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Track Listing: Elegy Above Miasma Sunderance Core Relations Below Valley of Smoke Past Tense

Valley of Smoke is the third full length album from American Post-metal (Atmospheric Sludge metal) band Intronaut. Some genres of metal are direct with what they have to convey like Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal. The newer metal bands today have taken older forms of metal and forged newer, dare I say, alloys of metal, taking subtle features of various genres of metal and combining them to form a new genre of metal.

Intronaut have been referred to as "Thinking Man's Metal". They have been non conformists from the beginning and have successfully gone in another direction with this album while maintaining the key aspects that have kept them at the top of the underground metal scene.

The album is mixed brilliantly and nothing less is expected from a band on Century Media. Fans of the band will notice that this album features clean vocals, something that was absent from past releases. The guitar playing has also developed technically and has hence slightly suffered on the "punch" aspect. Dunable and Timnick have really outdone themselves on this album.

The band continues to make use of layering in their songs, and that adds to the effect. It isn't possible to continue this review without mentioning Joe Lester's brilliant fretless bass skills. Unlike most bands that have the bass in the background, Intronaut proudly have it in the foreground with respect to the mix and overall sound.

My favourite track on the album is "Core Relations" and I think it is the high point of the album because it combines about a million different techniques, and has to be heard numerous times to not miss the subtle nuances. The melodies in songs like "Miasma" are very familiar while others are thought provoking. The title track is the longest track on the album clocking in at over 8 minutes. It starts off with a drum beat that is highlighted with Lester's bass work. This groove based instrumental doesn't bore even for a second and will be brilliant live. The album ends on a very high note with the track "Past Tense" which showcases the talent this band has.

To sum it up, Intronaut have created another musical masterpiece with their latest effort and have showcased the individual talent of the band without being too pedantic like most bands that are technical.