Review: Ions – Counterintuitive

Style: Progressive Metal, Djent (mixed vocals, majority clean)
Recommended for fans of: Haken, VOLA, TesseracT
Review by: Doug
Country: Czechia
Release date: 10 November, 2023

Hey, yeah, that’s right, it’s time for me to get up on my soapbox: a band having obvious influences, or fitting into whatever genre happens to be the flavor of the decade, should never in itself be a knock against them. Granted, the occasions where an artist can produce something properly original and never-before-heard are far rarer and thus more exciting and acclaim-worthy, but it still requires tremendous work and talent to record an album so comparable to existing bodies of work and also still good.

Enter Ions, featuring excellent guitarist Jakub Tirco (also notable for his solo work). Inviting comparisons to VOLA of all things, plus additional healthy dashes of TesseracT and Haken, Counterintuitive even more specifically calls to mind fellow underground darling Ihlo, whose debut album this very blog unfairly dismissed as “Dan Tompkins Walmart brand equivalent” (sorry Jonah). Not content with following in well-worn footsteps despite their adjacency to some of progressive metal’s most prevalent tropes, Ions have made their own rules.

Instead of treading those same old paths, these Prague rockers have latched onto their influences only as a vessel through which to deliver their musical message more easily and clearly than they could while starting completely fresh. The interplay of guitar and synth throughout Counterintuitive draws comparison to Ihlo’s one and only release so far, and just as I consider Ihlo underrated and overly maligned as generic-sounding, so too have Ions done considerable work to distinguish themselves with their symphonic and often cinematic sound, making frequent but judicious use of synth elements for emphasis and subtle shifts in tone. Ions certainly present many of the same influences here as Ihlo did in their turn, but the unique compositional style of Counterintuitive bears little resemblance to the stereotypical image of assembly-line djent. Instead, the largest facet of their music is their masterful building of tension, deepening the musical intensity step by step, drawing the audience irrevocably deeper and deeper into the music like a tightening ratchet strap. You can really feel it from “True Friendship” – not many artists could create such an engrossing song about the emotional labor required to maintain positive relationships, but Ions can and did.

Even in quiet moments of development, the intricacy of backing parts – especially in the percussion, bass, and quavering synth – offers an appetizer course while the listener waits patiently for the deeper and stronger musical structures to develop and bubble to the top. The opening moments of “Faith” and “Birds of Reminiscence” demonstrate what I mean with their soft, slow buildups, also heralding just the slightest bit of post-rock influence. Achieving such intricacy without being loud or obnoxious, over-the-top or overly intense, requires a precision in composition that not many can manage. See also the contrast in presentation between the beginning and end of “Split Character”; despite the lyrics being the same each time, there’s a vast difference in how the two moments sound. Ions make their expertise known through juxtaposition of moods, eliciting a mix of emotional reactions from the listener by setting these seemingly opposing ideas directly against one another before continuing on to more harmonious constructions. First in “Out of Sight” and again in “Split Character,” the musicians create a persistent, hanging tension of bright and melodic against harsh and dissonant, further deebuilding the pressure by swapping quickly back and forth between those feelings throughout their self-conflicting phrases.

Lyrically, Counterintuitive covers an intriguing range of introspective topics with a high degree of emotional intelligence, such as the aforementioned “True Friendship” exploring the challenges inherent to keeping interpersonal relationships strong and functional, or the message seemingly addressed to victims of domestic abuse from the closing track “Run”: “You deserve something better / You are worth something better – run.” I wouldn’t call these the most inspiring lyrics in the scene, but they’re serviceable enough, and Shorty Lago’s vocals operate well as their own melodic instrument even without considering the words being sung. Elsewhere, Ions have done the seemingly impossible: getting me emotionally invested in their interlude tracks (“Constant Feelings” and “Plinth of Shame”). It turns out, when such interruptions feature actual emotional development despite their short runtime, I can be interested in hearing them again and again when I listen back through the album.

Innovation is great and all, but greatness does not require innovation. Taken on its own merits without unfairly weighing it against its forebears, Counterintuitive assuredly lands among the top tier of releases for this year based on its unique instrumental work alone. At times strong and in your face, at others softer and more introspective, Ions maintain consistent, impressive complexity with layered and interwoven rhythms all throughout, playing off their internal contrasts to keep presenting new and different sounds and ideas. Even if most of the components sound familiar, this creative arrangement offers a unique and electrifying experience and a worthy match for all those other bands you could compare it to.

Recommended tracks: True Friendship, Faith, Split Character, Birds of Reminiscence
You may also like: Jakub Tirco, Ihlo, TEMIC, Cønstantine
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
Label: Independent

Ions is:
– Shorty Lago (vocals)
– Jakub Tirco (guitars)
– Milan Zolota (guitars)
– Jiri Horak (bass, synths)
– Martin Pisko (drums)
With guests:
– Paolo Raineri (trumpet, “Birds of Reminiscence”)
– Nina Tarasovičová (vocals; “The Same as You,” “Out of Sight,” “Birds of Reminiscence,” and “Run”)
– Ivana Pinčáková (vocals, “Run”)