Skip to main content

ALBUM REVIEW: "Clairvoyant" by The Contortionist

   The Contortionist are no longer the band they were when they started. From kids from Indianapolis writing "djent" (I hate that word) music from Indianapolis, they have grown and changed into something that has been distilled into Clairvoyant, and is nothing short of spectacular. Like, holy shit. 2014's Language saw them transition into something really worth taking notice of, and is a challenging piece of work regardless of what you think of that side of "heavy" music (although I would in no way categorise Language as simply a heavy record, it is so much more than that.), and with Clairvoyant the band have almost entirely shed their metal roots in favour of the prog rock sound they had shades of on Language. It really sounds like a band coming into their own; before this change they sounded like most of the other "djent" bands chugging away at their 7 string guitars with some twiddly stuff thrown in, now they are a group of musicians composing incredibly immersive, challenging pieces of music and performing them with full command of their instruments, allowing each element to have it's time to shine and for space to exist in between the big ideas. Where Language was a bit "look at me I'm a music major" at times, Clairvoyant has none of that beard twisting, or if it does you are too deeply immersed in the music that you really don't care. This really is an album best experienced as a whole; I intentionally left the singles alone, and I'm glad I did because the 50-odd minutes of the album was like an episode of Game of Thrones. I was keenly awaiting what was coming next, while being in shock most of the time at just how cinematic and enveloping the sound I was hearing was. When an album like this comes along I am always wary of dissecting it too much for fear of ruining the magic, so I'll leave it at that - don't just take my word for it, go and listen to Clairvoyant now.

   Favourite Songs: Reimagined, Clairvoyant, Absolve and Monochrome (Pensive)

    Least Favourite Song: sure.

   Rating: A+

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1 YEAR LATER: "22, A Million" by Bon Iver

   Bon Iver's third studio album turns 1 in about a week (where did that year go?), so I thought it would be interesting to talk a bit about how my impressions of the album have changed - or how they haven't - over the last 12 months. When this album was released I was more excited than I think I ever have been to hear a new album. For Emma, Forever Ago is one of my all time favourites, and I love his self-titled second album too, so I had huge expectations for this album, but was also wary that expectations might ruin my experience of the music. This was particularly the case for 22, A Million , because it is unlike anything else Justin Vernon has released. There have been hints at this more processed, electronic direction previously, like the song "Woods" on the Blood Bank EP and occasional flourishes on Bon Iver , but 22, A Million is a drastic departure from the Bon Iver sound we had grown accustomed to at this point in time. Or at least, that's what I thought...
Post a Comment
Read more

ALBUM REVIEW: "Mesmer" by Northlane

   On Friday Northlane released their fourth studio album Mesmer without any warning, and it's pretty awesome. Fans that were keeping up had been getting hints for a while, with cryptic announcements and a seriously cool chatbot, but Mesmer was a complete surprise for everyone, and one that has brought with it a more cohesive and complete sound for the band.    2015's  Node was a great way to open up the second chapter in the band's trajectory and featured a fantastic performance from new singer Marcus Bridge, but definitely felt like a transition album for a band that had forged such a signature sound and was in the middle of great change. Mesmer immediately feels a lot more comfortable than Node  for a bunch of reasons, which is to be expected now the band has been touring with Bridge almost non-stop for more than two years. While the production on Node didn't quite fit the sound they were going for and seemed a little flat across the board, David Bend...
Post a Comment
Read more