For all of the dizzying extreme prog metal virtuosity displayed on
Intronaut
's first efforts, 2005's
Null
EP and 2006's
Void
LP, the group's great evolutionary leap unquestionably took place on their misleadingly named second full-length, 2008's
Prehistoricisms
, which saw an already vast compositional arsenal expanded to include broader atmospheric textures, more melody, jazzier sojourns, and even Indian raga. In contrast,
's next long-player, 2010's
Valley of Smoke
, was largely inspired by their hometown of Los Angelesâ?¦ say wha? Allow some clarification: what actually transpired here is that the band chose to interpret some of Tinsel Town's most apocalyptic geological characteristics (its earthquakes, wildfires, smog, etc.) into their highly abstract lyrics, then wed them to yet another set of typically intricate technical metal creations. But while the group's early work proved to be quite suffocating at times, and
is still guaranteed to stump even the most experienced musical explorers at first listen (or three, or five), its songs also come across as more fluid and smooth; as more of a body of work than anything that preceded them. Where to begin? Well, there's the rhythmic and textural smorgasbord of
"Elegy"
; the more linear approach of
"Above,"
which sees the quartet encroaching on
Isis
territory; the highly percussive title track, which gets as wonky as
Primus
, then throws in a little bossa nova for good measure; not to mention the flashbacks to everyone from
Voivod
to
Cynic
Atheist
John friggin' Coltrane
found on otherworldly soundscapes like
"Miasma,"
"Below,"
and
"Past Tense."
Of all the album's possible talking points, however, the most obvious is probably
's first-time use of clean vocals which, along with increasingly frequent 4/4 beats and riffs to match, are meticulously woven into the band's resilient technical mastery, exotic polyrhythms, alien melodic scales, and sore-throat roars. Nonetheless, it's still pretty stunning to learn that the dual harmonies sung by
Sacha Dunable
Dave Timnick
arose from their recently professed love ofâ?¦
Alice in Chains
? Who knew? And yet it works, just as most anything seems to work within
's quasi-infinite musical universe. How else to explain
's ability to redeem a city accustomed to being eulogized by the likes of
Ratt
Moetley Cruee
? What small miracle will
pull off next? ~ Eduardo Rivadavia