These guys were one of the first bands to surface in my recent discovery and following infatuation with deathcore of the more prog/tech/melodic variety, in fact, probably the band that piqued my interest for the area entirely, long before I even started this blog. I recently started giving them more of the listening time they deserve, and was reminded again of how completely awesome they are.
The style of the music is odd. In terms of the deathcore, it comes in through the more guttural style of vocals and the sludgier down-tuned chug. This is constantly contrasted with the plink and chimes of the guitars and atmospherics though, and the sparse clean vocals which range from sounding angelic to robotic. It's probably also a good time to mention these guys are all about space... not that it isn't immediately obvious from the album art/name or track titles. Lyrically, that's the other thing that sets them apart from other death or core-oriented bands; this fixation with the future... the stars, planets and beyond.
They're also one of the more progressive bands around the scene today, drawing fans even from the prog & math metal realm. Song structures are consistently inconsistent, there's syncopations aplenty, and they aren't afraid to soar into the beautiful realm of the serene or minimal, and then come crashing down with an fist-pumping, head-banging chug, riff or shred.
Let's just say there's a very good reason why many of the comments on their music on youtube are about the users jizzing themselves or otherwise becoming aroused, and that The Contortionist have the potential to be one of the greatest deathcore bands of all times (if they aren't already considered so by some out there).
ExoplanetReleased: 2010
Country: USA
Genre: Progressive Metal/Deathcore
"Flourish"
"Primal Directive"
FFO: Volumes, Born of Osiris, Between the Buried and Me
