Intrinsic is the latest release from extreme progressive metallers The Contortionist, and sees the band moving further and further away from their deathcore beginnings into atmospheric and at times very technical prog rock. It's almost as if the band has been living on a steady diet of Cynic, Rush, and Porcupine Tree since their 2010 debut Exoplanet. Not that Intrinsic is stripped of any of their brutal nature, which you can clearly hear on "Causality", "Geocentric Confusion", and "Sequential Vision", but the band is relying more on atmosphere and extended instrumental passages here which provide a new depth to their sound. Vocalist/keyboard player Jonathan Carpenter does a nice job going from melodic prog crooning to maniacal death metal growl on many of these songs, mixing it up well on the highly progressive tracks "Holomovement" and "Feedback Loop". Fans of Cynic will love the effects laden clean vocals which are sprinkled throughout these songs, often paired with intricate guitar & keyboard passages, as on the wild "Dreaming Schematics". The band even pulls off some intense, heavy & complex arrangements on tunes such as "Cortical" and "Anatomy Anomalies" that wouldn't sound out of place on a Dream Theater or Between the Buried and Me album.
Good stuff from start to finish, Intrinsic is an album by a band that might not be on everyones radar yet, but should be very soon. If technical progressive metal with a extreme edge is your thing, make sure you check this one out.
Track Listing
01. Holomovement
02. Feedback Loop
03. Causality
04. Sequential Vision
05. Geocentric Confusion
06. Dreaming Schematics
07. Anatomy Anomalies
08. Cortical
09. Sollipsis
10. Parallel Trance
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