The Contortionist

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The Contortionist
The Contortionist 2014.jpg
The Contortionist performing in 2014
Background information
Also known asAt the Hands of Machines (2007–2008)
Origin Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Genres
Years active2007–present
Labels
Members
  • Robby Baca
  • Joey Baca
  • Cameron Maynard
  • Michael Lessard
  • Eric Guenther
  • Jordan Eberhardt
Past members
  • Jake Morris
  • Dave Hoffman
  • Jonathan Carpenter
  • Christopher Tilley
Website facebook.com/thecontortionist

The Contortionist is an American progressive metal band from Indianapolis, Indiana. Formed in 2007, the band consists of guitarists Robby Baca and Cameron Maynard, drummer Joey Baca, vocalist Mike Lessard, bassist Jordan Eberhardt, and keyboardist Eric Guenther. They have released four studio albums and three EPs. The band signed with eOne Music and Good Fight Entertainment in early 2010. [1]

Contents

History

Hoffman departed the band in early 2010 and was replaced by Jonathan Carpenter. Not too long after Carpenter's arrival, The Contortionist began work on their debut album, Exoplanet . Exoplanet was released on August 31, 2010 through Good Fight Entertainment. The album's sound continued the progressive metal/deathcore sound heard on Apparition, with lyrics exploring themes such as space and interstellar travel. Several of the album's songs are reworked songs from Apparition, featuring new lyrics written by Carpenter with slightly different musical passages. The band's second album, Intrinsic , was released on July 17, 2012. A month before the album's release, the Contortionist released their first music video for the song "Holomovement." The sound of Intrinsic differed from previous releases; the album still contained elements of deathcore, but had a greater focus on melody and atmosphere. [2]

Mike Lessard of Last Chance to Reason took over vocal duties for upcoming shows until the band found a permanent replacement. Mike Lessard commented on filling in for Carpenter:

"I'm happy to be helping my friends in the Contortionist for the next few months on tour as a temporary vocalist. I'll be returning to my duties in Last Chance to Reason once these dates are finished in May. I look forward to seeing a bunch of new and familiar faces in the months to come." [3]

On June 21, 2013, the Contortionist announced via their Facebook page that Mike Lessard was officially their new vocalist.

The Contortionist in 2012 The Contortionist.jpg
The Contortionist in 2012

On April 23, 2014, the Contortionist announced via Facebook the completion of recording their third full-length album. The album was produced by Jamie King (Between the Buried and Me, He Is Legend, the Human Abstract, among many others). [4]

The band released their fourth album, entitled Clairvoyant , on September 15, 2017. [5] This album featured a softer sound, with predominantly clean vocals.

On August 9, 2019, the band released the EP Our Bones . The EP features two new full-length songs, an ambient interlude, and a cover of "1979", originally by The Smashing Pumpkins. [6]

Musical style and influences

The Contortionist's musical style has been described as progressive metal [7] [8] [9] and progressive rock. [10] The band's early work showed one-time experiments in other metal genres outside their primary sound; their second EP Apparition has been described as deathcore. [8] [9] [11] Robby Baca has stated that his influences include Planet X, Pat Metheny, Meshuggah, Allan Holdsworth, Between the Buried and Me, Dream Theater, The Dear Hunter, Textures, Deftones, [12] Gojira, and Animosity. [13] Former member Jonathan Carpenter also stated that his personal influences include Dream Theater and ambient composer Brian Eno. [14] Other influences include Rush, Isis, and Cynic. [15]

Members

Timeline

The Contortionist

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positions
US
[19]
US Indie
[20]
US Rock
[21]
US Hard Rock
[22]
Exoplanet
Intrinsic
  • Released: July 17, 2012
  • Label: eOne, Good Fight
  • Formats: CD, LP, DL
125234212
Language
  • Released: September 16, 2014
  • Label: eOne, Good Fight
  • Formats: CD, LP, DL
5213156
Clairvoyant
  • Released: September 15, 2017
  • Label: eOne, Good Fight
  • Formats: CD, LP, DL
1358267
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Live albums

List of live albums
TitleAlbum details
Retrospective: Live from Atlanta [23]
  • Released: January 30, 2023
  • Label: MNRK Heavy
  • Format: LP

EPs

List of extended plays
TitleEP details
Sporadic Movements(released under At the Hands of Machines)
Shapeshifter
  • Released: September 1, 2008
  • Label: Independent
  • Format: CD
Apparition
  • Released: September 24, 2009
  • Label: Independent
  • Format: CD
Our Bones

Singles

YearSongAlbum
2012"Holomovement" [24] Intrinsic
"Causality" [25]
2014"Language I: Intuition" [26] Language
"Primordial Sound" [27]
2017"Reimagined" [28] Clairvoyant
"Absolve" [29]
"Return to Earth" [30]
2019"Early Grave" [31] Our Bones

Music videos

YearSongDirector
2012"Causality"
"Dreaming Schematics"
2014"Language I: Intuition" Corey Norman
"Primordial Sound"
2015"The Parable" (Rediscovered)Erez Bader [32]
"Language" (Rediscovered)
"Primordial Sound" (Rediscovered)
"The Source" (Rediscovered)
2017"Reimagined"
"Return to Earth"
2019"Early Grave"
2020"1979"Michael Lessard [33]
2022"Primal Directive" (live)

Concert tours

See also

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References

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