The Contortionist Megathread

[Opion]

Welp, reading through the last few pages of this thread, it just goes to show that people's music tastes are just gonna be drastically different from yours sometimes, and it's of no use to try to make sense as to why. Personally, I love this whole album - *I* can't see why anyone would dislike the vocals. Maybe it's the whole "clean vocals a metal record does not make" mentality that a lot of metal-heads end up endorsing, which I can understand - if Cannibal Corpse starting doing clean vocals then I would be done with them But Mike is doing some really great subtle vocal styles in this - he's a very dynamic singer. I think that every line/melody/scream is put in the right place, and any more would've impaired the composition as a whole.

I see the comparison to Cynic - hell, they both used an Alan Watts sample in their last record. But Cynic is Cynic and TC is TC, to me. They may be inspired by them, but that's all it is IMO - inspiration, not trying to copy them. Language is a really cool, spacey journey of an album that doesn't try to be anything bigger than it is. It's a well rounded record, it gets heavy & chaotic, but then gets emotional (Primordial Sound & Thrive). It sounds like the soundtrack to a really dramatic science fiction film. Maybe some of you should try to view it from that perspective, 'cause thats what I'm thinking of when I listen to it, haha.

 

[MerlinTKD]

Saw The Contortionist last night (opening for Periphery) and I thought those songs (Language, Primordial Sound) translated really well, live. I really dug Mike Lessard's style, both vocally and his performance, he's got a great voice and a really unique presence onstage (in a good way!).

No question, seeing them live has sold me on buying Language tonight! Of course, Saturday night I saw Bonobo, so maybe I'm biased about metal

 

[lava]

It's funny to me to see people implying that TC is ripping off Cynic and Tool. I have tried for years to get into those bands, including seeing them live, but never got beyond "meh". Conversely, I think Language is one of the best albums I've heard in years. So to my ears it sounds like TC is actually pulling off a style that other bands have been unsuccessfully attempting for a long time. Just another datapoint in a sea of opinions, though.

 

[Augmatted]

It's funny to me to see people implying that TC is ripping off Cynic and Tool. I have tried for years to get into those bands, including seeing them live, but never got beyond "meh". Conversely, I think Language is one of the best albums I've heard in years. So to my ears it sounds like TC is actually pulling off a style that other bands have been unsuccessfully attempting for a long time. Just another datapoint in a sea of opinions, though.

I agree with you completely. I never can get into cynic because of the annoying vocals and tool has always sounded generic to me.

 

[jjfiegel]

You can call Tool a lot of things, but generic doesn't seem like one.

 

[gunslingerjh]

Download the Intuition tab file here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29246731/The Contortionist - Intuition.gpx

Contains all instruments except drums & synths!
I'm sure there are more skilled people than me to add the drums in there on sevenstring!

Some timings are a little off, feel free to improve the tab!

 

[nikolazjalic]

Download the Intuition tab file here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29246731/The Contortionist - Intuition.gpx

Contains all instruments except drums & synths!
I'm sure there are more skilled people than me to add the drums in there on sevenstring!

Some timings are a little off, feel free to improve the tab!

Sounds awesome, can we get a gp5?

 

[7soundz]

how about a pdf of the tabs?

 

[JustMac]

Anyone know what delay they use? If not, is analogue or digital a better choice for their vibe on Intuition and Ebb & Flow?

Ps first 2 mins of Ebb & Flow are perfect, why don't they ever return to that sweet fusion-ey lead theme about 1:45 in? A few songs drift away too much into the ambient stuff. Sweet album though!

 

[TIBrent]

Anyone know what delay they use? If not, is analogue or digital a better choice for their vibe on Intuition and Ebb & Flow?

Cameron uses the delays from his TC G Major 2 unit & Robby uses a TC G Major (the original one) & at times a boss delay &/or a maxon delay.

 

[MAJ Meadows SF]

Saw The Contortionist last night (opening for Periphery) and I thought those songs (Language, Primordial Sound) translated really well, live. I really dug Mike Lessard's style, both vocally and his performance, he's got a great voice and a really unique presence onstage (in a good way!).

No question, seeing them live has sold me on buying Language tonight! Of course, Saturday night I saw Bonobo, so maybe I'm biased about metal

Hey I was there too! That was a really good live set, and a good show overall. I picked up Language at their booth and listened to it driving back to Raleigh. Lessard was really good live, and cool to talk to after the show.

 

[bulb]

What's mature about this album? What's not mature about Exoplanet?

Arrangements and flow in the structure of the songs. Songwriting in terms of logical builds, climaxes, and release are much more on point and consistent this time around despite the fact that the songs do not have traditional arrangements.

 

[InfestedRabite]

pretty cool album

not a huge fan of some of the lyrics but the vocal lines are good regardless

i wasn't really into any of their older material, though i gave Intrinsic another try after listening to this and enjoyed it a bit more

 

[WildBroskiAppears]

When I saw them open for BTBAM on the Parallax II N.A. tour, I remember being really surprised by Lessard's style too. He would spend long periods crouched down looking at the floor, swaying slightly. It's like he enters a trance almost.

 

[CyborgSlunk]

My List:

1. Intrinsic
2. Exoplanet
3. Language

I can´t imagine how I´ll ever get sick of Intrinsic, this album just gets me zoning, floating in space. Exoplanet is a modern progressive metalcore classic. Language is great, but i was expecting more after hearing Language I. That song was tightly composed, had a great buildup and a really unique sound. The parable is also an amazing song on here, those two songs share coherent songwriting and a concept that is executed well throughout the whole song. The other tracks seem to wander too much into progressive riffs a la BTBAM (really similar heavy parts sometimes) and atmospheric fusion chords. I loved the latter on Intrinsic, here not as much.

Basically, there´s much I appreciated about Contortionist that isn´t on here or isnt done as great anymore. Though for someone else it might be perfect. It´s a really good album, but it´s also a kinda different band/sound.

 

[JosephAOI]

Can we please talk about the vocal reprise from Language I in Ebb And Flow?

The "Drift with the ebb and flow". SOOOOOOOOOOO good.

 

[nikolazjalic]

Agreed, so many people have been complaining about the lyrics being repeated but I feel like it really ties everything together and the main vocabulary of the album (intuition, ebb and flow, integration, etc.) is expanded on every time it's brought back until it explodes into something amazing, like you mentioned the outro of ebb & flow. GENIUS

 

[Nykur_Myrkvi]

I agree with the last two posts.

Musical and lyrical references within albums make me happy.

 

[Opion]

Lyrical reprisals are so much fun! That's what keeps me coming back to this record, every song is just so intertwined with each other, and it makes the record such a cohesive work rather than just a collection of songs that kinda express the whole - it's a journey to me, and I enjoy every song for what it is.

I may sound like a huge fanboy of the Contortionist, but I'm really not - I got into them from Instrinsic, I was never a big fan of Exoplanet because metal core is not my favorite genre. But this album just has me nodding my head, making me smile, and surprising me at every turn. Like Misha noted, the structure of the songs is so smart and clever, the builds and releases are unique, all the while not playing up any sort of cliche' that most bands end up resorting to.

 

[TIBrent]

Just got back from seeing these guys play a third time...wow! They played amazingly. Although the singer does act a bit weird as if on a mushroom trip while on stage, they absolutely slayed. Amazing sound, good set list...TIGHT TIGHT! On the other hand...Intervals (who we were looking forward to seeing as well), maybe the worst live event ever. 12k range high end, ZERO low end on stage, instant headaches. Plus, more backing tracks then anyone probably has idea of...bass, drum loops, backing vocals, some main vocals, & A TON of guitars. Like, I gave slack to Josh Travis about this in the past (though he completely rectified this last time I saw them), but what Intervals did was INSANE. Before the set they were doing play back on the pro-tools sessions to front of house & tried to get the sound guy to cut sound before the song began but failed to stop it & what we heard when the song cut in...was the fricken song, loud guitars, bass, drum loops. WAY louder than their guitars, WAY WAY louder. So the three of us left the show stoked even more on the contortionist but unfortunately all of us have lost fan status for Intervals. We made it through 1 1/3 songs from their set & then headed outside for the rest. Instant headache from all the high end, someone please dial in their axe-fxs (no other band had this issue). I am not trying to trash these guys, amazing players & decent tunes...but man that was one of the worst live experiences I have had ever.