putting on an Intronaut release is the high level musicianship. "Void" is of course no exception to that rule, and there are several moments of skillful jaw-dropping playing and great interplay between the musicians here. So we´re off to a good start with the impact of the great musical performances. Stylistically the music is progressive sludge metal featuring raw hardcore shouted/semi-growling vocals. The vocals are probably the least interesting thing about the album, although they are well performed and definitely get the job done. They just don´t stand out much from the vocals on other similar contemporary releases. It´s especially the rhythm section which are exceptionally well playing and who drives the music forward with powerful, organic, and groove oriented beats and rhythm patterns (often fusion influenced but also very percussive in style). That part of the music is very busy but still in a tasteful way.

The tracks are dynamic and features both hard edged distorted riffs and aggressive vocals, and more mellow sections. There are quite a few longer instrumental sections on the tracks, which are where the band really shine. The album is loaded with creative songwriting ideas and "Void" can definitely be labelled an adventurous release. "Void" not only features high level musicianship, and creative songwriting, but also features a professional, powerful, and detailed sound production which suits the material perfectly.

Upon conclusion this is pretty uncompromising music and while I almost always praise such an approach, I still think a few more catchy moments would have made "Void" a slightly better album, but if you enjoy heavy, rhytmic, and groove oriented progressive metal with aggressive raw vocals, and unconventional song structures, this is a recommended listen. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy INTRONAUT is an extreme metal band from Los Angeles that formed in 2004 when former members of Anubis Rising, Exhumed, Uphill Battle and Impaled coalesced their respected talents into a new musical entity. The result is that INTRONAUT is one of those amazing technical adept bands that has done what few bands successfully pull off, that is take different aspects of music and fuse them together to make a cohesive whole resulting in a seemingly new species in the process. VOID is their debut full-length release after their EP “Null.” INTRONAUT chose its name to describe the inner traveler that encourages the listener to explore the inner mind and creates music that is both contemplative and designed to stimulate the listener’s technical leanings simultaneously. INTRONAUT has created sounds familiar yet somehow different by fusing together aspects of the death, sludge and post aspects of metal all the while steering it into progressive territory that rewards the demanding listener multifold.

Even upon first listen, this album struck me as a progressive extreme metal band that blurred the lines of various types of metal. VOID begins sounding a lot like a Kayo Dot album especially the dissonant chord jangles of “Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue,” but this is just a misleading intro as the music soon becomes aggressive and technical with deathened, tortured vocals that are scary enough to even separate a mother grizzly bear from her defenseless newborn cubs. Although there are a few different sounds going on on VOID, i find the general metal sound to be a kind of hybrid between the tech death of Gorguts with the progressive sludge of Neurosis but the Kayo Dot sound of some kind of alternate tuning system does ring true as well. The vocals are definitely in the death metal camp but the aggressive guitars and bass are clearly going for the sludge metal effect that can immediately bring The Ocean to mind. This is however dressed up in some of the most complex time signatures, jazzy drumming patterns and progressive polyrhythmic weavings that can remind one of compositions by more sophisticated bands like Cynic, Atheist or the aforementioned Kayo Dot.

This is not music for the faint at heart. This is hardcore music in every way showing no mercy with relentless pummeling angular rhythms, highly dissonant jangling of the strings (Sacha Dunable and Leon del Muerte on guitars with Joe Lester on bass) and an energetic, yet perpetually stimulating percussion (by Danny Walker) and vocals that would drive the insane to commit unthinkable crimes like run for political office in the USA. This is music that takes a few listens to sink in. Upon first encounter it will sound totally bizarre and off but the flow of the compositions actually makes sense once you can wrap your head around the whole thing. It is not as alienating as Gorguts’ “Obscura” but a bit harder swallow than any of Neurosis’ albums.

While not as accomplished in the perfection department as the stunning followup “Prehistoricisms” this debut album has more than enough intricacies and surprises to please the intellectual metalhead who lives for twists and turns that not only shock and surprise but also provide a smorgasbord of different hooks and dissonant melodies that can be deciphered. This is an excellent debut from INTRONAUT. If you already love Neurosis,The Ocean or Gorguts and want to take that arena of sludgy deathened metal even further then INTRONAUT will satisfy all those desires and no better place to get your feet wet than with their debut VOID. INTRONAUT is a totally under the radar band that IMHO deserves a whole lot more recognition because their talent is immeasurable. An acquired taste for sure, but one that i personally have acquired and savored ever since.