"Null" is Goodfellow's issue of INTRONAUT's 2005 demo EP. When this first came my way, I had fairly high hopes for it. First, the involvement of Leon Del Muerte (from two CARCASS worshipping bands—formerly IMPALED and currently EXHUMED) meant that it would be heavy. Second, the other members of the band with their numerous influences and styles meant that things would be interesting, right? Sadly, things don’t always sound as good through your speakers as they do on paper. INTRONAUT’s debut EP “Null” leaves the listener both disappointed with the overall lack of excitement and equally confused as to the band’s underlying intent. Are they trying to be more progressive, or perhaps more commercial? You’ll be left scratching your head pondering this very same question, because they really fall short at both.

First, the members have plenty of experience in heavy music (particularly grindcore) so this EP does have plenty of heaviness to it with the B tuned guitars (again, thank you CARCASS). Instead of the complex, speed-pick riffing of death metal, what you have here is a lot of strumming chords which explore more of the fretboard, which is fine until you realize that the entire EP is nothing but strumming. At times the song structure mimics newer DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, but overall these songs don’t go anywhere, and the lighter breakdowns throughout really do nothing to add any variety. Plus, the vocals, which are nothing more than one-dimensional hardcore yelling, make things even more tiresome. Bottom line: though they seem to want to break new ground, the listener feels nothing but cold, steady earth under their feet.

While it is good when musicians broaden their repertoire, INTRONAUT sounds rough at best in its development. I really have no idea what sort of audience this music is best for, because the hardcore kids are going to want something far more extreme to mosh to while the more commercial rock fan will be scared away by the band’s grind roots. It’s possible that INTRONAUT will someday get things working and surprise me with killer shit in the future, but the excitement, innovation and replay value of their debut EP is, unfortunately, null.

-Cardona

OFFICIAL SITE: www.intronaut.net

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