The Contortionist Megathread

[Sikthness]

I wouldnt say I dislike it after a number of listens. Like someone said above, its kinda like background music for surfing the web. There are some parts I really like, but overall I'm just not feelin it much. Maybe sometime down the road I'll be in the right mood for it and I'll feel differently but for now there are just too many other good releases to be listening to.

 

[ByDesign]

DEPENDING ON PLASMA TREATMENTS

 

[IAMLORDVADER]

Absolutely love it, not what I thought they were going to do but I think its fantastic

 

[samu]

After being quite disappointed with the new Periphery album, Intrinsic sounds beyond amazing.

 

[leandroab]

I don't like the production. The songs are really cool. I like the new direction.

EDIT: "The songs are really cool" is an understatement. This album rules!! I like the spacey/ambient feel. I dig the vocals.

 

[jsl2h90]

I know i'm pretty late to this, but intrinsic is the first album i've heard since weightless that really impressed me. I'm not much for deathcore so i much prefer the progression they've made since the exoplanet album. What i love so much about intrinsic is that its layered with such a variation of material that is still completely cohesive and... a lot of it isn't even that heavy which lends itself very well to the lyrical concepts. But when it is heavy it totally rips for like 20-30 seconds leaving you to want more. It's just like listening to Focus for the first time for me, you hit that crazy heavy section after the bass solo during Textures that only lasts for 15 seconds.... and you just want to hear it over and over. What i'm getting at is they know how not to run a good thing into the ground. The guitar tone and mix as a whole is stellar. I think these guys might just be the heir to the Cynic throne (which is saying a lot in my book) not because they sound like cynic clones but the music runs that same gamut for me from the highest peak to the lowest valley of what inventive and original metal is supposed to sound like. Can't wait to see how they hold up live next month at cali metalfest with my other favorite band, AAL.

 

[gunch]

I know i'm pretty late to this, but intrinsic is the first album i've heard since weightless that really impressed me. I'm not much for deathcore so i much prefer the progression they've made since the exoplanet album. What i love so much about intrinsic is that its layered with such a variation of material that is still completely cohesive and... a lot of it isn't even that heavy which lends itself very well to the lyrical concepts. But when it is heavy it totally rips for like 20-30 seconds leaving you to want more. It's just like listening to Focus for the first time for me, you hit that crazy heavy section after the bass solo during Textures that only lasts for 15 seconds.... and you just want to hear it over and over. What i'm getting at is they know how not to run a good thing into the ground. The guitar tone and mix as a whole is stellar. I think these guys might just be the heir to the Cynic throne (which is saying a lot in my book) not because they sound like cynic clones but the music runs that same gamut for me from the highest peak to the lowest valley of what inventive and original metal is supposed to sound like. Can't wait to see how they hold up live next month at cali metalfest with my other favorite band, AAL.

Well put

 

[spawnofthesith]

...only lasts for 15 seconds.... and you just want to hear it over and over. What i'm getting at is they know how not to run a good thing into the ground.

Is that a slight against stoner metal?

 

[Somnium]

At first I didn't like Intrinsic as much as Exoplanet, and I'd still probably have to say that Exoplanet I-III collectively form my favorite track of theirs, but this album has really grown on me and it has been in my car's CD player for a looooong time now. I think a lot of the songs are pretty well balanced for the most part, but I find myself constantly rewinding in a few songs just to hear one of those massive grooves again because it doesn't last very long. The lyrics are definitely top notch again though, probably my favorite lyrics (and band) since Meshuggah.

 

[IbanezFred]

WILLING TO PAY 20-35$ for a Legitimate copy of Apparition

 

[goherpsNderp]

is it bad that i already want a new Contortionist album?

this stuff is like crack to me. i need more. and yesterday.

 

[Somnium]

I hear ya man, I think The Contortionist just might dethrone Meshuggah as my all-time favorite band. The energy, the atmosphere, it's just unrivaled imo. I dig that I can jam Exoplanet and walk away from it feeling like I just read a story or watched a movie or something. Also, seeing them live (3 times now), especially the first time, was amazing. I wouldn't miss one of their shows for the birth of my children or my significant other's last moments.

 

[jsl2h90]

is it bad that i already want a new Contortionist album?

this stuff is like crack to me. i need more. and yesterday.

Right? I can't wait to see how they progress after this.

Anybody know what amps they use or more specifically how to put my axe fx 2 into intrinsic mode? I'm under the impression that they use rectos, really not sure though.

 

[TIBrent]

Live, when I saw them, the guitarist who I was in front of had a mesa dual rectum-fryer, mesa cab, TC Electronic G Major 2, a furman, a couple of what appeared to be OD pedals in his rack I think a maxon & a tube screamer, a rocktron patch mate, an ISP recimator pro-rack G, what looked like possibly a boss reverb pedal in the rack & on the floor it was a rocktron all-access unit & an expression pedal that he looked to be using for volume swells.
The other guitarist had a much more simple rig according to my bud, he said carvin v3, mesa cabs, boss delay, boss reverb, boss chorus all fx-looped, then a tubescreamer, boss tuner & ernie ball volume pedal, as well as an amp channel switcher on the floor.
They both rocked Ibanez geetars, 7 & 6 models, looking to be loaded with Dimarzio pickups.
Also, from what I could tell from the guitarist Cameron's G Major, there were a lot of patches on the gmajor 2 which he was using the cho/fla, delay & reverb buttons.
Hope that helps a little
-Brent

 

[goherpsNderp]

do you have the update on your axefx2 that lets you do the tone-matching thing?

not sure if there are enough parts in their songs that have isolated guitar by itself to run the match procedure on though.

 

[jsl2h90]

yeah i've got tone match, i've had that same problem you mention though. No real isolated guitar parts except maybe on exoplanet but i'm not so much into that tone. i'm gonna be chasing the intrinsic rhythm tone for a while.

 

[IbanezFred]

I saw robby baca post on his facebook during the making of intrinsic. He stated that they used the kemper profiler amplifer and also reamped them. I'm so curious about what amps they used also. It sounds so great!

 

[IbanezFred]

Hey guys, i did like this little tribute thing, its very watered down playing but i really like The Contortionist alot! they made me start writing haha
check it out if you'd like:

 

[jsl2h90]

^Badass man, what pickups are those?

 

[JosephAOI]

I'm super late to the party but here's my thoughts on Intrinsic:

This is firstly, a very weird album for me. Not musically, like I can't groove with what's happening or understand it or anything. It's more that I love it but don't really care for it, and I kind of like it but also kind of dislike it all at the same time. Let me try to explain: If I listen through the entire album, I can sing along to pretty much the entire thing and love almost every minute of it. But once it's over, I barely take anything away from it. There are only two parts of the entire album that I remember and love after the album is off (The groovy riff in Feedback Loop and the Offbeat drum pattern and all in Geocentric Confusion). Maybe you guys could help me figure out what's wrong with me or this album that makes me feel so conflicted about it?

As far as an analyses goes, here are my thoughts:

- John's growls lack the same punch they had on Exoplanet in favor of a more yelling style growl. I loved his vocals on Exoplanet, so this was dissapointing.

- There aren't as many stand alone melodic riff/solo type parts on the album (Think the first riff in Contact, 2nd half of Oscillator) or at least not as many really memorable ones.

- I didn't realize it before this album, but I miss all the sludgy breakdowns and heavy grooves. That was a huge part to their sound on Exoplanet and it's a little saddening that this album is way more proggy and less heavy.