Review: Juggernaut – Neuroteque

Style: post-metal, progressive metal (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Tool, The Mars Volta, Poly-Math
Review by: Josh
Country: Italy
Release date: 11 October 2019

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the October 2019 issue of The Progressive Subway.]

Some find instrumental music boring due to the lack of vocals. “It’s just not as interesting,” they say. In prog instrumentals especially, this tends to be an issue. Ever since Animals as Leaders came onto the scene, it seems like half the instrumental prog bands on the planet have aped their style. As such, it’s incredibly refreshing to see a band absolutely nail instrumental prog in a style wholly their own. Enter Juggernaut.

Listening to Neuroteque, one gets the feeling that anything can happen at any time. All throughout, Juggernaut demonstrate their ability to weave through several disparate styles and make them all work coherently, being able to go from ethereally light to bone-crushingly heavy in an instant. Reading this, one may expect that the album would sound janky as a result, but Neuroteque is an incredibly fluid listen throughout, despite diving through genres as disparate as post-hardcore, jazz, and Middle Eastern music.

All of this works due to the incredible competence demonstrated by every member of the band. I’ll begin with the bassist. I’ve heard the phrase “the bass is fat” thrown around frequently in rock and metal circles, but that doesn’t even begin to cover how massive this dude’s tone is. The bass isn’t just fat, it’s obese. Coupled with the drummer’s absurd chops, Juggernaut’s rhythm section truly fits the band name. The guitarists understand this, and often step back, allowing the bassist and drummer to go as hard as they want while they support them. When they take center stage, though, they justify every second. The two of them nail everything from atmospheric intro sections, Refused-sounding palm-muted riffage, post-rock buildups, and absolutely massive metal riffs that blow even the most hardcore doom metal fans off their feet.

This isn’t an album to miss. Make sure to give Neuroteque a spin if this review has even remotely intrigued you.

Recommended tracks: Limina, Charade
You may also like: Sermon, Arctic Sea Survivors
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Subsound Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Juggernaut is:
– Andrea Carletti (guitars, sitar)
– Luigi Farina (guitars, synth)
– Roberto Cippitelli (bass, synth, vibraslap, glockenspiel)
– Matteo D’Amicis (drums, tambourine, table, sistrum)