ALBUM REVIEW: Fluid Existential Inversions – Intronaut

In 2006, a band from Los Angeles quietly entered the metal scene with an album that is still to this day regarded as one of the best debut releases among modern prog death metal bands. The band was INTRONAUT, and the album in question is Void, a frenzied gem which surprised many listeners for its uncompromisingly genuine take on metal, and intricacy encircled by insanity. With the releases of Prehistoricisms in 2008 and Valley of Smoke in 2010 – both put out on Century Media Records – INTRONAUT cemented their status as one of forerunners of the new wave of progressive metal bands coming from North America. Subsequent releases, 2013’s Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones) and 2015’s The Direction of Last Things, took INTRONAUT towards the more safe area on the prog metal scene with technicality and craftsmanship remaining intact.

This all leads us to the new, INTRONAUT’s sixth studio album Fluid Existential Inversions, their first record on a new label Metal Blade Records. Coming roughly five years after The Direction of Last Things, Fluid Existential Inversions is a newfound power for a group that continues their journey through the vast and unknown. Although many bands tend to fall into the pressure trap of releasing an album that tops their magnum opus, INTRONAUT prove here that not only they are able to hold their fire but are only getting more ferocious. Even if we had no problems calling Void, Valley of Smoke and The Direction of Last Things masterpieces, it takes an album like Fluid Existential Inversions to show us how unsound the band’s previous works really were. Developing and strengthening their unique sound, INTRONAUT has once again raised the bar and wrote one of the most stunning metal albums, one that is going to be hard to top in 2020.

It is not that INTRONAUT have changed their sound and approach all too much from Void; their style is still complex and intricate as hell. What does take Fluid Existential Inversions to the next step is the band’s evolution however the fact that they have matured their sound from the debut album prominently. Here, INTRONAUT sound like they are trying to assemble more cohesive songs with intelligible melodies and substantial dynamic between the technical segments and alluring passages. The band has done this at no loss of quirkiness or profundity; Fluid Existential Inversions remains a challenging listen.

Musically, the trio of Sacha Dunable [guitar, vocals], Joe Lester [bass] and Dave Timnick [guitar, vocals, percussion] are at the top of their game, and after many listens to Fluid Existential Inversions it is difficult not to see these musicians as some of the best to have ever come out of the metal scene. The songwriting on Fluid Existential Inversions can be said to rest at the level of brilliance, even if it were only for the sheer amount of ideas and intricacy that the band members are able to push into each song. The album reaches its level of near-perfection by the fact that each idea runs amazingly well into the next. Each track is a condensed power of ideas that come at the listener with exceptional vigour.

With many songs here featuring quite a few contrasting ideas, it all works perfectly, tied together by the melodic vocals and flamboyant ebb and flow that exists within the ecosystem of Fluid Existential Inversions.

This is an album that forces you to say new things each time you listen to it. It doesn’t happen too often to hear such an abundance of creative ideas put into fifty-four minutes, let alone to have everything sounds consistent. Although it may not have the surprise value of such an innovative album as the mentioned Void, Valley of Smoke or The Direction of Last Things, Fluid Existential Inversions is certainly a fair step above its predecessors, taking the existing style of INTRONAUT and bringing it to a totally new level.

Rating: 8/10

Fluid Existential Inversions is set for release on February 28 via Metal Blade Records.

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