Intronaut - Valley Of Smoke

Artist: Intronaut
Title: Valley Of Smoke
Genre: Progressive Metal
Release Date: 19th November 2010
Label: Century Media



Album Review

INTRONAUT made their mark on Century Media’s label with their second album, ‘Prehisitoricisms.’ It was a rumbling progressive beast in the vein of bands such as ISIS, KYLSEA, and CULT OF LUNA. For those who think that progressive metal is defined by bands such as DREAM THEATER with lots of keyboards and LSD laced guitar solos, think again. With lots of melody mixed with crushing power, they knew how to make audiences head bang as well as enter a state of trance. With their second album, ‘Valley Of Smoke’, INTRONAUT continue to explore their progressive side more, adding a lot more complex melodies with a bit of TOOL influence while still retaining their thick, chugging, heavy sludge metal sound. There are no ‘over ten minute’ epics for this album unlike the last, but overall that album is only a bit shorter, while still engaging, if not more, than the predecessor.

The first thing that fans will notice is the vocals are much less aggressive. The opener ‘Elegy’ is a raging storm of a track with the sludge metal sound and hardcore, bellowing vocals that are often offset by softer, cleaner ones. The clean ones are the style that fans will be hearing mostly throughout the album, which is a large step forward compared to the last one where things were nicely balanced. For those who may feel that the harsh vocals will be lacking, INTRONAUT makes up for it in other ways. Tracks like ‘Miasma’ are bursting with energy, but not the raging, crushing kind from before. A lot of the notes are more individually picked rather than power-chorded all the way through, and the ethereal vocals add even more depth of the soundscape. The drums are actually the most powerful instrument on this album because while the guitars are more melodic, the drums are laying down the heavy firepower of the blast beats.

‘Core Relations’ is the most melodic sound track on the album. The guitars sound especially jazzy and the drum is strangely percussive and tribal; much like the work of recent MASTODON. The vocals are harmonically clear, unlike on the other tracks, and sound extremely beautiful to listen to. A huge step forward for INTRONAUT. The album’s epic, ‘Valley Of Smoke’, is not as long as the monster ‘The Reptilian Brain’, but it is still wildly progressive. Starting out with a great drum and bass line, it takes on a momentary crashing sound that is familiar in the first track before simmering down into this very groovy, soft rhythm while the drums are percussive. The vocals, as scarce as they are, act like they are more of an atmospheric instrument than a voice conveying lyrics, and work very nicely for the band overall.

For those who felt that ‘Prehistoricisms’ was a bit too cookie-cutter for the idea of sludge-progressive metal, then ‘Valley Of Smoke’ is that one push out of the darkness and into the light. It sets INTRONAUT on a whole new level that pulls them out of the shadows of bands like HIGH ON FIRE or ISIS. Fans should really love the subtle melodies in each track along with the more thundering ones. INTRONAUT are not trying to create the “metal album of the year”, per say, by coming on to be heavy as fuck. Instead, they opt for a more “thoughtful” outlook on metal, blurring the lines between genres to leave listeners with something that is extremely engaging and a lot of fun to listen to.


Tracklist

01. Elegy (6:36)
02. Above (6:10)
03. Miasma (7:51)
04. Sunderance (3:29)
05. Core Relations (6:39)
06. Below (4:22)
07. Valley Of Smoke (8:34)
08. Past Tense (5:56)


Line-up

Sacha Dunable - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Timnick - Guitar
Joe Lester - Bass
Danny Walker - Drums, Samples


Website

http://www.myspace.com/intronaut


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 9
Sound: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10


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