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Genre: progcore

The Contortionist are described as a deathcore band, and, if there is one genre that I tend to find hideously unimaginative and uninspiring then it is deathcore. There are only a couple of deathcore bands that appeal to me - I simply find the genre boring. Now, The Contortionist are not your average duh-duh-duunn-duunn deathcore band. In fact, I don't even think they are a deathcore band as such. To my ears, they are an progressive band who draw on deathcore among other metal-genres.

And, indeed, "Intrinsic" is far from boring. It does feature the heavy grooves and stereotypical breakdowns known from deathcore, but these are just one ingredient in a musical mixture that also includes djent, jazz rock and more traditional progressive metal elements. The jazz rock aspect of the album is reflected in the use of dissonant jazz-typical chords as well as guitar solos and keyboard figures which most of all remind me of Chick Corea Electric Band. These elements appear side by side with djent-inspired odd metered metal grooves and vocals which are sometimes harsh and sometimes melodic (but without being poppy, like you hear in some branches of metalcore). As a whole, this album is characterized by dynamic song structures with numerous twists and turns and, personally, I really enjoy listening to it.

There seems to be a considerable inspiration from Cynic which is ubiquitous on the album and there are certain similarities with the jazz-driven djent project Animals As Leaders, but this does not mean that "Intrinsic" is not original.

Fans of tech/prog metalcore and djent as well as jazz metal should definitely chick this fine album out!