ALBUM REVIEW: INTRONAUT- THE DIRECTION OF LAST THINGS

Intronaut- The Direction Of Last Things
FFO: Progressive Metal, Sludge Metal, Atmospheric



Intronaut is back with their 5th album and it is their most ambitious album to date. Going back, somewhat, to their roots, the band is starting to venture back into it's jazzier roots and instrumental sections and adding quite a bit of clean vocals to boot. Having Devin Townsend come in at the end for mixing was an absolute great touch!

The album starts with the single, Fast Worms, which is a pretty accurate portrayal of the direction of the album. Heavy and aggressive in the right spots, jazzy in the right sections, clean and growled vocals as needed and the right amount of adventurous genre bending. Digital Gerrymandering starts off completely heavy and sludgy with a mix of Devin Townsend style guitar riffing then builds up and up till it kicks in with almost CKY-ish style vocal melodies which continues throughout the song. The Pleasant Surprise starts off with a Brann Dailor style drum intro, not to be outdone with the Mastodon style riffing and arrangement to match. The song stays consistently fast and is arguably the heaviest song on the album. The Unlikely Event Of A Water Landing is the centerpiece of the album. It starts with a errie soundclip then begins. There is a big Cynic vibe on this song. Mellow pacing with lots of intricate sections on every instrument. The middle of the song picks up a little bit with heaviness ala Devin Townsend. The ending of the song (5:26 till the end) is the real highlight of the album. While staying mellow. The bass starts to really shine before the guitar leads kick in ala Cloudkicker's mellow side. A great Post Rock-ish way to end the song. Sul Ponticello, the other heaviest song on the album starts off ferociously almost Death Metal, then glides back into the Intronaut style we all know and love. The song stays more mid tempo with the right moments of heaviness thrown in and sludgy all the way through. The song ends with some soundclips and chanting. The title track, The Direction of Last Things, starts off nice and heavy with lots of double bass throughout almost the entire song. Lots of Sludgey style Progressive riffs that the band is best known for as well. 3/4ths of the way into the song, it switches into a Cynic style Jazz section once again with lots of ethereal vibes behind it before unleashing a crushing riff to close out the track. The album ends with City Hymnal which almost sounds like a tribute to Cloudkicker, but with vocals. Crazy off time drums and staccato guitar and bass riffing with an atmospheric, Post Rock leads behind everything. Much like Cloudkicker, the song builds up then back down then builds up until the end but then ends on an abrupt note, much like a hymnal being closed shut angerily.

Overall, Intronaut has knocked it out of the park once again. The band is on record saying the album only took 4 days to complete recording, which is a shocker in today's age. But it also proves that all you really need is to be able to get your songs down as tight as possible before going into the studio. This is going to be held very high as one of the best albums of the year and arguably the band's best album. It is very much worthy of that notion. This is an album that Intronaut fans have wanted all along and any real fan of the band will not be disappointed!


- 9.5/10

Intronaut- The Direction Of Last Things available November 13th via Century Media