You da man for making the news article. It sounds like mix between Clairvoyant and Language, the latter mostly for the slightly heavier small sections that are sprinkled in

Ugh This is going to be another grower for me. Sounds a lot like grunge and that track list isn’t very promising.

More Perfect Circle worship. Sounds good to me

haven't listened to this band in literal years but that was a cool song tbh

That was...not what I expected

They seem to persist on having no growls huh, I could have sworn this would have a couple screams in when that dirty guitar riff came in, guess i got Jebaited, welp, I dig the song, seems to be radio friendly intention with the under 4 min runtime

Feels like another band over a Contortionist video but I kinda dig it

Exoplanet

I remember reading an interview where the vocalist said in his age it's smart to write music he'll be able to actually perform live for the forseeable future. Then again his harsh vocals were great when I saw them ~3 years ago

Smartest man in the game. Shows that he not only thinks ahead, but proves to the band and community that he plans to stick around for a while.

Cool song but make Exoplanet 2 please.

Psuedo-prog at its finest.

Pretty boring. Lives up to their usual standard

Ehh...that didn't suck I guess? Idk. There's nothing really special about this but that riff is kinda cool.

"in his age it's smart to write music he'll be able to actually perform live for the forseeable future"
Well I guess they will cut Exoplanet songs from the setlist completely sooner or later since every song is highly demanding on his voice
Honestly, this is not a good reason to neuter the music at the cost of his voice anyway imo, if screaming is so demanding on his voice, just get an unclean vocalist and Michael just does the cleans

Yea that reminds me of how Converge had to cut their heavy songs from the setlist to preserve Bannon’s voice, really unfortunate

As long as this isn't in the same direction as Exoplanet, we cool

This article title had me thinking the Contortionist broke up, fuck you

great track X)

Just saw the tracklist, 4 tracks, 2 are not even 4 mins and ones a cover, I dunno if I even should be excited, to be honest, 2-month wait for... 1 new track, and an interlude, ok dude..

meh

thought the title was saying they broke up

thought this was a breakup, now i'm disappointed ugh :[

as far as unclean vocals go, if you really know what you're doing, you be able to perform them for your entire foreseeable future. sure, they'll slightly change over time. if he no longer wants to growl, that's cool, i like this direction they've been going in. but to say that you won't be able to growl anymore, just because you're getting older, now that's some hot, fresh bullshit.

I enjoyed it. Hopefully, the rest of this EP holds up.

Dig it, needs more prog though.

I like it. Can't wait to see what the rest of the ep brings.

I like the song, but I will miss the sound the band had before Clairvoyant. A real mixed bag of feelings.

why didn’t they just disband and start up with a new project

they aren’t even the same band anymore

He sings with more passion in the video than in the song, and that bothers me.

band peaked at Language, i guess

BaNd sUcKs SinCe eXoPlaNeT

yes but unironically

"as far as unclean vocals go, if you really know what you're doing, you be able to perform them for your entire foreseeable future. sure, they'll slightly change over time. if he no longer wants to growl, that's cool, i like this direction they've been going in. but to say that you won't be able to growl anymore, just because you're getting older, now that's some hot, fresh bullshit."

No, it isn't bullshit tbh. Screaming is doing extreme stuff to your vocal cords. There may be techniques that are less harmful than others, but these vocals are pretty much damaging by default.
Sure, some singers did them for 30+,but a lot more people hurt themselves by trying to emulate them. And even the guys who held up well usually dial it back at some point.
There are people who will tell you it's all save and shit, but there are the same people who charge 300 bucks for one online lessons lol.
Atm no science is backing this shit up.

"why didn’t they just disband and start up with a new project

they aren’t even the same band anymore"

*laughs in Ulver*

Yea, these arguments don't make sense, lol

Pretty good.

keith buckley is pushing 40 and is better than he has ever been lmao. they just don't want to scream anymore and/or have horrible technique.

Being in your 40s and having good vocals should not be impressive at all tbh.
But one person being able to perform longer than others is no proof. Some voices can take a lot of abuse. Mike Patton is another of these freaks of nature lol. There is still a lot to be learned about these vocals from a scientific perspective, but atm there is no reason to believe these singing styles are sustainable at all.
I'm grateful some madmen actually scream their voices into shreds though, I like the way it sounds.

Fantastic song. Reminds me of Reimagined, structurally.

I don’t think they write songs with few unclean vox these due to any reason but stylistic choice. For anyone who has actually seen the band live, Mike can still scream with great power.

"No, it isn't bullshit tbh. Screaming is doing extreme stuff to your vocal cords. There may be techniques that are less harmful than others, but these vocals are pretty much damaging by default.
Sure, some singers did them for 30+,but a lot more people hurt themselves by trying to emulate them. And even the guys who held up well usually dial it back at some point.
There are people who will tell you it's all save and shit, but there are the same people who charge 300 bucks for one online lessons lol.
Atm no science is backing this shit up"

yes there absolutely is i know what the fuck i'm talking about bro

"For anyone who has actually seen the band live, Mike can still scream with great power."
Yes this is very true, but this just leads me to believe the band has just gotten soft over the years, and don't want to make stuff as heavy which is kind of disappointing to the fans, it's like if Dream Theater went from prog metal to some weird prog pop type thing, fans will be mad af and they have the right to be mad af about that

"yes there absolutely is i know what the fuck i'm talking about bro"

If there really is, I'd like to see the evidence. I would welcome evidence that screaming doesn't have to be damaging, don't get me wrong. But if the article isn't peer reviewed, I will be unimpressed lol

All this angst over the band not still being heavy enough is pretty lame. As long as they still make good music that they're passionate about the fans will be along for the ride. They're closing in on their 40s and understandably don't want to still make deathcore anymore.

Musical maturity in a nutshell. I respect how they're evolving their sound as of late.

closing in on their 40's? that's a bit of a stretch, no? these guys are late 20's at most

i'm not salty about the lack of harsh vox as much as I am the lack of djenty vibes. That ethereal/spacey sound from Language is what i enjoyed the most about these guys


¯_(ツ)_/¯

"these guys are late 20's at most"

Not unless they recorded Exoplanet when they were in their teens. Most of the djent djeneration are in in their 30's.

https://www.echoesanddust.com/2016/08/interview-mike-lessard-from-the-contortionist/

"Mike Lessard has been performing music half his life, and he’s not hit 30 yet. His current gig is with progressive metal / rock outfit The Contortionist from Indiana, USA, and they are about to perform the return, Australian leg of a recent US tour with Sydney’s sleepmakeswaves. Gilbert Potts caught up with Mike for a good"

this has to be around 2016ish. So lets just say, for the sake of argument, that Lessar was 30. Let's assume 31-33 is the range for the whole group in 2019. I'd still argue that "closing in on 40" is a stretch


nbd really. I just found that comment kind of weird, because I don't picture these guys being 37-39ish, which your comment would imply, unless you equate "closing in" to be a 7 year window.

I may have overestimated their age. The thirties go by quick though. I know mine are... :[

I just started mothefuckerrrrr

old bastard

"If there really is, I'd like to see the evidence. I would welcome evidence that screaming doesn't have to be damaging, don't get me wrong. But if the article isn't peer reviewed, I will be unimpressed lol"

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/bjg4n3/according-to-science-metal-singers-literally-act-like-babies

just read the article, seems dumb but trust me. then look up any information Melissa Cross has to say on the subject. she is literally a professional extreme voice coach. and then look up what her students (keith buckley, randy blythe, brian fair, etc.) have to say on the subject. if you don't wanna believe that then i don't care dude, live in your lala land of shitty screamed vocals bro. but don't come at me thinking you know information better you fruitcake

Yea, I expected MC to pop up. Her stuff is basically pseudoscience with a lot of buzzwords. Sorry man, she is the true hot garbage. Also she is the person I meant when I said "charging 300 bucks for one online lesson" btw. That's too much, no voice teacher should charge that much

Just give me Exoplanet 2.

the only Early Grave you need: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E6Q-T49FN0

I agree

damn RIP guys

Oh hey, these guys are still a band. How bout that.

This song is a grower and I'm realizing that now

Damn thought there would be some good news about this shitty band breaking up.

“BaNd sUcKs SinCe eXoPlaNeT”
Nah Exoplanet sucks too.

"Yea, I expected MC to pop up. Her stuff is basically pseudoscience with a lot of buzzwords. Sorry man, she is the true hot garbage. Also she is the person I meant when I said "charging 300 bucks for one online lesson" btw. That's too much, no voice teacher should charge that much"

only a fucking idiot would pay that much for lessons. i paid $15 for her dvd and have been practicing with her techniques and "buzzwords" for like 4+ years now. i'm not trying to brag, but my voice sounds great and I never lose it or hurt my throat. just because you haven't found truth in what she says doesn't mean others haven't. if you know you know, i guess. you don't really need a voice teacher at all just LOTS of practice. obviously we're not gonna agree, but there's no disrespect on my end just cause we disagree tho i just get heated on this subject, actually +3 cool points for that link in my shoutbox i accidentally deleted lol

also i wanna throw this out there too, i feel like i enjoyed language so much that i can no longer get into intrinsic or exoplanet. i like clairvoyant a lot too but also i feel like i'm not really looking forward to a smashing pumpkins cover either this band kind of confuses me anymore

Idk why I'm so surprised a music community argues about dumb shit so much but please keep going its really entertaining