INTRONAUT — The Direction Of Last Things (review)

INTRONAUT — The Direction Of Last Things album cover Album · 2015 · Atmospheric Sludge Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"The Direction Of Last Things" is the 5th full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Intronaut. The album was released through Century Media Records in November 2015. It´s the successor to "Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)" from 2013.

Stylistically Intronaut have taken a slight step back to their heavier past and reintroduce harsh shouting hardcore vocals. A feature which was almost completely missing from their sound on the predecessor. Most vocals on the album are still mellow ethereal clean singing though (I´m often reminded of Paul Masvidal from Cynic). The instrumental part of the band´s music is still rooted in an adventurous playing rhythm section. Both drummer Danny Walker and bassist Joe Lester are very busy and quite inventive. The same can be said about the two guitarists/vocalists. The technical level of playing on this album is simply through the roof. There are strong jazz/fusion leanings in the music, but also sludge, post rock, mathcore, and progressive metal elements. The many styles combined it´s pretty hard to make a valid description of the band´s music, but atmospheric and technically well played progressive metal isn´t an all wrong label.

The material on the 7 track, 46:03 minutes long album is well written, intriguing, and consistent in both style and quality. The combination of heavier hard edged parts and atmospheric mellow sections works well for the band. Even at their most aggressive and busy Intronaut have a sophisticated calm to their delivery, which means the music on "The Direction Of Last Things" is sometimes closer to rock than it is to metal. Artists like A Perfect Circle, Tool, and late era-Cynic are valid references.

"The Direction Of Last Things" is a very well produced album, featuring a clear, organic, and powerful sounding production, which fits well with the atmospheric music. So that combined with the brilliant musicianship and the adventurous songwriting, make for an intriguing listen and a high quality release. That´s of course no surprise if you´re familiar with Intronaut´s preceeding releases, but it´s still worthy of praise that they can continue to keep the quality level of their output as high as they do here. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Listened to this today and it sets a good first impression. May have just crept into my top 30 based on the first listen alone.
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
They are certainly a band worth investigating.
adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I've been curious about this one since it made our top 30 for last year, and am even more so after this review. I'll check it out soon.
Nightfly wrote:
more than 2 years ago
yes, this is a great album that I only really got to hear properly in the last month. Would have made my top 30 list if I'd heard it sooner.
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I've been loving this one more after every listen. My second favorite Intronaut after Prehistorians

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

I, the Destroyer Black Metal
SVARTFJELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
A Sonication Technical Death Metal
OBSCURA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 8 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 8 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 8 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 8 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed