NEUROTEQUE

Juggernaut is a progressive metal band from Rome featuring Luigi Farina, Andrea Carletti, Roberto Cippitelli, and Matteo D'Amicis. They have been around since 2006, and Neuroteque is their third release. While I have only had a cursory review of their first two albums, it was enough for me to discern that Neuroteque is quite a significant leap forward in their sound. They also made the bold move to drop all vocals this time and go full-on instrumental, a choice that I feel works well for them. Their bio on our site says, "Juggernaut plays a cinematic and melodic post-metal and sometimes experimental brand of progressive rock that emphasizes heavy riffing with hints of dark jazz with compositions based off of building tension, suspense and release." That's a good one-line summation that I'll use as a starting point.

First off, everything about the presentation of this album is cool and considered. Unlike the somewhat haphazard feel of the previous stuff, Neuroteque really pulls their vision together into a focused, futuristic-sounding, "thinking man's" post-metal. All of those small details have been given attention, from the cover art and color palette to the cool one-word song titles. Who cares about that stuff? you might be thinking. When you hear the music, I think you'll agree it adds to the enjoyment. Their sound is truly expertly crafted. On paper, a band trying to meld together metal, progressive, fusion, psych/space, post/math rock (and sitar!) into a full-length instrumental album could easily be a disaster if not done with discipline and vision. I think they nailed it. And it was refreshing to hear metal pulled in a futuristic, sci-fi direction without symphonic bombast, excessive density, or other "extreme" tendencies. It was also refreshing to sense a hopeful vibe at times instead of the too-oft dark and foreboding inherent to many metal bands.

The album flies by like one 42-minute suite with seven unique chapters, an exotic listening experience. Traditional metal here feels a barely recognizable presence, just enough heaviness used as a starting reference. From there I hear bits and pieces of Tool and O.R.k. (sans vocals), Thrak era Crimson, Durutti Column, space rock, post-rock, and math rock. But I hesitate to evoke those other bands because this is completely original. For a "metal" band, there is at times a very light touch to their playing: agile, spacey electronic, acoustic, and dreamy sections are offered. The playing creeps around a bit, down long hallways, spidery, trying to create tension before an injection of power and melody rewards you. Hand and non-electric instruments lie at the edges. All genre tags aside, at the end of the day, this is just really great instrumental rock music.

While jazz-fusion bands do it all the time, it's cool to hear a metal band with enough confidence to drop all vocals. I wish more bands would drop vocals, use wordless vocals, or just employ them more sparingly. This album proves you don't need vocals to be compelling. Last but not least, this album has great production and dynamics, pleasing on the ear. Awesome album.

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