siLLy puPPy Being a dog lover i am more willing to give bands with DOG in their title more than a fair wag of the tail so the Austrian progressive metal outfit THEIR DOGS WERE ASTRONAUTS sounded like something i just HAD to check out! This band is actually a team of two brothers Denis Roth and Leonard Roth coming out of Salzburg, Austria and delivering an all instrumental progressive post metal type of djent that is heavy in both aggressive guitar riffing and by atmospheric embellishments. IN TOUCH is their debut release and as far i can tell a digital release only. All instrument playing, recording and mixing duties are shared by both brothers. Denis handles guitar, bass while Leonard also covers guitar duties. I presume the drums are programmed because no credits are given.

The album begins with a 2:10 “Overture” that starts out as a nice unaccompanied piano that eventually gets joined in by a djentrified grungy guitar riff. The album cedes way to the crunchy metal “Plenary Spheres” that delivers serious riffing chops and a sludge metal type of punctuated drumming pattern that only outlines the overall scaffolding of the track providing an intermittent beat. The music on the album continues accordingly and blossoms into the longest wending wild ride of djentrified guitar riffage that twists and turns and changes it up and alternates the aggressive riffage with lush acoustic passages and atmospheric intermissions.

The music focuses on melodic developments that include all the full metal fury, guitar licks, bass lines and progressive percussion patterns. The band is most often compared to similar acts such as Animals As Leaders and there is a certain amount of merit to those comparisons however THEIR DOGS WERE ASTRONAUTS doesn’t delve into the world of jazz-fusion and stays in the realms of progressive metal with clean guitar licks playing around crunchy metal riffage and choppy proggy time signatures of the bass. The introductory piano runs do occasionally find their way into the mix of the album as well usually being overthrown by the crunchy distorted guitar riffs.

For the entirety of the album the melodic developments are very pleasing. There is an air of neoclassical underpinning to the whole thing which is established by the piano and the occasional shredding solos but for the most part this is obfuscated by the harder unrelenting riffage and more angular types of rhythms. I have to say that this is a pretty decent debut that will surely please any fans of bands like Animals As Leaders or Intervals. Expect a melodic soaked djentfest and you will surely love this. The album is quite pleasant in how it alternates both tempo and decibelage. All in all a decent highly enjoyable instrumental debut album despite it slightly dipping over the hour mark.