Having seen progressive rock/metal favorites The Contortionist a total of 9 times since 2010 (when they released their debut full-length Exoplanet), I’ve seen the band through now 3 album cycles (as the Language album cycle now draws to a close), and two vocalists – the excellent Jonathan Carpenter and his replacement, Michael Lessard (of Last Chance To Reason fame). Having seen Michael for the first time in late 2013 at one of his first shows replacing Jonathan, Michael cemented himself as not just a fill-in – but an absolute star as the frontman of the band. And on 2014’s hyper-successful Language, he added a smooth flavor to the band that even the most optimistic of fans couldn’t have imagined. The Contortionist is modern progressive rock for the 21st century. They quite easily channel the technicality and ambiance of Cynic, while still containing a pummeling underbelly of occasionally crushing metallic fury.
I caught up with vocalist Michael Lessard in a coffee chop in Ybor City, about an hour before their headlining set – which they killed, by the way. We talked about everything from how often he practices singing to their current (sadly ending in a couple days) tour w/Entheos and Sleepmakeswaves. Check out the audio below. Editor’s note: Apologies for the slight background noise – we were at a coffee shop, after all, but you can pick up mostly everything well enough.
