Intronaut
Prehistoricisms

If "Void" was comparable to the reddish fur of an alert fox, "Prehistoricisms" is the embodiment of an immortal Australopithecus that has been roaming the earth for a long time. You can already tell from the cover that the quest for sound comes from a rocky, prehistoric, and legendary past.

This gem emerged from the mix of 4 brilliant minds straight from California, specifically the second album of "Intronaut," from 2008.

The rock art illustrates a death metal with many influences from jazz, progressive, Afro, and shoegaze. In an interview with the group leader, I read that they draw inspiration from the most unlikely bands, those that have nothing in common. Maybe it's true, but in terms of sound and distortion, we're on a very meaty and fat Meshuggah level. As I mentioned earlier, the album is rich in various elements. It starts with a very bouncy bass, probably inspired by good old Death, Cynic, and particularly the legendary Sean Malone. The electric guitars are well arranged; there are no solos, but the rhythms are dizzying. The vocals are a rather common growl, even if not quite catchy. The drums lose their role in a good way, in fact, there should be talk of various percussion, which is why I also mention Afro. Furthermore, throughout the album, there are invincible structures, with irregular cadence, which is why I also define it as good progressive death metal. There are short and long sections typically jazz, and tribal is always in the order of the song.

"Prehistoricisms" is a dive into the past and ancient eras, you'll notice it from the titles, the music, and the lyrics for those few who will read them.

The album opens with "Primordial Soup," an instrumental just over a minute long, but very interesting and especially dreamy, just think of the title "primordial broth." Unfortunately, the first time I heard it, "Vacant" by Dream Theater immediately came to mind... Plagiarism? I don't think so, but meanwhile, I think...

And you immediately connect to the second and brutal "The Literal Black Cloud." A song that, in my opinion, does not reflect the standards of the album at all. In short, a good death song with a good bass and distortion.

It's time for "Cavernous Den Of Shame," probably the fastest of all. Towards the middle, there are excellent jazz and shoegaze segments. Great song.

The title track "Prehistoricisms" wasn't that much to my liking, but then again, death has never been much to my taste. An average song for an average album.

And from here, they start firing high-caliber stuff: "Any Port" is one of the cornerstones of this work. Great rhythms, great choruses, and great bass lines. All normal or even better if not for the last 3 minutes that shift the song from "Good" to "Stratospheric." After a winding journey between the prominent bass and smoky guitars, we reach the peak with one of the very few drum solos in all of metal, a full 3 minutes of back and forth with 4 hands, guys!!!! Not 2, but 4!!! Passing through the most winding paths of the tribal. You must listen to it (I hope I can attach these 3 minutes, although more than 30 seconds are not allowed).

And immediately after this mid-tempo sprint, we roll up our sleeves for "Sundial," which is of sweet appreciation, with a well-developed drum. Towards the end, a very kaleidoscopic loop opens: if in "Any Port," the drum closes in beauty, here it's the bass that is the undisputed protagonist. Many, many plucks. Also worth listening to.

"Australopithecus" is a good apocalyptic track, with an interlude especially inspired by the old Opeth ballads. Very nice.

And it ends with the 16-minute suite "The Reptilian Brain." Harmonics, bouncy basses, poignant percussion, my goodness, guys, it's a radial crescendo of energy. It shifts from shoegaze to tribal to jazz, to an extremely well-thought-out death. Excellent instrumental ending.

I also read the lyrics that, as I expected, talk about prehistoric things, archaic life senses. More or less all on the same level, but the exception lies precisely in this: because the last instrumental track that I mentioned earlier is a source of thought. I wasted more time reflecting on this than on the entire rest of the album. Yes, because "The Reptilian Brain" literally means "reptilian brain," and here so many mental tussles started that you can't imagine. Yes, because following the various sections of the suite:

I. Sleep

II. Eat

III. Shit

IV. Fight

V. Fuck

Mental tussles are compulsory. The whole suite can be interpreted as the evolution of a reptile's mind: if you don't know, reptiles are the oldest family ever, which has survived every cataclysm, absolutely the dominant terrestrial life forms... not a small thing!

At the beginning, nothing. Sleep;

Gradually grow. Eat;

Then emit waste. Sh*t, indeed;

Fight with cataclysms and humans in particular. Fight; and finally, everything destroys each other, but the harmonics reappear, symbol of reptile life. And so they absolutely fuck everyone, starting over.

But this morning, I had a trauma, I read on the internet that the "reptilian brain" is nothing more than the most important area of the mammalian brain, behind the neck, where the entire nervous system is present along with all instinctive behaviors like surviving, searching, killing, committing, ... And here I shot myself in the foot all afternoon. I couldn't think of anything else.

I forgot to tell you that the album lasts 53 minutes, not bad for 8 songs.