Intronaut is one of the least pretentious bands in progressive metal—but their fifth album is far from innocuous. Rather, it’s undeniably one of the genre’s standout releases of the year, catapulting with the poppy opening track “Fast Worms,” delving into math-rock introspection on “The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing” and sealing the deal with the peripatetic closer
“City Hymnal.” In a genre crowded by masters twice their age, Intronaut are refreshingly unesoteric on Direction, deliberate but not constrained, seemingly uneventful yet thoroughly devastating. There’s more than meets the “I.”
Rating: 9 out of 10
Intronaut
The Direction of Last Things
Century Media
Producer: Intronaut (mixed by Devin Townsend)
