Seriously, what’s the crack with Intronaut? Their gargantuan prog sludge should have punters like me rolling in the aisles with joy, but I’m not. In fact listening to ‘Habitual Levitations’ makes me feel more like I’m going to drift off to sleep in the aisle than anything else.
The first drowsiness inducing symptom of ‘Habitual Levitations’ is its complete faux-progressive tendencies. The definition of what is and isn’t prog, in metal terms at least, has obviously been horrendously skewed since Tool first arrived on the scene but I can guarantee you that this record is not, in any way, shape or form, progressive. Lumbering basslines mixed with the odd jazzy cymbal flourish doesn’t make you interesting or clever. In fact, when subscribed to on the scale applicable here, it just becomes immensely tedious. Half of the tracks at least on ‘Habitual Levitations’ were actually decent songs once, one senses, but during the recording process so much unnecessary fiddling about has been added that the end result is something immensely hard to listen to the whole way through, let alone listen to and love. Intronaut should focus on writing songs before flitting about into their abominably predictable experimental tendencies.
The second problem with ‘Habitual Levitations’ is that it sounds like almost the quintessential stoned record. Everything sounds loose and free, in the same way that all the best stoner rock bands do, but the difference is that said stoner rock bands generally have the decency to bring at least half a dozen memorable riffs to the party. Intronaut were seemingly so stoned during the recording of this record that they actually forgot that bit. The end result is that, after a good few listens to this album, I’ll be damned if I can really remember anything about it at all.
Thirdly, Intronaut sound unpalatably flimsy on this record. Let’s not forget, this is supposed to be a metal record, but most of the time it sounds deliberately low-key. Nobody is asking for blast beats to be dispensed like flak jackets should be at American high schools but a bit of a kick would be nice every now and again. Intronaut instead seem too preoccupied with other things. The spacey production doesn’t help but there are moments when Intronaut could be soaring if they just ramped up the guitars a bit. Instead it often sounds as if they are just coasting along at half-speed.
The fourth and final major issue with ‘Habitual Levitations’ is that it all feels so damn pointless. This is a band that has been raved about like they are actually needed but surely any self-respecting sludge fan knows that, really, they aren’t. In a way, you can only really judge a record by the standards set for it by its contemporaries, and that is where ‘Habitual Levitations’ really falls down. Mastodon have done the whole slightly prog thing already and, frankly, they kicked ass at it whilst also proving themselves one of the finest groups of songwriters in the entire history of heavy metal. Kylesa have been nailing the stoned out vibe for ages and The Ocean are just one of a number of bands who sound heavier than a small planet. What are Intronaut bringing to the table that any of these bands are not? On ‘Habitual Levitations’ it seems, nothing at all.
‘Habitual Levitations’ is out on Monday 18th March via Century Media.
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The first drowsiness inducing symptom of ‘Habitual Levitations’ is its complete faux-progressive tendencies. The definition of what is and isn’t prog, in metal terms at least, has obviously been horrendously skewed since Tool first arrived on the scene but I can guarantee you that this record is not, in any way, shape or form, progressive. Lumbering basslines mixed with the odd jazzy cymbal flourish doesn’t make you interesting or clever. In fact, when subscribed to on the scale applicable here, it just becomes immensely tedious. Half of the tracks at least on ‘Habitual Levitations’ were actually decent songs once, one senses, but during the recording process so much unnecessary fiddling about has been added that the end result is something immensely hard to listen to the whole way through, let alone listen to and love. Intronaut should focus on writing songs before flitting about into their abominably predictable experimental tendencies.
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