intronaut was a bit of dark horse to me. i tried to get into them previously. since they were on lifeforce records with their first album "void" back in 2006 and i used to listen to all what the label released, i checked a few tunes (i think i downloaded an mp3 from the label site - jesus, like in the stone age). but back then i wasn't ready and four years ago when century media released "the direction of last things" i didn't understand them.
how come i got "valley of smoke" on vinyl now? well, i bought the latest integrity re-press of "to die for", which was released by the german d.i.y. label backbite records, directly from the label's shop. browsing through the shop i saw that backbite also re-released two intronaut albums. i was interested and when i checked "valley of smoke" on the tube it finally clicked with me. unfortunately all the colour copies were sold out.
in such cases discogs is the first address for used copies. backbite has also a discogs store, or better the physical record store which is run by the dude who also runs backbite has a discogs store. strangely there were copies available and via a make-an-offer option i was able to lower the price to an appropriate bargain. the album itself is fantastic. progressivity, simplicity and atmosphere are forged into an unstoppable beast. love it! 100 copies on brown vinyl. they turned out a bit dark. actually released in 2010 on century media. backbite records. 2018.
