While Intronaut's vagabond lifestyle of moving from label to label looks to have now been settled, their instrumental wanderlust remains free to roam on "Prehistoricisms". An avant garde slab of sludgy genre-defying metal, Intronaut's growth over the years has been remarkable with this latest effort clearly displaying not only a wealth of maturity, but impenetrable density as well.

While obviously talented musicians in their own right, the members of Intronaut seem uninterested in merely flouting their talent. Instead they temper complexity through their song arrangements with averse, plodding tenacity. It's an interesting take and one that can see Meshuggah-like moments of oppressing brutality melt away into booming tribal drums and rubbery bass lines.

In fact, the spotlight that is continually shone on the bands rhythm section and unconventional bass playing in particular is one of Intronaut's most enjoyable traits. A generally fretless-sounding, jazzy and energetic endeanor, bassist Joe Lester's lively overplaying and elastic performances carve through the bands Neurosis-reminiscent brooding like a rusty buzzsaw.

Add in a few dalliances with ethnic instrumentation full-fledged enough to numb the mind into a state of calm without the use of herbal remedies; and you have one of the most endearing progressive metal releases of the past few years. Make no mistake, Intronaut are not a commercial band nor do they set out to clone the pioneers. Rather, they are aggressive artistic expressionism at its most natural. Not only that, with "Prehistoricisms" they have made an album incendiary enough to set aflame the tar pits that so many of Neurosis and Mastodon's followers have readily drown in.