The Contortionist- Language I & II (First Listen) 

So... I bought/listened to this album shortly after recording. Couldn't resist. -JP

Language album is the definition of prog-metal. Excellent songwriting with moderation and on point and with structure. No repetitive parts, really good drumming, great vocals, great synth atmosphere. not too complicated, not too simple.

This band is literally THE shit. I had no idea who they were before I saw them open for Animals as Leaders in May, and now they’re my favorite band ever. I was lucky enough to meet Michael Lessard, their singer, and he got my brother into the show for free. Awesome musicians and just as awesome human beings.

Everytime I listen to these two songs, I feel obligated to listen to the whole album. It truly feels like an unique experience; every sound and detail seem so perfectly calculated and well placed yet it seems so organic and the emotions just flow so easily. I discovered them some months ago and they're already one of my favorite bands.

Go listen to their newest song Early Grave, it came out a week ago.

Something about this band stirred me, I must say .... am listening to the CLAIRVOYANT album by The Contortionist, and am finding it a much better experience (well, two tracks in). Thanks to JPMP for the reaction.

Their songs are like a musicscape.

Nice! the contortionist is the shit, man! We going right up my alley

thrive is widely regarded as their best song so i'd give that a listen, language is my favorite album too

Daaamn. I requested this ages ago. So damn happy you did it. In a way you should have almost started with the first song “the source” because I love how the first 3 songs work together. This band really grows on you. I started by liking them, then absolutely loving them and nearly obsessing on their albums for a while. They are insane love, too. The band is tight tight tight. The older albums with the old singer are great, too. Their song “contact” is one of their best.

Everything before this album is heavier with a different vocalist. Their album exoplanet is probably one my favorite core album out of the last 10 years. Mike is such a better fit for vocals for the direction they went in than with Jonathan.

I’ll always miss the days of exoplanet and Intrinsic, songs like “Flouish”, “Causality”, “dreaming schematics” but language was a who different experience on its own.

THE greatest album ever written gotta check out the rest

Cameron and Robby, the guitarists, were very influenced by Deftones. Deftones really did set up the last 20 years of ambient-infused metal. As someone who grew up listening to a lot of classic and modern prog (yes, especially Dream Theater), the first time I heard these songs in 2014 was like the finding of a missing puzzle piece. It was the prog infusion I’d been looking for. Still an effective piece of music, and definitely a legend amongst prog albums.

Thanks for doing a listen to my fav artist in the whole world!

super late to this reaction and finding your channel, but you guys are hilarious. It makes watching your reactions that much better lmao

love it

Probably my favourite metal album

I came across this album as I was listening to Faceless (funny you should mention them) on youtube some years ago. Language became one of my favorite albums of the decade. 5/5.

my favorite band

This album changed my life.

“You’re the straight man....”💀⚰️🤣😂

The Contortionist! Oh yeah!!! This is a greaaaat album!!! The only I actually like... Haha And here an another recommendation. Drowning Steps - The Darkest Morning. This is a Brazilian project from a friend. It's so damn go that I have to recommend to you guys. 10 minutes long but worth it!

WOOOH FÅ DET PÅ!

Never heard of this band before, really liked it. Will def check out more. 4.5

I listened to this album... my god one of the best albums I have ever listened to

CONTORTIONIST?! geeked out right now! CLOTHING POLICE! song ain't even started :D

Heck yes guys! One of my favorite prog songs, I give this a 5/5 because I think it's such a unique take on the prog sound as a whole I've been listening to some electronic music lately, and one of my favorite artists is 'Skrux', check out the song Purity for some really ethereal vibes

Hey guys! Thanks for introducing me to The Contortionist. Pretty cool huh. It would be awesome if you could check out Change on the Rise by Avi Kaplan. It has a music video that adds to the mood of the song, but it's also fine if you just react to the audio. Note: Avi does all the background vocals himself as well.

Great review guys! Try the contortionist- clairvoyant

Fucking dope!!

4.2!

If you like this, you should definitely check out their Rediscovered version of Language I. Absolutely beautiful acoustic live session

I'm watching this one year after the video was published but I think the word you were looking for was "reprise"

I liked the reference to the pre-Wagnerian overtures of taking themes from a work, and referencing them indirectly in other pieces. It's a solid example of that referencing themes and motifs, without directly copying them. I like to think of it as musical foreshadowing. Giving a flavour of what's coming later. That said, I found this more... interesting, rather than enjoyable. It's a 3 for me. If you want an example of something similar to that, take another look at Blackbird by Alter Bridge, in particular the solo and the bridge just before it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vk6i2u2-bYk.html - Miles breaks it down nicely here, showing how they reference different tiny motifs through the solo, bringing the whole thing together. (Motif reference at 9 minutes, but the whole thing is worth a watch from a compositional perspective). Musically, it reminded me at points in its jumps of Olivier Messiaen's Le Merle Noire, and of Rachmaninov's The Isle of the Dead. I like a lot of the dynamic shifts and movements. The one from 10:15 to 10:55 is particularly beautiful. Since you guys like this, try checking out Hemina - Down Will come Baby, for something related but different.

It's been 2 months since an ELO reaction and I was wondering if you could give a go at ELO's album 'Time.' It's a concept album where all the songs are tied together to tell a story and all the songs are completely different from one another and they're all really good.

Yeah more prog rock!

reprisal?

My own definition, based on the term "motif": setting up one or more motifs for what is to come = overture bringing back one or more motifs from what came before = reprise Regarding the song: This was somewhat unfocused to me, but makes me wanna check out more. The lighter parts sound a lot like Oceansize. Including the singer. Very similar. The heavier parts sound more like Periphery. I don't have a lot of exposure to growl-based music, so that's my current reference. Actually, the Oceansize singer half-growled from time to time, as well. Also, now that I was listening to Porcupine Tree, I realized that Oceansize - and The Contortionist, by extension - take a lot from that kind of style. However, PT quickly grows stale for me with the same structures used over and over and over...especially those same simple strumming chords or whatever in all of the softer emotional songs. Steven Wilson sure seems to have his blueprint...

The story is about his friend who passed away from drug use shortly after his friends mother passed

Have you guys heard of Monuments? Try their song "Celeste" off their latest album!

Take a shot every time these dudes bop their heads up and down

Were you looking for the word "Overture"?

Can you please react to Time, the Valuator - Vibrant

I can’t listen to just one song on this album. It’s too good. If I had to choose one though it’d be primordial sound, I just really like the intro

listen The contortionist - Clairvoyant pls, nice video.

Listen to Faust by The Human Abstract.

The contortionist - Flourish

You should react to Blue Automatic by Thank You Scientist!

Empieza 2:13 de naik

This video pleases .

React to Flourish!!!

If I could edit this song and keep the parts that I like, it could make my playlist for top favorite songs. It has many elements that are appealing to my ear; clean/compressed guitar sounds, smooth vocals, tight drums, nice bass. Then there's the other side... Plus, my attention span is getting smaller so I prefer different moods in separate songs rather than in one "overture" (which is the word I think you were searching for).

As of 7/10/19 Hu’s Facebook page: 1.) The Hu is rated 5 out of 5 based on the opinion of over 2,100 people. 2.) Over 231,000 people ‘like’ The Hu. 3.) Over 241,000 people follow The Hu. 4.) The Hu can’t wait to be reacted to by JPMP. ((ok, I lied about #4. Sorry guys.))

Gotta listen to Flourish and Oscillator from their earlier album. Hands down two of their best songs.

Reprisal

Pretty good stuff. Like some have mentioned "growl" vocals are a different "animal" completely. Unfortunately, they take me out of the song immediately. Otherwise, I liked it, though there were a few slow parts that dragged a bit.

I think the word you were looking for might be overture.

EXO PLANET

🖓for the song but not the lights! Everything is in motion ...

Not bad. 2.8

The growling vocals don’t do anything to ad to the song. For me, they retract from it and make it unlistenable. 1.5 - Love The channel guys 🤙🏼

Clearly talented musicians. It''s just a shame that they never got the memo about hooks, bridges, or refrains, and consequently this offering feels like a shambolic and incoherent mess. There are neat little noodles in there, for example some of the bass parts, but in isolation they're not enough to redeem the whole. As always though, thanks for the review, guys. :-)

Lets start with the growl vocals are not my thing. It took a long time for the song to finally kick in and when it did I found the transitions to be messy and illogical. I was trying to grasp where the song was going but I couldn't make sense of it. It was like a roller coaster ride without a destination. I found the song overall boring and uninspiring 2.5. Bare in mind this is my first listen, and maybe after a few takes, some aspects of the song may resonate, but I highly doubt this song is a keeper. Do you like this color on me? When Prince first came out, he was playing a baby blue Stratocaster. Every since then, I've always wanted a that color Stratocaster. So maybe not on a Tshirt but definitely a Stratcaster.

Never heard of them before, but I enjoyed this ... until the guttural vocals. Similar to Opeth, when the music goes there, it loses me. Too bad.