| | Full Review | Ratings (601) |
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| 4.0 excellent | Nomos | September 14th 17 |
To paraphrase a messy quasi-review I posted elsewhere...By the best of definitions, it's a grower. rThere's immediacy and melody that strikes you right off the bat, but you will begin to appreciate rit a lot more as you re-listen. There's such an attention to detail to every passing second on rhere. The walls of sound are massive. Enveloping and lovely, not oppressive and loud. Textured and rlayered. Built with care, and progressive over the course of each song. No single band member is rgiven more time to shine than the other. They all have found a way to play together with unity and rmutual respect. Easily one of the most heartfelt and passionate pieces of music I've heard in many ryears.
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | Panzerchrist | September 10th 17 |
4 listens in and the best thing I can say about it is it's good background music
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | Dmax28 | September 17th 17 |
After 5 listens, I think it's a good album, although it's disappointing considering the rtalent in this band. The Monochrome tracks are very pleasant and the t/t and Relapse at rleast bring a small semblance of riffage, but this album just feels a bit lazy overall rand this is coming from someone who thinks the first 5 tracks of the Language album are rone of the most memorable and incredible stretches of music that come to mind for me. rThis is one of the few bands that for me manages to be consistently mind rblowing with their best tracks, meaning their best tracks will give me goosebumps often rdespite me being familiar with them. Clairvoyant isn't incapable of the same rfeeling, but the band seems to be thinking they are creating the same otherworldly effect rwhile trying way less hard and being overly impressed with themselves frankly. It's ok rthat it's generally softer, but the guitar work doesn't leave much to hold on to. rHonestly, if this was another band that I didn't know much about I wouldn't be so rcritical of this and would be impressed with the unique sound, but I think The rContortionist is capable of much more. Return to rEarth and Monochrome (Pensive) do end the album stronger than Language ended. It's an ralbum I am glad to have access to because it is a very unique atmospheric experience. rIt's a good addition to their discography, but I hope later albums are able to capture rmore of the amazing dynamics they have displayed in the past.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Benjamin Kuettel EMERITUS | September 12th 17 |
A solid and enjoyable follow-up to Language, if a bit less compelling overall. The middle section of songs are the most adventurous and memorable. There is plenty of excellent songwriting and soaring melodies here, but the song structures themselves don't quite develop with as much punch or impact as I feel like they could. A couple tracks are also almost too straightforward, but everything still works well.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | NBA | September 10th 17 |
well the 128kbps leak is out, let's see how many people whine about the production being terrible
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | thelamestallion | October 6th 18 |
When the heck Lessard will start to actually sing and not murmur?
The music here is layered, rich in texture but quite obscure, it lacks "Language" ' s
cohesion, and it's not the matter of heaviness, it's the matter of notes, progressions and
melodies. Although I like this lighter direction more than anything they've ever put out
because this is The Contortionist at their most characteristic and definitive incarnation
yet.
"The Center" is a fascinating slowburner, shorter tracks are nicely composed, they are
accessible yet retain The Contortionist's both signature sense of eeriness and rhythmic
trickery; singles "Absolve" and "Return to Earth" are also very touching. I never
appreciated the title track and "Relapse" for their totally indistinct melodicity which left
me no chance to understand them. I would prefer more even and relatable vocal melodies, so
the listener could root in them to let the music unfold swimmingly (Karnivool as an
example).
So the direction is interesting, with a note that further in the future I personally would
like to hear more expression in Michael's vocals, as well as the tightness and consistency
in the band's instrumentation.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Nine | August 29th 18 |
I wouldn't be surprised if The Contortionist's next album cover is just a plain circle.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | Toondude | September 15th 17 |
artsy-fartsy TesseracT worship, and it's about as boring as you would think.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Johnny Maccaroni | September 14th 17 |
No review for this on release date shows the negative growth for the sputnik user base...
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | Dunpeal | September 10th 17 |
This sits somewhere between 3.5 and 4.0 to me, but will round up, because it feels like more of a grower than Language. Language started off so strong with "Intuition" (dat bass-line) and had a more cohesive theme, imo, even if the whole "ebb&flow" meme gets thrown around a lot. There was a more ?spacey,? ethereal and otherworldly feel to that album as a whole that doesn?t really feel present here. Clairvoyant is good, but for me it lacks that overall cohesiveness. For me the stand-out moment is "Absolve? and ?Relapse.? I would've liked for the band to channel that more often. Overall, however, this is a solid addition and while I might consider this more of a lateral step than any kind of progression, I?ll gladly take this over what could?ve been a regression.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | monocaust | June 14th 19 |
whilst the instrumentation might not be as complex as Language, the emotional weight between Lessard's lyrics really give this album a lot more power
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | Jared Wegenast | January 27th 18 |
I love the atmosphere of this entire album. The vocals are solid and refreshing, and instrumentation is unparalleled.
Bump |
| 0.0 | Arokan | January 26th 18 |
Interesting record balancing on the edge of prog rock and metal but it all seems kinda uninspired and bland
Bump |
| 2.5 average | cjbizzlebizzle | November 12th 17 |
Clairvoyant - able to see beyond the range of ordinary perception. With a sea change in their
sound, The Contortionist shred away any deathcore and djent elements from their sound and settle
for a more ordinary, commonplace prog rock/metal approach. This move really brings them right back
to the mean and leaves them to rely on some of the weaker elements from their past, most notably
the clean vocals. There is no other way to put it, this band was much more exciting when they had
dynamic interplay between crushing heavy sections and the more spacey, meandering clean ones.
Having Lessard take the clean, repetitive approach for 54 minutes makes the album get boring
fairly quickly; his vocal abilities are never going to carry a band. The band still shines with
some wandering instrumental sections but in the end the album as a whole is very one-note and
lacks range. Give the title track a listen and then decide if you want to listen to that same
thing for another 47 minutes but of much more average quality. You might need to be clairvoyant to
find much joy in listening to this.
Bump |
| 2.3 average | Xenophanes EMERITUS | September 25th 17 |
Gave this an honest shot but it's sorta lame. Like, not offensively bad but just really, really, really lame in a Steven Wilson sort of "I like prog and have owned a fedora before" kind of way.
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | CompanyMan | September 23rd 17 |
This latest album is like the prog metal version of Oceansize. Simply blew me awayrThis album is headphone music
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | derekkp | September 21st 17 |
Language was an excellent album, but what held it back from being one of their best albums was it
had this feeling of restraint. It felt like it was going to make a leap or bound into greatness,
but it held back. With Clairvoyant we see their ideas in full force without any hindrance. It
seems as if the band has finally found their place with Lessard on vocals and they found the
perfect music to complement him. The Contortionist reach new heights and release their best album
to date.
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | BRAman22 | September 21st 17 |
The Contortionist is no longer a metal band. After Language, this is the next logical step outside of returning to more of a metal song, and let me just say, they made the right choice. Clairvoyant is a beautiful soundscape of progressive and ambient music that should not be missed.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Alabaster Jones | September 19th 17 |
Surprise surprise, the one truly great track here happens to have some harsher vocals on it. The Contortionist leaned completely into the skid with Clairvoyant, becoming almost entirely a cleanly-produced progressive metal band with almost no trace of their deathcore or djent roots. With that said, they've lost a lot of character, no seemingly blending in with the untold number of stagnant acts in the subgenre. They've got great musicianship and the atmosphere is actually really soothing, but on the whole the album seems to have a disconnect with the listener, with a discouraging chunk of the album listlessly moving along without a destination in mind. There are some really great moments isolated across the album that keep it from becoming too boring, and I'd say it's better than a lot of their contemporaries, but it's basically set in stone: The Contortionist aren't the ban they once were, for better or worse.
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | Hansol | February 23rd 24 |
| 5.0 classic | Lani | December 28th 23 |
| 4.5 superb | Oddhead | December 10th 23 |
| 3.5 great | PFKlax | August 13th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Halez | May 31st 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | oldev | May 31st 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Timmy | January 18th 23 |
| 3.0 good | Shwany | January 13th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Raqinq | June 22nd 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Matty CONTRIBUTOR | June 15th 22 |
| 3.0 good | efp123 | January 7th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Onyx | December 16th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Josh | November 23rd 21 |
| 4.5 superb | tekth | November 8th 21 |
| 3.5 great | Jerrad | August 30th 21 |
| 3.5 great | xlev | August 25th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Moosic | May 26th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Shuyin | May 4th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | JohIV | April 21st 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Aranox | April 6th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Oobaloo | March 2nd 21 |
| 4.5 superb | CHINDI | February 15th 21 |
| 3.5 great | Grandpa | February 13th 21 |
| 4.5 superb | C0dayy | January 13th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Skiiddz | September 25th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Greubage | September 20th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Jake E. | September 6th 20 |
| 2.5 average | Prole | July 18th 20 |
| 4.5 superb | Wadlez | May 18th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Ranzki | May 1st 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Suyan | February 27th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | jounik | December 28th 19 |
| 2.5 average | Marci | November 9th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Flomink | October 7th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | HybridF | September 22nd 19 |
| 3.5 great | ElSomni | September 18th 19 |
| 3.5 great | telos | September 13th 19 |
| 5.0 classic | Tom | September 12th 19 |
| 3.5 great | KotoFtw | September 9th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | ARDCWE | August 11th 19 |
| 3.5 great | john | August 5th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | josh | July 2nd 19 |
| 3.5 great | Dummit | June 26th 19 |
| 5.0 classic | Dogie | May 15th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Adamn | May 8th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Dr7 | May 7th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jdub621 | April 27th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | DJD1ed | February 28th 19 |
| 5.0 classic | pxl | December 26th 18 |
| 2.5 average | latpac | December 21st 18 |
| 4.5 superb | RyanW | December 18th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Drawk | October 9th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | SgtShock | September 24th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Groink | September 24th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | artiswar | September 15th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Linx | August 12th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | xAvidus | July 27th 18 |
| 2.5 average | botb | July 23rd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | po0ty | May 22nd 18 |
| 5.0 classic | Leland | April 13th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | apan | April 2nd 18 |
| 4.5 superb | Rausku | March 31st 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Ectier | March 14th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Thor | March 8th 18 |
| 2.5 average | hadriel | February 2nd 18 |
| 5.0 classic | Yusuf | February 2nd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Loch | January 20th 18 |
| 3.0 good | Sapee | December 28th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Simon K. STAFF | December 24th 17 |
| 3.0 good | mursu | December 22nd 17 |
| 2.5 average | DeadPoe | December 22nd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | mattmkay | December 19th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Essence | December 18th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | pboitel | December 17th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | jdlanier | December 15th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Risodo | December 14th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Haon | December 11th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | cvlts | December 11th 17 |
| 2.5 average | K4nOo | December 2nd 17 |
| 3.5 great | Project | November 28th 17 |
| 3.0 good | iGuter | November 28th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | ToT720 | November 18th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | suzcruzz | November 16th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | Tethyan | November 13th 17 |
| 2.5 average | JWT155 | November 9th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Jokurr | November 3rd 17 |
| 2.5 average | nbats | October 29th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Torii | October 27th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Kyyzen | October 26th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Daedus | October 25th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | Macck | October 21st 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | ctay145 | October 15th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Valtair | October 12th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Emo | October 11th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | El Olam | October 10th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Anduhr | October 9th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Djang0 | October 7th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | MelbCro | September 29th 17 |
| 3.0 good | DANcore | September 29th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Prancer | September 28th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Phate72 | September 28th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Trey STAFF | September 28th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | inthox | September 27th 17 |
| 1.0 awful | Validus | September 26th 17 |
| 3.0 good | gilly | September 26th 17 |
| 1.5 very poor | analc | September 25th 17 |
| 3.5 great | ariich | September 25th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | SYL | September 25th 17 |
| 3.0 good | mikep87 | September 25th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Rodstar | September 25th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | eirinn | September 24th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | willzor | September 24th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | ArAforN | September 22nd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | tellah | September 21st 17 |
| 3.5 great | em17ah | September 21st 17 |
| 5.0 classic | BreixOi | September 21st 17 |
| 2.5 average | Spec | September 21st 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Majkl | September 20th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | mrmoltar | September 19th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | pantoast | September 19th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | GhostK | September 19th 17 |
| 2.5 average | ckypro3 | September 19th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Mordekai | September 19th 17 |
| 3.0 good | EJinHD | September 19th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Veldin | September 19th 17 |
| 3.5 great | ellagos | September 19th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | brunch | September 18th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | bnyby | September 18th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | ksolan | September 18th 17 |
| 2.5 average | MO | September 18th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Keira | September 18th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Shamus248 CONTRIBUTOR | September 18th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Lefondre | September 18th 17 |
| 3.5 great | aresx | September 17th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | KMassam | September 17th 17 |
| 2.5 average | trilo | September 17th 17 |
| 3.0 good | dctarga | September 17th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Trebor. EMERITUS | September 16th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Samos | September 16th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Elynna | September 16th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | acew787 | September 16th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | blakedoc | September 16th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Faraudo | September 16th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | alarm | September 15th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | jmh886 | September 15th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | krypis | September 15th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | N2B3J | September 15th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | tcarafi | September 15th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Wolfe | September 15th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | Tobmast | September 15th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Jeejee | September 15th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Hyndez | September 15th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | zmol | September 14th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | furpa | September 13th 17 |
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