Intronaut -- Prehistoricisms

8/10

I loved dinosaurs when I was a kid. The quick-to-label system of today would most likely have stamped "ASPERGER'S" on my file, after listening to my five-year old self identify every single species in any dino-dictionary presented to me. In the early 80's, quality dinosaur film-entertainment was pretty scarce. My options were mostly limited to the prehistoric exploitation films of the late 60's and 70's, featuring big claymation dinosaurs, bigger boobs,  giant bugs,exploding volcanoes, and often weird plots involving caveman wars, aliens, evil supernatural monsters, and all sorts of the kinds of crazy madness that makes one's mother say, "Turn that off!"
Despite their often awfulness, I have a soft-spot for those movies, and they've subconsciously shaped my mental image of "prehistory." Intronaut's Prehistoricisms is no where near awful, but it could easily soundtrack the magnificent cinema I've described above.  It's metal music, but not really in any conventional sense. The vocals are nice caveman yells, and the guitars shred out a metal riff now and again, but mostly this is something different. The drums sound like a sophisticatedly-synchronized rock-slide. The bass-playing alternates between the sound of flowing lava and a lumbering sauropod, bordering on virtuoso.  The guitars are just as apt to conjure a muddy, mosquito-ridden swamp as a skull getting crushed. The whole thing is as relaxed as a T-Rex, resting on a sunny riverbank after a three triceratops meal.

Speaking of stuff I like that this reminds me of, this album really reminds me of the 65 Million B.C. music from the Super Nintendo classic, Chrono Trigger. Awesome.

Best. Game. Ever.
Finally, when listening to the final track, does anyone else envision the titular lizard driving around in his cool lizard car to all the activities listed, slicking back his lizard hair and checking out his reflection in the mirror? Just me? Procomsognathus!

2008 Century Media
1. Primordial Soup 1:26
2. The Literal Black Cloud 5:29
3. Cavernous Den of Shame 4:13
4. Prehistoricisms 6:29
5. Any Port 7:31
6. Sundial 7:33
7. Australopithecus 4:32
8. The Reptilian Brain (Sleep, Eat, Shit, Fight, Fuck) 16:20