Intervals
In Time


4.0
excellent

Review

by Thanatopsis USER (2 Reviews)
October 25th, 2012 | 27 replies


Release Date: 2012 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Intervals' second offering is a tasty, easy-to-swallow morsel that could whet the appetite of those seeking more great instrumental metal.

As a person who generally is impressed by but does not often remain interested by instrumental metal, this release really surprised me. I have heard both Animals as Leaders’ albums; I have given Cloudkicker his due; I first got into Periphery thanks to Bulb’s Soundclick page; and I have even delved just a tiny bit deeper (and older) to listen to Gordian Knot, Fates Warning, Behold… The Arctopus, and Blotted Science. For some reason, I generally need lyrics to relate to the music, and that human relation allows me to really get into and attached; without vocals that process is much harder. Thankfully (and shockingly to me), this was not the case with Intervals’ second EP, “In Time”.

Intervals are composed of guitarist (and lead composer) Aaron Marshall, second guitarist Lukas Guyader, bassist Matt de Luca, and drummer Anup Sastry. Without vocals to get in the way, all four of these members get a chance to shine somewhere on the EP (and really they all shine almost all the time anyway).

As one would expect with metal, the guitars are the focus much of the time. Marshall and Guyader flow seamlessly between typical rhythm guitar backing a lead to twin harmonies throughout the record. The leads are scorching, shredding their way up and down the fretboard with reckless, yet calculated abandon. At no point does the shredding sound like excessive or seem that it is at the expense of accomplished songwriting. With guitars at the focus, it is important to note the guitar tone taken throughout, as tone is what gives the guitar its “soul”. Marshall and Guyader’s tones range from the typical, Meshuggah-inspired “djent” tone (see introductory track, and heaviest selection, “Alchemy”), a spacey tone used for soaring leads and atmospherics (see the “chorus” of “Mata Hari”), 80’s hair-metal-esque shredding tones (“Momento” is an excellent example of this), and, the cherry on top, a great clean jazz-inspired tone (both in the superlative “Tapestry” and album gem “Epiphany”). All of these are used tastefully and really do a great job of imparting emotion to what could have been an extremely mechanical release. Electronic elements are also present (although sparsely), which back up the guitars and lend further credence to the spacey atmosphere of much of the material. Of course, while the guitars are unquestionably at center stage, they do not hog the spotlight completely.

Being that Intervals are clearly influenced by the so-called “djent” movement, around and during the melodic shredding there are also hard-hitting polyrhythms and a beefy rhythmic backbone; this is where Matt de Luca and Anup Sastry come in. As previously mentioned, the absence of a vocalist really allows all instruments to be heard; this is especially true for de Luca’s bass. It is no secret that bass is generally lost in the chaos that is modern metal production, but that is positively not the case here. De Luca is nearly omnipresent, always audible, always keeping the band together rhythmically, providing the root (or harmonies) of whatever the guitars happen to be doing, and even taking a lead part of his own during the best segment of the EP, the beginning of closer “Epiphany”.
Anup Sastry’s drums are competent and reined in throughout the album, rather than the flashiness frequently seen in metal that can overwhelm if used improperly. Sastry is very clearly an accomplished drummer (he does play live in guitar wizard Jeff Loomis’ shredtastic solo project), and he puts plenty of varied metal techniques throughout this EP. Most times he is simply (an ill-fitting descriptor if there ever was one) keeping a steady beat and following the guitars with rapid double kick drumming, but he also employs a quick punk beat in the pre-chorus to “Mata Hari”, always impressive ghost notes throughout (but most notably in the intro to “Tapestry”), and jazz-inspired genius in the shining beacon of brilliance that is the already-praised “Epiphany”. Sastry, like the rest of the group, does a great job of not letting his technical proficiency not get in the way of elegant songwriting.

It is safe to say that all four of these men are extremely proficient at their instruments and blend perfectly to create an impressive second offering. Really the only flaws are the EP’s length (hardly a gripe given the format, but at only 22 minutes this is over way too quickly), and, given that instrumental metal is not generally up my personal alley, vocals could certainly fit in somewhere. The lack of them takes away the identifiability and personability that vocals and lyrics impart to music. The complexity of the album may also be off-putting to some, but as a result it begs for repeated listens; the listener is sure to find something new to appreciate each and every spin, not unlike one may do with a good book. The journeys this album can take you on are really quite enjoyable; perhaps they can be a gateway to enjoying the “deep cuts” of instrumental metal.


user ratings (287)
4
excellent
other reviews of this album
1 of
  • zyglrob (4)
    A powerful, memorable and moving twenty or so minutes of fiery riffery interdispersed with...

    crazybrennen (4)
    Intervals is a very talented instrumental progressive metal band (you could call them "dje...

    jinkypoodle (3)
    A follow up to their successful debut EP by progressive instrumental metal band Intervals....

    MelosMindStream (4.5)
    Although plagued by a few technical issues and an oversaturated scene, Intervals manage to...

  • jmaas (4)
    In Time features the familiar sounds of catchy riffs and melodic undertones that can draw ...

    JordanKTM (4)
    Sometimes you find yourself simply wanting to jam out to some metal that doesn’t have vo...



Comments:Add a Comment 
Shevanel92
November 2nd 2012


80 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Few minor errors in here, words that shouldn't be in a sentence etc. Good review though. Pretty much sums up the sound of the album perfectly. The "chorus" lead in Epiphany is just so beautiful.

Ssssssss
November 2nd 2012


683 Comments


Lol I'm surprised this got so many reviews.

KingHarkinian
November 3rd 2012


436 Comments


18 votes and like 7 reviews. Can't handle this. I have to leave.

stabbler
November 3rd 2012


1511 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

cool...saw these dudes play live last week. fun times

Thanatopsis
November 7th 2012


90 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Thanks, Shevanel; could you please point out the errors so I can fix them?



The reason there are so many reviews is because The Human Abstract's drummer, Brett Powell, manages these guys. He asked fans of THA to review the album on here to give it some publicity. I reviewed it because I had already done so for my school newspaper.

ianjulian
November 23rd 2012


646 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

the so-called “djent”

RenegaDrifter
November 28th 2012


274 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

It really is SOOOOOOOOO SHORT :'(

Despite I do find it even more enjoyable than their first album.

HectorRios
November 30th 2012


44 Comments


I really didn't expect this album to have so many reviews. Good review though. I'll give this album a listen to tomorrow if i get the chance; i've already heard their first quite a while ago. Actually to be honest, The Space Between was my first metal album. Prior to it, I listened to punk and prog rock.

J0ckstrapsFTW
January 22nd 2013


3797 Comments


Wow this is really good

Drummerboy123
January 22nd 2013


3122 Comments


Dat intro riff in Tapestry :P

Love it!

J0ckstrapsFTW
January 29th 2013


3797 Comments


This absolutely blew me away I was not expecting this

J0ckstrapsFTW
February 26th 2013


3797 Comments


Dat Mata Hari play through on youtube is pretty dope too

J0ckstrapsFTW
February 26th 2013


3797 Comments


I have a feeling this band is going to become extremely popular if they keep up at this pace

J0ckstrapsFTW
February 26th 2013


3797 Comments


Ya and they have started touring with animals as leaders as well and that's a big help

Drummerboy123
April 25th 2013


3122 Comments


Animals as Leaders, Scale the Summit and Intervals touring together one day would be sick as fooooookk!

ianjulian
May 3rd 2013


646 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

so-called “djent”

climactic
June 16th 2013


22765 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

this is fucking good

climactic
June 17th 2013


22765 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

really great, jazzy guitar solos in every song and good groovez. definitely digging

LennyUnique
July 27th 2013


18 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

For some reason, this little album never bores me. It's the only music I listened to for a whole week

during the examinations. Thereafter, I just liked it even more.

climactic
July 27th 2013


22765 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

rulez agreed might bump



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