Intronaut "The Challenger"

The Challenger offers nine full songs of Intronaut's distinctly jazzy and atmospheric metal but, for all practical purposes, it's a three-song EP with six live cuts and a remix tacked on to the end. I don't really get into live recordings (unless I'm an obsessive fan of the band), so I'm not even going to talk about that stuff here -- it's the band playing their older stuff live.

The first three songs comprise the new material and, as expected, are undeniably skillful and pretty damn unique. Like 2006's Void, The Challenger puts a spin on sludgy, mid-paced metal, bringing to the dense heaviness a range of impressively jazzy bass lines and percussion, expansive post-metal atmospheres and warm, swelling melodies. What's cool about these three songs is how, despite their rhythmic and textural complexity, they're accessible; you don't have to be a trained musician to get into the material, but you're still likely pick up on the intricacy and technical time signatures. Of course, there's plenty of chunky, twisted riffs and dissonant noise, as well as forceful, mid-ranged shouting, to latch on to, and Intronaut does a commendable job of smoothly blending them with their more experimental qualities. The Challenger can be pretty powerful, so I'll be interested to hear their next full length.

Peep the title track: Intronaut - The Challenger

It's selling for the price of a full length, which kind of sucks, but you can get it here.