siLLy puPPy The fourth album in the INTRONAUT canon came with the longest title of them all. HABITUAL LEVITATIONS (INSTILLING WORDS WITH TONES) and was released in 2013 and marked a dynamic shift in the band’s sound due to the fact after three albums the vocalists Sacha Dunable and Dave Timmick completely dropped the growly vocal aspects altogether leaving only a clean singing style throughout the album’s 9 tracks that added up to just over 57 minutes of playing time. Of course this is nothing new of progressive sludge metal bands with bands like Mastodon following a similar route however there comes a point where it just isn’t sludge metal any more!

The beauty of INTRONAUT is that this Los Angeles based group has been amazingly consistent in delivering high quality and well-designed albums ever since its debut “Void” in 2006, a trait that continues to the current day. The amazing lineup of Sacha Dunable (guitar, vocals), Joe Lester (bass, upright bass), Danny Walker (drums, samples, 2004-18) and Dave Timnick (guitar, vocals, tabla, percussion) has been stable since the band’s 2008 album “Prehistorians” therefore INTRONAUT has become a well-oiled progressive sludge metal machine that has seamlessly integrated the caustic elements of sludge metal into the context of a bonafide progressive metal band without a flinch.

In this regard, lack of extreme metal vocals disregarded, INTRONAUT continues to craft an amazing web of intricately designed progressive metal composiitons that still implement plenty of heavy sludge metal riffing along with the drumming style that is fairly common in the world of sludgery. Danny Walker still manages to slip in some ethnic sounding percussive effects and the band continues to excel at alternating heavy sludge laden riffs and grooves with the cleaner gone full prog metal guitar effects. The time signatures are ubiquitous as are the mood changes with dynamics, tempos and even instrumental timbres shapeshift in unexpected ways. The music is complex enough that the album requires a number of spins to fully sink in but provides an immediate fix as well albeit not in a way where the complex melodies will get under your skin right away.

The instrumental interplay is the album’s strongest suit with exquisite guitar riffing trade offs from both Dunable and Timmich accompanied by Joe Lester’s phenomenal virtuosic bass playing and Danny Walker’s unique percussive style that tastefully delivers slower beat keeping rhythmic percussion as well as offering jazzy drum rolls and occasional blastbeats. Likewise the sludge-heavy moments are well balanced by the slower contemplative softer parts. Due to the lack of growly vocals HABITUAL LEVITATIONS exudes a more atmospheric vibe than the previous albums which in my opinion is its downfall but nevertheless the album’s compositions are so very, very strong that it’s easy to give it all a pass.

Admittedly my least favorite album in the INTRONAUT universe and one that took the longest to warm up to simply due to the COMPLETE lack of growly vocals. Atmospheric sludge works best IMHO when both styles are fully utilized to offer the much needed contrast otherwise the music sounds like a totally abandonment of the sludge metal side of the fence and fully committed to the world of clean vocal powered progressive metal. Of course other bands like Cynic have jumped that fence but then again what came after is never as convincing or well balanced as what came before. Even Neurosis was wise enough to keep the growly vocal aspects in tact partially on the mellower albums like “A Sun That Never Sets.” After years this one has grown on me and although my least favorite of the lot, a lesser INTRONAUT album is still an excellent album indeed as this band has notched up into my top 10 sludge metal bands of all time.

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 Since the dawn of the post-metal / atmospheric sludge metal combo pack style that Neurosis delivered with its phenomenally original “Souls At Zero” all the way back in 1992, the two closely and often overlapping styles of metal have really covered it all having cross-pollinated with black metal, folk metal, drone metal and beyond but there have been a lot of copycats out there as well. For every Isis there are 10 Pelican sounding bands but even in the fast riding populated style of music that really took off in the 2000s some bands managed to craft a sound that stood on its own. INTRONAUT is one such band that immediately caught the attention of the metal world with its debut album “Void” and has pretty much continued to crank out a series of strong original albums ever since.

While this LA based band has been fairly consistent in delivering a new release every two to three years, it’s been five long ones since the release of “The Direction Of Last Things” and finally in 2020 makes a comeback with the band’s sixth overall full-length studio release FLUID EXISTENTIAL INVERSIONS and with a moniker that connotes a mental inner journey into the vast metaphysical universe that lies within, this album title continues the nebulous mental quandaries of the reality we find ourselves existing in and cranks out nine tracks of the band’s impressive progressive and even jazzy fusion mixes of crunchy sludge metal magic with atmospheric post-rock meanderings with psychedelic extras.

One of the most substantial changes between the half decade absence of the great INTRONAUT is the departure of long time drummer Danny Walker who left the band in 2018 but the great news is that he was replaced by a seasoned tech metal type named Alex Rudinger who has played with a large number of metal bands including Azrael, Burning Shadows, Conquering Dystopia, The Faceless, Good Tiger, The HAARP Machine, Ordinance, Samadhi and Threat Signal. While technically just a session musician, his drumming prowess amplifies INTRONAUT’s strengths and keeps these guys firmly placed in the big boy’s world of progressive sludge metal while other bands like Mastodon and Baroness seem to be wimping out and aiming for more crossover appeal. INTRONAUT continues to stand proud in its time signature rich stamped of sludgy riffs and psychedelic atmospheric excursions.

The beauty of INTRONAUT is that while keeping the same basic stylistic approach that started from the beginning, this band manages to keep quality control with every album just different enough from what came before and in the process manages to consistently deliver an excellent album’s worth of progressive sludgy post-metal with psychedelic accoutrements. FLUID EXISTENTIAL INVERSIONS is no exception to this rule. In many ways, this album is like a synopsis of the band’s entire run. Not only does it include some of the heavier growly vocal fueled sludge attacks as heard on “Void” but also delivers a fair amount of clean vocal led atmospheric post-metal sounds that peaked on “Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones).” Add in an amazingly crisp clean production that captures the perfect essential oils of both the metallic fury and clean passages and you have a freekin winner of an album.

Personally i think INTRONAUT probably peaked with its sophomore album “Prehistorians” which captured its sound in perfect balance but despite that fact the band has been very consistent in crafting really complex yet compelling albums ever since and that certainly has not ended with FLUID EXISTENTIAL INVERSIONS. While i would prefer that the band venture into more explorations beyond their comfort zone, i’m quite aware that they are walking that tightrope act of pleasing the old fans while trying to attract the new and for that effort i have to say that this album is the perfect mix of what has come before even if no new elements have been added other than the tight-knit instrumental interplay that includes the new drummer. While this album may not expand on the band’s previous stylistic approach in any way, for true fans this will not disappoint one little bit. This is another strong INTRONAUT album that delivers the goods.

siLLy puPPy The year 2008 was a good one for INTRONAUT as they signed onto a worldwide deal with Century Media Records and hit a home run with their amazingly brilliant “Prehistoricisms.” The band followed up with a successful touring schedule with Kylesa and Mastodon as well as the Great Indian Rock Festival in Dehli, India. Two years later INTRONAUT followed up that album in a most unexpected way with their 2010 release VALLEY OF SMOKE. There was a new direction a-brewing and the most noticeable aspect is the toning down the overall harshness and adding heavier doses of post-rock thus creating a thick atmospheric slick of post-metal with healthy portions of sludgery on the side. The band enjoyed the luxury of a stable lineup as well and on this one sees a cameo appearance of Justin Chancellor from Tool adding a second bass on the title track.

The opening track “Elegy” belies the direction of the album as it sounds like the signature progressive post-rock infused sludge metal that the band has been conjuring up from day one, complete with progressively constructed distorted riffs, shouted vocals and jazz-infused song structures. Starting with the second track “Above” Sacha Dunable seems to leave the harsh extreme vocals behind for the most part and focuses more on a clean atmospheric approach reminding me of the clean parts on later Enslaved albums in mood and dynamics. While the shouting pops up intermittently there is much more attention paid to the lighter aspects of the band’s sound. This is an approach they would even further on the following album “Habitual Levitations.”

After a perfect album like “Prehistoricisms” i hardly expected a repeat in its successful formula and i’m glad INTRONAUT didn’t try to simply recreate it. I have to admit that i was initially disappointed by the approach on VALLEY OF SMOKE upon first listen as they seem to be on the same trajectory as The Ocean or even Mastodon where they began their career as uncompromising heavy sludge outfits and have slowly drifted towards the more ethereal and atmospheric pastures of post-rock infused sludge metal but after a few listens this one does sink in and the progressive time signature workouts accompanied by seasoned musicians and the stellar production of Josh Newell only makes this one better after every spin. True that it will never dethrone what came before in my book but VALLEY OF SMOKE is still quite the sophisticated atmospheric sludge metal attack with lots of post-rock meanderings. Unlike “Prehistoricisms” which i can put on any time and fall into the musical ecstasy zone, VALLEY OF SMOKE requires me to be in the right mood to want to hear, but when i am this one does deliver the goods.

siLLy puPPy After a debut album and two EPs under their belt the members of INTRONAUT were only getting warmed up it seems. Another member change with Dave Timnick taking over guitar duties after the departure of Leon del Muerte seems to have been the necessary ingredient to grant INTRONAUT that magical prestidigitation to whip up and unleash their absolute wildest and most experimental album of their career. PREHISTORICISMS continues their reputation as an intellectual extreme metal band that seamlessly blends together elements of post-rock, psychedelia and crushing sludge metal brutality all laid out in the most satisfying of musical deliveries of the ages. This is the album that even made the critics go gaga and publications such as Decibel, Metal Maniacs, Outburn, Revolver and so on praised INTRONAUT as the next best thing and after hearing this musical masterpiece it isn’t too overly difficult to understand why.

The band goes about their usual business as before intermingling placid post-rock segments that once the listener is lured into a state of hypnotic bliss is sonically assaulted with catchy brutal riffs that sustain long enough to establish their dominance only to have the false sense of security shattered by unpredictable time signature changes that wend and wind the compositions through highly progressive head bangin' territory. While all the members are brilliant on their respective instruments, it’s worthy of mentioning the above and beyond the call of duty of fretless bass player Joe Lester who infuses the sound with the technical jazz fusion aspects. Equally vital to the new technical achievements is former Jane’s Addiction engineer Josh Newell, who blends together the seamless transitions between the soft and silky contemplative parts and the hardcore brutality by smoothing out any potential awkwardness between the contradictory styles on display.

While PREHISTORICISMS is undeniably the sound of INTRONAUT, the band went for broke and evolved every aspect of their sound to the next level. The compositions have been crafted carefully as to retain their signature sludge bombast all wrapped up with creative uses of slide guitar, fretless bass, highly technical drumming and ambient jazz-infused soundscapes. Timnick’s riffing style is top notch with its fuzzed fury graciously fusing with Sacha Dunable's aggressively screamed vocals with an emphasis on lyrical intellectualisms and concepts of the most primitive and atavistic aspects of the human experience. As mentioned, what really sets this release apart from its predecessors isn’t the excellent musicianship that is present on all of their material but rather the infusion of the jangly post-rock and jazz-infused technicalities. While throughout the majority of the album we are treated to brutal jarring dissonant orotundity, on the final track “The Reptilian Brain (Sleep, Eat, Shit, Fight, Fuck)” we are treated to a five part suite that begins like an Indian raga with sitars and tribal drums and slowly evolves into a 16 minute plus progressive behemoth that develops into a sludge metal monster that satisfies on all musical levels.

Not only is this my favorite INTRONAUT album but this is one of my favorite albums of all time. This is not only a desert isle pick but one that takes many of my disparate musical interests and throws them all together. The success lies not in the fact that these elements are all included but rather in how well crafted their inclusions are and how meticulously placed together in a logical sequence they exist while still finding improvisational space to deliver jarring surprises when least expected. The heavy down-tuned guitars and fretless bass work together in harmony while the percussion takes the listener on an exotic counter-journey. The rhythms, tones, timbres and tempos are all sorted out in a way as to allow the psychedelic and the sludge to not only coexist but to play together and dance the night away. This is highly recommended for anyone who craves mass quantities of intelligent design stamped upon every musical measure and imbued with exemplary musical maestrohood.