Album Review: Intronaut-Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones)

California prog/sludge titans Intronaut has picked up quite a following over the past few years through major tours supporting such iconic bands as Mastodon, Cynic and Meshuggah and creating some of the best records this genre has seen recently in Prehistorcisms and Valley of Smoke. Their latest Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones) is another intriguing dose of progressive metal from one of the genre's best bands.

Habitual Levitations sees Intronaut expanding upon the more progressive sound they introduced on their last record Valley of Smoke. This is easily the most melodic material Intronaut has produced in their career thus far. While there are still sludge elements to the music, there are virtually no harsh vocals and more of an overall focus on melody. Intronaut are brilliant at composing music at both ends of the spectrum so the transition to a more progressive-based sound is pretty seamless for them. The melodic sections are appropriately dark and create a really gloomy, interesting landscape that the album centers around. Helping emphasize the power of the album's landscape is the contrasting presence of heavy riffs and Intronaut's secret weapon: bassist Joe Lester and drummer Danny Walker. The heavy sections perfectly complement and accentuate the murky power of the melodic sections. The transitions between both ends of Intronaut's sound are well-executed throughout (the best of the bunch though is on album closer "The Way Down") and they never cease to be able to get the most of every section of music they create. The rhythmic section of Lester and Walker is a big reason why Intronaut's music is so effective. Few bands in the metal world (or music in general for that matter) use bass and drums as prominently as Intronaut, which gives the band a really unique dynamic. The rhythmic compositions they come up with are just outstanding. I wish more bands would put an emphasis on having such a strong and well-utilized rhythm section. Lester and Walker never fail to impress me on every record and that will never change as long as Intronaut continues to make music.

The one issue I had with Habitual Levitations was that it does drag at times. Most of the tracks are haunting and atmospheric, but "Harmonocon" and "Eventual" are just stagnant and don't really go anywhere. They break up the flow after the first five excellent tracks and didn't really strike me like a majority of the record did. It's only a small blemish on a primarily great record, but it did knock down the overall quality a bit.

Habitutal Levitations is another well-crafted record from Intronaut. I do miss the harsh vocals of their previous material, but Intronaut are excellent musicians and the more progressive sound suites them well as a band. The melodies are stunning for a majority of a record and the heavy parts have amazing riffs ("The Welding" has one of the best riffs they've ever written.) Intronaut are one of the most important bands in the world of progressive metal at the moment as far as I am concerned and while it doesn't quite reach the highs of Prehistoricisms and Valley of Smoke, Habitual Levitations is still an essential listen for fans of the band or the genre.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.The Welding
2.The Way Down
3.Sore Sight for Eyes