BIRD EATER
Utah
(Exigent)

JESU
Lifeline
(Hydra Head)

EVILE
Enter the Grave
(Earache)

STINKING LIZAVETA
Scream of the Iron Iconoclast
(At a Loss)

WOLVES IN THE
THRONE ROOM
Two Hunters
(Southern Lord)

RED FANG
S/T 

(Wantage)

PURE SOUNDART
Emo is Dead

(Lockjaw)

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Having become an instant fan after a quick listen to their introductory EP Null, I’d be lying if I told you I was not looking forward to this their first full-length. Now, I gotta tell you; it was worth the wait.  Void is more of the same and then some. It’s an improved version of the past because it is longer and more expert at drawing the same complicated patterns and expansive brutality that Null worked so well towards.  First track “A Monolithic Vulgarity” is just that; monolithic in the sense that sounds like a heavy metal milestone, with a jazzy spine is brutal jazz for a while before rearing into progressive jazz, with tasty bass playing and syncopated drums by way of former Uphill Battle banger Danny Walker.  The progressive side of Intronaut is very much present in Void, but do not imagine any clean melodies or guitar wankering, because that’s the last you’ll get. This is progressive in the sense that it experiments with sounds, it fucks with rhythms, and features odd tempo constructions that conglomerate at a point only to cause a big bang of brutal cacophony. 

Second song “Gleamer” for instance, is standard metal by the band’s very own standards. Yet towards the end deconstructs among crumbling feedback, active drone and heavy noise.  “Fault Lines” is only the third track but will have you exhausted by the second minute; as abstract melodies work towards a summit and plateau at that technical point where the guitar and the drums blend and work as one. And the bass…well let’s just say that BA in music Lester seems to be playing in his own band apart, still exercising his fingers as if they were spider legs and showing off his skills as if he was free styling at a hazy night at the Village Vanguard. 

Rounded up by guitarist Sacha Dunable (Anubis Rising) and vocalist/guitarist Leon del Muerte (Impaled/Exhume), Intronaut is one of the most promising American metal bands of today and Void one of the most interesting releases of 2006. “Nostalgic Echo” is precisely progressive jazz rock for over a minute before turning into pure metal with a dose of classic Pantera to balance out the grooves with aggressiveness.  It goes back and forth, a couple of times and it excels in both camps. Leon’s vocals are aggressive yet understandable and possibly mellow for those into death metal, but appropriately compliment Introanut’s experimentations.  Void is full of merits; however deep within its core and after subsequent listens many of its most obvious influences come to surface. As referenced above, there is plenty of jazz, a substantial amount of Pantera-like construction and an equal amount of Messhuggah-esque tunes. Void more than delivers, but it is going to take a bit more than those convenient foreign sounds in between songs and that flair for experimentation to launch these bold Californians into the first rate contenders they deserve to be.

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