Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

surprised that more people are giving this +4 ratings even though people scorned TesseracT the last time yet it's practically the same album.

Tesseract is almost exclusively groove based. The Contortionist makes music more in the vein of lush soundscapes. That's honestly what sets them apart. I have found new tesseract much more boring than this.

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Even if some aesthetics and rhythms are similar between the two bands, they make pretty different sounding music. Tons of modern metal especially prog make use of lush soundscapes.

I also found this better than the new TesseracT

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

People still comparing this to new Tesseract? They sound nothing alike.



I did fall hard out of love with Polaris though, save a few tracks. This one will last a lot longer.

Album Rating: 3.5

definitely not as good as language, but it's still a solid listen

Album Rating: 3.0

3.9 average? How could anyone think this is in any way on the level of Language?

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

sounds nothing like tesseract really. language is better but these are some good tunes

Album Rating: 3.0

Or the most stripped away boring tunes made by the band to date. Even Intrinsic has more flare to it and that album was the definition of an identity crisis

Album Rating: 4.5

I find this album so fucking enchanting. The epic opening chords of Monochrome (Passive), the fast paced instrumentation on Godspeed with Mike's "it just might" line delivery gives me chills..His singing is monotone but it's definitely a vibe thing done on purpose. The more straight-forward lyrics make it much more relatable and less pretentious than their last offerings, as much as I love them they come across as "iam14andsodeep" at times. Reimagined is their most catchy song by far and I've grown a personal attachment to the lyrics over the past couple months. The title track's bridge is right up there with Geocentric Confusion in terms of beautiful transitions. The Deftones-y vocal phrasing on The Centre with it's fucking gorgeous chorus envelops me. Absolve has the grooviest drum patterns I've heard this year. I could listen to that one riff from Relapse on repeat all day and not get tired of it, Return to Earth is lush incarnate in music form and then the closer is probably their most well wrote song to date, it ties up all the lyrical and musical reprises perfectly with a crescendo that rivals Flourish.

And then the drumming...oh ma gawd, Joey Baca writes some fun as fuck parts that I'd never think of. Overall I bloody adore this album, I think it's one of those moments where my state of being right now and the music just align perfectly. The production quality is astounding as well, which just adds to the encapsulating aspect of it.

Album Rating: 3.5

i kinda like this for some reason. I don't really think they were going for a super chill, melodic straightforward pop/prog thingy but that's kinda what it sounds like to me



although Ive kinda been keeping this on as background music so I might be assessing it incorrectly

Album Rating: 3.5

also i don't see too much in common with tesseract, there's so little groove to this, it's so constantly melodic and smooth

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Ditto all the way Drummerboy.



I can see people's criticisms with this, but I think a lot of it has to do with your state of mind when listening, and with what you expect to get out of the record.



This, like Language, hit me at the perfect time, and every single element is vibing with me beautifully.

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

after mulitple listens this does not top Language for me. like a solid 3.75. still enjoyable. Intuition, Primordial Sound and The Parable were some very outstanding tracks and this album sorta lacks any tracks like that. What I actually like about Language is the balance between the harsh and clean sections of the vocals. This has none of that. It's mostly all cleans and melodies, if not, ALL cleans and melodies. Those things are great in and of themselves, but I thought this band was sort of doing their own thing and now they kind of sound like they're trying to emulate what APC does.

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I thought Language could've done without the death metal elements (it'd be 4.5 rated for me if that were the case), tho they were certainly better integrated than in Intrinsic.

Album Rating: 3.5

oh i know what this reminds me of, it's kinda like a lot less dense or interesting as well as slower version of Disperse's Foreword

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

whaaaaat? no no no way... disperse was dull IMO

This reminded me of the Disperse album too. This album is more emotionally "deep" but the Disperse album has more substance imo.

Album Rating: 5.0

The thing that gets me every time on this record is that little ting just as godspeed starts and it all gets a bit more nuts compared to the opener.



This album has just infected my mind more than any other album has this year so far (including my other 2 5's, Sci-Fi and Black Mile To the Surface), and it's comfortably my AOTY so far. I totally get why people might be let down by this, but for me those reasons are strengths of the album. It's one of the most emotionally honest pieces of work I've listened to in a long time.

I can see why this is so divisive. There's not much in the way of flashy riffs or forward technicality, so it's not quite as immediate, but some of the soundscapes and atmospheres the band is crafting here are great, and there are a lot of subtle nuances that take repeated listens (and decent gear) to really hear and sink in. I've liked it more every time I've listened to it. Definitely a grower. Sounding like it belongs in the 3.5-4.0 range at the moment.

Album Rating: 3.5

the fact that the shortest, most straightforward song on this album is my favorite kinda says a lot about it imo