INTRONAUT

Every few years, a band comes along that evokes this startling, timeless feeling, making subgenres in metal look like the useless bin-card dividers they really are, exploring a truly progressive outlook, and making music that's uncompromising, extreme, melodic, and emotional. CYNIC comes to mind, as does ALCHEMIST, NEUROSIS, OPETH, and BURST. And now, based on this thirty-minute introductory clusterbomb, INTRONAUT must be added to this hallowed list.

They're technical, but in a less manic, throat-punching way than, say DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN. Their time signatures slink and slither around, with jazzy drumming and upfront bass lines underpinning the open chords and heavy, slippery riffs. The vocals are harsh, but palatable, and the band frequently wanders off mid-song into mellower, trippier territory (see the midsection of "Sores Will Weep", with some CYNIC-like bass meandering and awesome drum prowess). The songs are long, epic journeys, and the whole thing has that otherworldly feel to it, like a soundtrack to a trip through space to uncharted galaxies.

And if that sounds a bit too fancy-pants for you, fear not: this is still some crushing stuff. The band wisely avoids the by-now-overdone MESHUGGAH-esque method of relentless pummeling, however, leaving room both in their guitar tone and in their riff writing for space, dynamics, and intricacy to shine through. The production here is an artful mix between heaviness and clarity — just listen to the slow, tension-inducing buildup before the end of masterpiece "Fragments of Character", or the airy middle section of "They (As In Them)". There's a push and pull at work here, both in the sound and the performance, never sacrificing the prog for the metal, or vice versa. These guys don't just walk the line, they are the line, and they make it all sound deceptively easy.

INTRONAUT is one of those bands where any attempted explanation just cheapens the overall effect. It's a lot cooler than any review is gonna make it sound, including this one. You just have to experience it yourself, and marvel at the fact that this nebulous, ever-evolving genre we call "metal" has so much room for impassioned creativity and uncompromising artistic boldness. "Null" is a work of genius.