End Of The Year Candidate - Intronaut: “Void”

The term “noisecore” is of course only an incredibly loose standpoint. You know the usual suspects, bands like Mastodon, Converge, Isis, Swarm Of The Lotus, Neurosis, sometimes even Dillinger Escape Plan fit in as well.

Intronaut seems to have struck a middle point between Isis and many other bands in the distance between harsh vocals and instrumental interludes. The lighter moments, especially when the stand up bass is used bring Intronaut closer to Isis territory without ripping anyone off. Strangely, these lighter moments don’t see the band slow down in tempo.

For a genre that some have nicknamed “noisecore” this album was surprisingly clear, and features very few portions of noise. The heavier moments can sometimes be a double edge sword. For certain bands, playing something that’s typically got a hint of noise, and a bit of looseness to the playing with intentionally raw production actually helps a great deal to the organic performance. Playing as tight, and as clear as they do with clear production has actually sapped away some of that biting heaviness inherent to these types of bands.

The strange arpeggios, the already mentioned use of a stand-up bass, subtle use of guitar effects, and sort of a between sparsely used and a full-on vocal assault are several contributing factors that push Intronaut to a higher level when compared to their peers. As good as “Void” is though, it hasn’t quite reached the same level of artistic impact that Intronauts brethren have.

8/10

Intronaut
Goodfellow Records