The Saturday Sound — Week 8
The Contortionist — Clairvoyant
By Gavin Dransfield
I don’t meet many people who listen to metal. It’s no surprise, considering the sonic heaviness and subversive techniques of the genre that can easily disgruntle any casual consumer of music. I myself had a hard time warming up to it for many years; I was subject to the stereotypical association of metal with unnecessarily loud, brutal instrumentation and screamed vocals which glorified violence and sacrilege. And I don’t think it would be any stretch to say that this impression is still the case today, and the primary reason for listeners to avoid the genre.
It was a time of thrilling discovery when I was introduced to The Contortionist. They were the first metal band to really grab my attention, and I was hesitant to admit how much they impressed me with only a few songs. While it’s true that much of the band’s discography employs the aforementioned techniques — heavy instrumentation, vocals that are screamed, yelled, or even growled — there’s a surprising amount of emotion and intelligence involved, as well as instrumental methods that are nothing short of jaw-dropping. As I explored the band, I realized that metal isn’t so much an unpopular genre as it is a misunderstood one. And that’s where Clairvoyant comes in handy: to help you understand it.
I can confidently recommend Clairvoyant to more people than any of The Contortionist’s other releases for several reasons. It’s the band’s most recent and most approachable album; it features some of their most emotional writing and some of their most captivating performances; it sounds less heavy without feeling less heavy, allowing the listener to take in all the adrenaline of a powerful, energetic metal album without stepping too far beyond their comfort zone. In fact, I’d hesitate to even call this particular album “metal.”
Turn the album on and you’ll see what I mean. The introductory “Monochrome (Passive)” sounds more like an orchestra of guitars and synthesizers than a band. WIth a slow, pulsating beat that expands into a steady 5/4 groove, layers upon layers of harmonic melodies building one on top of another, and a cosmic and ambient finish, it’s a song that, much like the rest of the album, exchanges sounding heavy for sounding BIG. And as a single piano stab marks the transition into the next track, “Godspeed,” the album thrusts the listener into an exhilarating wonderland of awe-inspiring and gorgeously powerful music.
Every track on Clairvoyant stands out. Every single one. The album achieves the perfect balance between showcasing a variety of different moods and sounds while still containing itself as a single work of art. The title track, “Clairvoyant,” is fast, dizzying, and electrifying, and the appropriately-named “The Center,” the centerpiece of the album, is a slow and gradual build. “Return to Earth” is epic and climactic, while “Monochrome (Pensive),” which reprises the opening track, is cathartic, emotional, and even delicate, in a sense. Each song is its own chapter of feeling contributing to an overarching theme.
That theme is the other defining characteristic of this album. Lead vocalist Michael Lessard identifies Clairvoyant, as well as the preceding album Language, as a tribute to a close friend who lost his life to a drug addiction. Peppered throughout the lyrics are meditations on the nature of addiction, the desperation for a fix that kills and the grief it fails to bury. As a result, the album is deeply heartfelt, and even has a dash of spiritual resonance to it. These are songs with true meaning that will touch even the most defiant critics of metal or any similar genre.
If you’ve ever been intrigued by metal but wished to dig into it slowly and carefully, Clairvoyant is the album for you. It features just enough hints of heaviness to give a sample-sized taste, while sticking to its own unique guns of technical, progressive rock. You likely won’t find another album quite like Clairvoyant, nor another band quite like The Contortionist, and I sincerely hope that they serve well as a gateway into your enjoyment of a genre that, though misunderstood, possesses an abundance of instrumental prowess, powerful writing, and — as The Contortionist proves — raw, sincere emotion.
Stream the album:
