Review: Erronaut ‘The Space Inbetween’
When you start to delve deeper into The Space Inbetween, the official debut album of Hertfordshire based foursome Erronaut, you realise that they have some hellishly big riffs combined with lots of silky-smooth grooves that are going to get people out of their seats and nodding in appreciation.
Formed back in 2015 originally as Black Atlas, the quartet draws inspiration from huge names such as Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, as well as the grunge sounds of Soundgarden and the torchbearers of stoner rock such as Lowrider and Fu Manchu, to create something that evolves at every turn.
After the 5.68o N 98.54o E intro, the drums at the start of Way Down Below from Sam Gates are a driving force, and when combined with the twin guitars of Mikey Ward and Peter Hunt, you can sense that they are onto something with their volatile cosmic sludge. They opt for something different next with the down-turned distorted noise of Lost Cause, where you can really hear the grunge influence ploughing through with the bass of Simon Wilson coming to the fore.
As a band they ‘made a concerted effort to push and explore ourselves as artists and collaborators’ says vocalist Ward, and they’ve employed heavy atmospheric rock to power lyrical subjects that focus on love, loss and existential introspection. Per Contra is a slow yet powerful song, heavy in its sound but offers something different, and shows that they are prepared to take risks.
immersive sonic landscape that transports the listener to distant realms…
Erronaut have really pushed themselves and tried to replicate their electrifying stage energy onto record and with certain songs they’ve achieved this. 1202 is another slower, yet heavier number, with a bit of a manic ending, but gives off that immersive sonic landscape that transports the listener to distant realms, and Underneath The Sun has a hook laden riff that you won’t get out of your head for a while, which is a positive, as the song drifts along quite nicely.
Dark Horizon starts by taking you off to a different place, sounding like a crackly radio being tuned in before exploding into life with a heavy sound. However, I wished they’d pushed that heaviness a bit further and developed that side of the song as it’s a bruising riff which could do with more speed. I’m only saying this as it’s my favourite cut on the album as it’s atmospheric and has more of a post-metal sound as you progress through its near seven-minute runtime.
The album finishes with Beyond Sleep Pt 1 The Insomnia and Beyond Sleep Pt 2 The Subconscious Decompression which takes the listener off once more on an atmospheric journey with some exquisite bass lines coming through powerfully. It demonstrates the talents within the band as both are great songs that will leave you tapping your feet along in approval.
Label: London Doom Collective
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
