| | Full Review | Ratings (1007) |
Give your Rating |
| 0.0 | Xenophanes EMERITUS | July 12th 12 |
Proggy interludes can't save this pretentious piece of shit. Ideas are haphazardly thrown together with ambient clean sung sections embarrassingly trying to make it all seem coherent. Apparently this all adds up to a postmodern metalcore masterpiece.
22 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Thor | July 6th 12 |
Darker, heavier, more progressive, and an overall more consistent listen than Exoplanet.
21 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | loveisamixtape | July 10th 12 |
if you don't listen to this while passing a fat bowl then you are missing out
18 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | ILJ | July 10th 12 |
The Contortionist drop a lot of their core influences, and in doing so craft a very enticing album full of atmosphere and crushing heaviness they're known for. However, with each subsequent listen, the issues with the album become more apparent. While everything sounds nice, the transitions from heavy to soft and back again are quite awkward most times, and take away from what could have been an astounding album. As it stands now, it's merely an album with great heaviness and fantastic, spacey atmospheres with very poor transitioning in between.
10 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | iamSeraph | July 14th 12 |
It's not what I expected, nor what I hoped for. This does not necessarily mean that the record is bad, not by any means, but it is certainly not anything fans or long time Contortionist listeners would most likely demand from them. EXOPLANET was a heavy deathcore experience with intelligent time signatures, crisp breakdowns and crystal clear ambient/progressive elements, maintaining a good balance between clean singing and harsh growling and/or screaming. But INTRINSIC is more of a progressive metal record that relies heavily on spacy and lofty riffing, keys and ambient tuning while giving a lot of room for cleans only. Comparing these two, one definitely finds a certain lack of heavy parts, featuring very little breakdowns and growled segments at all. Also, when The Contortionist tries to be brutal on INTRINSIC (e.g. on SOLIPSIS or at the middle of CORTICAL) they fail, completely exaggerating it on the brawly, noisy side. So all in all I did not know or could have imagined that TC were going fully progressive/ambient after their first album snippets, but it is not the change I had longed for, at least not in such extent. Finally, INTRINSIC is not average at all and actually pretty good in what it wants to deliver, but it does just not appease my musical appetite and all in all it's just too dull and constant to fully grab or entertain me. In other words: it's a bit boring in all it's consistency. 'Lost in space', one could say.
9 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Durrzo | July 13th 12 |
I don't get it. Seems really awkward and dull to me...
8 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | SatelliteYears | July 10th 12 |
Really impressive. What a huge progression from "Exoplanet". These guys deserve to be huge.
8 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | trilo | July 11th 12 |
man this score is really inflated. calm down homies
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | woopoxyjust | July 18th 12 |
It's like they got a bunch of feedback on their last album from their friend's moms saying,
"uugggghhh it's sooo grosss but oooohh I really love those singing bits, you sound so
handsome!"
So they made this.
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Popabubb | July 12th 12 |
top 10 album this year. this album does not disappoint. Love the proggy direction they are taking it.
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | Julianna Reed EMERITUS | July 11th 12 |
I heard there's xylophone in this. In other words, insta-5.
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | Mickeymau5 | July 11th 12 |
Best Deathcore album of all time, so far
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | Thompson D. Gerhart STAFF | July 16th 12 |
I don't get how everyone's proclaiming that they've toned down the deathcore bit so much - sure, there's less of it, but now it's really annoying and intrusive instead of convergent and smooth. At the end of the day, that's all Intrinsic is - an even more spaced-out Exoplanet whose breakdowns are more a nuisance than anything else. And, to be frank, it's just not as interesting.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | FREEFROMERROR | July 10th 12 |
Pure beauty, the album is perfect. There is not a single flaw I can find with the progressive classic that is intrinsic.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | EasterInTheBatcave | January 3rd 16 |
This is one of the most frustrating albums I've ever heard. There are many great ideas in play, but they're all thrown together haphazardly and there is no flow whatsoever to the album. Furthermore, the production is thin and the harsh vocals are, for the most part, underwhelming. Intrinsic shows a ton of potential, but is nowhere near the sum of its parts.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | climactic | August 22nd 12 |
the contortionist what are you doing you are not cynic you are the contortionist
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | CruelBloom | July 17th 12 |
It's an okay album, and that's it. I knew it wasn't going to be Exoplanet 2.0 because they
already said that isn't what they wanted, and I'm cool with that! It's a nice listen, but
it's nothing super special, and it does not hold a candle to Exoplanet (though I really
don't like comparing the two because in my humble opinion they're very very different,
considering a lot of Exoplanet material was already written, and Intrinsic has more of
Jonothan's input on it). rI'll give it some more spins. Parallel Trance was a REALLY weak
ending to the album though. Oh, and this is heavier than Exoplanet? lol. That's all I have
to say.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | DeadGuy | July 11th 12 |
fucking sick, insane songwriting progressionrlevel up
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | InterestedGiraffe | July 11th 12 |
It's a classic Prog album, i haven't found one flaw in any of the songwriting.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | Remnant | July 11th 12 |
Blows my mind. It's a must listen. Nuff' said!
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Kbusch123 | July 11th 12 |
Wow. Talk about taking a huge change in direction from their previous sound. Great album, but for different reasons than Exoplanet.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | erandolph90 | July 11th 12 |
I really wasn't a fan of their first album, but this beyond fantastic and I would definitely recommend listening.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | monocaust | June 14th 19 |
portions of the album really hint at the potential this band always had, and would later realise on Language and Clairvoyant, but it trips over itself from time to time in trying to do too much
Bump |
| 3.8 excellent | Erwann S. STAFF | May 23rd 19 |
I still consider this their weakest output, but shit does it whack. Proggier and more atmo than Exoplanet but deathcorier (?) than later albums, it was an almost mandatory step for them to move away from the deathcore scene. So put some respak on Intrinsak pls.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Nine | September 29th 18 |
Yeah, the production/mixing on this album is very questionable. The most glaring example being in "Dreaming Schematics" at 2:13 where the verse ends, and then you're hit with a loud, sudden shock of guitars. The only tracks I see myself going back to on this record were "Holomovement", "Geometric Confusion", and "Anatomy Anomalies" (I'll agree that the song titles are kind of pretentious as well). All in all, it's one of The Contortionist's weakest records, but it's still "ok".
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | AnimalsAsSummit | April 11th 18 |
Well damn, were any of you guys even alive in the 80s? This is pure art.
Bump |
| 2.5 average | TooToot | March 27th 18 |
this is actually more listenable than the debut. Thing is, it kinda became listenable by discarding most of the ferocity, so now it's just bubbly uplifting major-scale riffs with bright resolutions, mixed around with tons of post-rock. It's just sorta inoffensive, with one or two neat bits of guitarwork here and there (which is sorta how I can describe a lot of progressive metalcore, honestly). There's some nice floaty bits I guess? Yeah, I'm still not close to on board with this band.rOh, and Sequential Vision has the dumbest incorporation of piano ever. Discarding points for that
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Dmax28 | April 1st 16 |
Looks like there is quite a divide about this album, but to me this is an ambitious and remarkable achievement. Any shortcomings reflect our limits in human existence, being symbolic of some of the themes of the album.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | StarsDie | March 7th 16 |
Only thing that truly keeps this from being a classic is the deathcore-ish aspects. Generic breakdowns and the generic screamed vocals. The sound of this thing is fantastic. The singing from some djenty bands tends to be the weak spot, but not with The Contortionist. The songwriting is great and there is a showcase of some good tech.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | TheFourthCircle25 | February 26th 16 |
Intrinsic is by no means a bad album. In fact, it contains some of the best work The Contortionist has ever done. However, I felt this album didn't live up to its predecessor by any means. It felt a little unfocused, and all the pieces didn't connect well like they did with Exoplanet. There is a lot of great moments sprinkled throughout the record, but it never feels consistent. Still, it's a fun listen and definitely earns points for going in a more progressive direction. 8/10
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Xenorazr | July 13th 15 |
Geocentric Confusion indeed; the exchange of cohesion for attempted progression doesn't quite pay off. Intrinsic has the pieces--and thus the makings--of a great album, but there's no form to it all. If you think Dream Theater lack structure, this will put things in perspective.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Karrbomb | September 19th 14 |
I thought a little too much of this at first listen. It is not what I would have liked to hear from this release.
Bump |
| 2.0 poor | bigbrownbeaver | July 8th 13 |
Generic, contrived, and completely boring. The Contortionist are lagging far behing their contemporaries.
Bump |
| 2.5 average | Alex C. | January 31st 13 |
You can hear some great ideas, but they are unfortunately mixed with average chugging and a bad production.
Bump |
| 0.0 | DarknessPrevails | November 25th 12 |
While it's not as good as Exoplanet, this is still an impressive album and a great sophomoric effort by The Contortionist
Bump |
| 3.5 great | sora236 | September 2nd 12 |
Not as memorable as the last album, but still pretty good.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Deuce8311 | July 22nd 12 |
Everyone knew it was gonna be hard to surpass the efforts of Exoplanet. The band does a pretty good job, but didn't surpass it in my opinion. That doesn't mean however the album isn't good. From the very beginning it can be noted that this album focuses more on the progressive side and less on the heaviness. At times the transitions between these two can sound out of place and rather awkward, but overall The Contortionist does a relatively good job at showcasing what we all know them for. This would of course be that signature blend of heaviness and ambiance.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Mazaku | July 18th 12 |
This is a great album, but I don't think it even gets close to how amazing exoplanet was.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Fernando Alves STAFF | July 18th 12 |
Band deserves credit for exploring new territories by fusing a diverse variety of musical textures. "Intrinsic" is an interesting product of its time and it deserves our attention.
Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Trebor. EMERITUS | July 17th 12 |
Eli you just don't get it because you ain't postmodern enough
Bump |
| 2.5 average | Yazz_Flute | July 17th 12 |
All of you guys saying this is heavier than Exoplanet are wrong.rIt's a solid listen though.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Sevhead | July 17th 12 |
Widly inconsistent...between the overly pussed-out BtBaM interludes and the watered-down Cynic worship lies some pleasant AaL soundscape trickery.
Bump |
| 0.0 | BMFD4567 | July 16th 12 |
I've heard two songs, both of which were bloated, pretentious, and filled with awfully produced vocals. They fucked up. Exoplanet sure was great.
Bump |
| 0.0 | Motiv3 | July 16th 12 |
A lot of great ideas sloppily put together that lack any sort of coherency. The rContortionist tried to really expand their progressive sound whilst maintaining their rdeathcore heaviness but seem really out of their element here. Disappointing album.
Bump |
| 0.0 | Telekinetic | July 16th 12 |
Your basic matured prog album, good, but nothing that special so if you like prog, I'd give this album a shot
Bump |
| 0.0 | mindleviticus | July 15th 12 |
It grows off pretty quick. This is alright just not as good as Exoplanet and doesn't reach that amazing point that Exoplanet did.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Nikkolae | July 14th 12 |
this is nice but what the fuck people comparing this to cynic?
Bump |
| 0.0 | TheOscillat0r | July 13th 12 |
I really liked Exoplanet, so I hope this doesn't end up being a Between the Buried and Me ripoff.
Bump |
| 0.0 | MeatSalad | July 13th 12 |
Will listen but will kill all of you assnuggets if it sucks and is overrated which I already know it is
Bump |
| 2.5 average | camaraderie | July 12th 12 |
Damn, what's up with the hype trains this year?
Bump |
| 3.5 great | PFKlax | August 13th 23 |
| 3.5 great | vult | July 10th 23 |
| 3.0 good | Halez | May 31st 23 |
| 2.5 average | Glovoc | May 7th 23 |
| 3.5 great | Timmy | January 18th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Axmetal | July 24th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | sr388 | June 22nd 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Get Low | February 1st 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | efp123 | January 7th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Shamus248 CONTRIBUTOR | December 29th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | tekth | November 8th 21 |
| 3.0 good | Jerrad | August 30th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | xlev | August 25th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Moosic | May 26th 21 |
| 3.5 great | Bilco | March 27th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | CHINDI | February 15th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Grandpa | February 13th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | andrewsk | December 19th 20 |
| 3.0 good | Skiiddz | September 25th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | JTPlays | August 3rd 20 |
| 3.5 great | Suyan | February 27th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Uzumaki | January 6th 20 |
| 3.5 great | ElSomni | September 17th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | ARDCWE | August 11th 19 |
| 3.5 great | john | August 10th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | MelbCro | August 8th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | josh | July 2nd 19 |
| 4.5 superb | Dogie | May 15th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | DJD1ed | February 28th 19 |
| 3.0 good | latpac | December 21st 18 |
| 2.5 average | ryguy | November 11th 18 |
| 3.0 good | nbats | November 10th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Loveloth | September 23rd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | artiswar | September 15th 18 |
| 3.0 good | Rausku | March 31st 18 |
| 4.5 superb | Laen | February 9th 18 |
| 2.5 average | Loch | January 20th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | nerdzz | December 15th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | inthox | September 27th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Validus | September 26th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | SYL | September 25th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | ArAforN | September 22nd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | tcarafi | September 15th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jon1988 | August 15th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | gschwen | August 10th 17 |
| 3.5 great | krypis | July 28th 17 |
| 3.5 great | jybt | June 9th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Keira | June 5th 17 |
| 1.5 very poor | Pon EMERITUS | May 1st 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Kyyzen | April 19th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | Elynna | April 14th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Jeejee | March 20th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | frnl | January 14th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Wolfe | January 5th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | El Olam | December 25th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Geefawl | October 7th 16 |
| 3.0 good | KMassam | September 30th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Valtair | September 18th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jexic | August 7th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Drifts | March 26th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | mursu | February 25th 16 |
| 3.5 great | 8genre | January 5th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Abraxas | December 15th 15 |
| 3.0 good | btati | November 12th 15 |
| 3.5 great | piav | November 12th 15 |
| 4.5 superb | Hanuman | October 24th 15 |
| 3.0 good | DrBrain | September 28th 15 |
| 3.5 great | Majkl | May 8th 15 |
| 2.5 average | ztew3y | May 1st 15 |
| 3.0 good | Zubes | April 3rd 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | szea426 | March 31st 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | iao | February 26th 15 |
| 1.5 very poor | Runeii | February 8th 15 |
| 3.0 good | MikeBG | January 14th 15 |
| 3.0 good | Cryio | December 27th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Aaron77 | December 24th 14 |
| 3.5 great | slaps | December 16th 14 |
| 3.5 great | RYANGP | October 29th 14 |
| 3.5 great | aresx | October 6th 14 |
| 2.5 average | ariich | October 4th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | CeeBone | September 22nd 14 |
| 4.5 superb | Emmur3 | September 19th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Gnome7 | September 18th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | dxc | September 18th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | auvas | September 15th 14 |
| 3.0 good | dbilidb | September 15th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | jebus FX | September 15th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Faraudo | September 14th 14 |
| 3.5 great | enjoimx | September 13th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | iluvbvb | September 11th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | L0G05 | September 11th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Pherin | September 1st 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | eXxist | July 25th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Odissi | July 20th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | NVCTOR | June 20th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | dre517 | June 15th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Henry | June 11th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | Fujay | May 15th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | ihml93 | March 13th 14 |
| 3.5 great | Adam | March 4th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Dev518 | February 21st 14 |
| 3.0 good | Nud | February 6th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | ADV123 | February 4th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | motyli | January 15th 14 |
| 2.0 poor | adr | December 23rd 13 |
| 1.5 very poor | cjacob6 | December 19th 13 |
| 3.5 great | bgf97 | November 13th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | thaylor | October 26th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | lhy65 | October 21st 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | xedi | September 30th 13 |
| 3.5 great | alarm | September 22nd 13 |
| 3.0 good | brunch | September 9th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Loot | August 29th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Alaska | August 26th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Pagan | August 19th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Remer17 | August 16th 13 |
| 2.0 poor | JS19 | August 6th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Cakey | July 25th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Tyrael | July 11th 13 |
| 3.5 great | ilkb | July 10th 13 |
| 2.5 average | CK | July 2nd 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Zar | May 17th 13 |
| 5.0 classic | maddin | May 2nd 13 |
| 3.0 good | iPim | April 20th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Benc | March 28th 13 |
| 2.5 average | Apollo | March 24th 13 |
| 4.5 superb | Zao666 | March 6th 13 |
| 3.0 good | Zeg | February 21st 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | thetree | February 17th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | BugZoid | February 11th 13 |
| 2.0 poor | balazs | February 8th 13 |
| 2.5 average | Curse. | February 1st 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | mcchub | February 1st 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | ludis | January 25th 13 |
| 3.5 great | jmh886 | January 18th 13 |
| 4.5 superb | Torgol | January 8th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Echozs | January 1st 13 |
| 2.5 average | Lenix | December 31st 12 |
| 3.5 great | BrentV | December 26th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Ecotone | December 25th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Hoppip | December 24th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Kadaver | December 15th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Mehtal | December 10th 12 |
| 3.5 great | J | December 10th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Omeggia | December 10th 12 |
| 3.5 great | BabyJ | December 1st 12 |
| 4.5 superb | syco722 | November 24th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Caelum | November 24th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Animus | November 19th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Bounty | November 16th 12 |
| 5.0 classic | Inhumed | November 10th 12 |
| 3.5 great | MTTS | November 9th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | zyglrob | October 30th 12 |
| 1.5 very poor | YOLO | October 11th 12 |
| 3.0 good | TBliss2 | September 14th 12 |
| 1.5 very poor | Solisis | September 11th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Damon | August 12th 12 |
| 1.5 very poor | GibTG | August 12th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Zorak | August 9th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Torii | August 6th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Lani | August 5th 12 |
| 1.0 awful | Wizard | July 26th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | ryan10 | July 26th 12 |
| 2.5 average | asaf | July 22nd 12 |
| 3.0 good | zuzek | July 22nd 12 |
| 4.5 superb | N2B3J | July 22nd 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Groink | July 22nd 12 |
| 2.5 average | Bea | July 22nd 12 |
| 5.0 classic | apan | July 21st 12 |
| 2.5 average | smeaf | July 20th 12 |
| 3.5 great | RodTFD | July 20th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Warpt | July 19th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Drpibb | July 19th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | demjunz | July 19th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Spec | July 19th 12 |
| 3.0 good | DWiz | July 18th 12 |
| 2.5 average | VJ90 | July 18th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Troggy | July 18th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | sco703 | July 18th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | beans | July 18th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Coast | July 17th 12 |
| 3.0 good | itchy | July 17th 12 |
| 2.5 average | mkCII | July 16th 12 |
| 3.5 great | leycec | July 15th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Matte | July 14th 12 |
| 1.5 very poor | KILL | July 13th 12 |
| 2.5 average | Scoot | July 12th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Feels | July 12th 12 |
| 3.5 great | sehguh | July 12th 12 |
| 3.0 good | Drawk | July 12th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | bgregab | July 11th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | saucy | July 10th 12 |
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Give Your Opinion on Intrinsic
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