Intronaut

Intronaut is a progressive metal band from Los Angeles, California that incorporates complex polyrhythms, progressive rock, and jazz.^[1] Intronaut features former members of Anubis Rising, Exhumed, Uphill Battle, and Impaled.

Biography

Intronaut's initial line-up included guitarist/vocalist Sacha Dunable, guitarist/vocalist Leon del Muerte, drummer Danny Walker, and bassist Joe Lester. According to Walker, the band chose its name because Intronaut is an "inner traveler" designed to encourage the listener to explore his or her own mind.^[2]

In 2005, Intronaut released a four-track demo entitled Null – Demonstration Extended Play Compact Disc. They signed to Goodfellow Records in October and recorded Void in early April 2006 at Shiva Industries in Santa Ana, California with producer John Haddad. Void represented the first songwriting effort featuring the band as a whole, as Dunable had written much of the material for Null prior to the other members joining the band.^[2]

In August 2007, guitarist/vocalist Leon del Muerte left the band to focus on Murder Construct and was replaced by Dave Timnick. Shortly thereafter Intronaut toured Europe for the first time in support of The Ocean.

In January 2008, the band announced that they had signed a worldwide deal with Century Media Records and completed their next album, Prehistoricisms.^[3] As the album was the first without del Muerte - whom the band described as their "metal riff guy"^[4] - Prehistoricisms took on a more rhythmic quality that was exemplified by the double-drummer ending of "Any Port".^[4] They also recorded a cover of Eyehategod's "Dixie Whiskey" for Century Media's twentieth anniversary covers album.

In April 2009, Intronaut toured with Kylesa and Mastodon.^[5] Later that year, in October 2009, Intronaut played several shows in Kolkata and Pragati Maidan, Delhi for the Great Indian Rock Festival XIII.

In the summer of 2010, Intronaut released their third full-length album, Valley of Smoke, featuring a guest appearance from Justin Chancellor from Tool. The album was characterized by increased use of melody and pitched singing, as well as more concise songs.^[6] In late 2010, Intronaut opened for Cynic on the "Re-Traced/Re-Focused Tour" of North America. Shortly thereafter, Intronaut completed another North American tour opening for Helmet.

In mid-2011, Intronaut toured Europe with The Ocean and Red Fang, then toured North America with Animals as Leaders, Dead Letter Circus, and Last Chance to Reason, and then toured Europe again with Ghost Brigade and A Storm of Light.

In early 2012, Intronaut supported Tool on the first leg of their North American tour.^[7] After the tour, they commenced writing for their fourth studio album, Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones),^[8] which was released on March 19, 2013.^[9] In April 2014 they supported TesseracT in their North American tour, as well as serving as the live backing band for one man progressive outfit Cloudkicker's live debut.^[10]

Musical Style

Intronaut's sound is influenced by a wide variety of genres, with songs frequently transitioning from heavy distorted portions into ambient jazz-infused soundscapes. The guitar work is based around distorted, fuzzed guitar tones performing anything from driving head-banging riffs to dissonant metalcore-esque ones. Various metal genres are represented, including heavy metal, stoner metal, post metal, and sludge metal. Bass guitar is uniquely a monumental part of Intronaut's sound, often serving as the main component of certain riffs. Fretless basswork also adds a fluid and psychedelic vibe on select songs. Intronaut frequently and effortlessly shifts from intense metal sections into jazz-inspired ambient ones. These passages employ jazz chord shapes and sounds, with ample reverb to create ethereal breaks from their more intense riffs. Vocals range from screaming to growling to cleans, with very intelligent use of harmonies. The drum work is another notable feature of their sound, and focuses heavily on polymeters and polyrhythms. The beats are succinct and tight, with guitar and bass work often revolving around the beat itself. Intronaut often incorporates more experimental, psychedelic passages into their songs as well, utilizing unique instruments such as sitars and bongos to great effect.

Intronaut have frequently been compared to other progressive oriented sludge metal acts such as Mastodon and Baroness, though the band members have denied that the latter was ever a significant influence on their sound. Perhaps the bands most marked stylistic change came when clean vocals were introduced on Valley of Smoke. Intronauts clean vocals, consisting largely of harmonisations between guitarists Dunable and Timnick, has frequently been compared to the vocal work of Alice in Chains. Habitual Levitations used clean vocals almost exclusively and was also largely devoid of the bands earlier extreme metal influences, drawing comparisons to not strictly metal acts such as Deftones, Hum, and Oceansize, as well as tour mates and known friends Tool and the aforementioned Alice in Chains. The Direction of Last Things marked the return of harsh vocals and some of the more extreme metal tinged heavy riffing to the bands sound, while retaining the more melodic sensibilities of their previous two albums. The album also experimented with elements of math rock, particularly on "In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing".

Members

Current

• Sacha Dunable – guitar, vocals (2004–present)
• Joe Lester – bass (2004–present)
• Danny Walker – drums, samples (2004–present)
• Dave Timnick – guitar, vocals, tabla, additional percussion (2007–present)

Former

• Leon del Muerte – guitar, vocals (2004–2007)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

• Null - Demonstration Extended Play Compact Disc (2005, self-released)
• Null (2006, Goodfellow)
• The Challenger (2007, Translation Loss)

Singles/music videos

• "Australopithecus" (2008)
• "Elegy" (2008)
• "Sunderance" (2011)
• "Milk Leg" (2013)
• "Harmonomicon" (2013)
• "Fast Worms" (2015)
• "Sul Ponticello" (2016)

Appeared on

• Like Black Holes in the Sky: A Tribute to Syd Barrett (2008, Dwell) "Arnold Layne"
• Covering 20 Years of Extremes (2009, Century Media) "Dixie Whiskey"

References

External links

• Official website
• Intronaut at AllMusic
• Intronaut at Century Media Records