CLAIRVOYANT

Despite being one of the best records, if not the best record, I have ever heard in my life, I've held off writing an actual review of this album. There's simply no way for me to fully articulate my adoration for it in a mere 150-word blurb and therefore avoided even trying to do so.

As progressive metal fans, we obviously expect our music to be ambitious with a variety of textures, moods, and styles being performed by extremely technically proficient musicians. As fans of modern progressive metal specifically, we want our music to grapple with our own feelings of existential uncertainty and detachment while also offering glimpses of meaning and transcendent beauty. This is a tall order for any artist to fill. And yet, on Clairvoyant, The Contortionist somehow do exactly that.

For my money, The Contortionist is the greatest of the new generation of progressive metal acts. And if the trend of nearly exponential growth in maturity from album to album persists into the future, we will be looking at one of the greatest rock groups to ever grace our world.