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CONTEMPLATOR

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal • Canada


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Contemplator biography
Contemplator is instrumental progressive music that circles around and between genre boundaries, from the prog-rock leanings of Uematsu's RPG video game scores to the angular dissonances of GORGUTS.

The project was born after Christian PACAUD came back from his tour playing bass for AUGURY in 2010, inspired by all the deeply creative, passionate and unique people he had met along the road. Now convinced people out there are just waiting for daring and bold musical experiments to shove down their brains, he turned all musical filters off, pressed record and went with the flow.

The "Contemplator" EP was released in 2013. MetalSucks' Vince Neilstein featured it in his "Unsigned and Unholy" column: "This is excellent technical death metal that isn't too big on the "tech" side, if you catch my drift - there's a ton to grab onto here, not just riff salad."

Now a four-piece band with current and past members of AUGURY and AETERNAM, Contemplator are releasing "Sonance", their debut full-length album, mixed/mastered by Colin Marston (GORGUTS, KRALLICE, DYSRHYTHMIA), available on Bandcamp (and other platforms) starting August 21.

The music could be described as progressive, is instrumental, rather on the metal spectrum of things, has weird synth textures and strings arrangements.

Influences include 70's progressive rock, 90's japanese role-playing video game music, modern progressive and technical death metal as well as touches of other styles such as jazz fusion and jam bands.

Contemplator

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CONTEMPLATOR discography


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CONTEMPLATOR top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.00 | 1 ratings
Sonance
2016
4.00 | 3 ratings
Morphose
2022

CONTEMPLATOR Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

CONTEMPLATOR Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

CONTEMPLATOR Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

CONTEMPLATOR Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings
Contemplator
2013

CONTEMPLATOR Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Morphose by CONTEMPLATOR album cover Studio Album, 2022
4.00 | 3 ratings

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Morphose
Contemplator Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by alainPP

4 stars CONTEMPLATOR was born in 2010 through Christian PACAUD, a Quebec musician offering instrumental prog rock death technical music with RPG game connotations, amen as we say in France! It comes from the group AUGURY and presents a metallic spectrum with progressive, classic slopes and some jazzy touches to decorate the whole. Originally drawing from his father's discography on prog dinosaurs such as YES, GENESIS or KING CRIMSON and later in video game music, all sprinkled with more recent prog bands such as PORCUPINE TREE, SPOCK'S BEARD or MARS VOLTA, UNEXPECT and OPETH for the priority metal side, finally the influence of classical composers Igor STRAVINSKY and Paul HINDEMITH.

"Rite of Shards" solemn, latent, depressive-melancholic intro of great beauty, a bit on the BOF 'Les Aîles du Désir', majestic violin, we are on chamber music à la MORTE MACABRE dark and post-rock; mid-course explosion on REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER without the voice of course, bass à la HARRIS, à la SQUIRE very present and flight of keyboards for a jammed neo-prog drawer; break in a contemporary classical music atmosphere, it abounds with ideas until the dithyrambic crescendical finale and the violin to conclude in a burst of generosity, musical relaxation. "Vestigial" makes me think of a synthesis of the frozen universe of ART ZOYD with the cinematic space currently in vogue; soaring layers of keyboards and presence of the bass as a guiding thread, contribution of the jerky djent guitar for a moment for a singular jazzy heavy post prog title, while reminding me from afar, up close of the atmospheres of Devin TOWNSEND, surprising what. "Ephemeron" with a heavy, heavy, catchy and slightly hypnotic riff; basic mix on dark rock intonation, airy synth break, jazzy limit à la ZAPPA in its unique musical drifts; it goes up, it breaks, it lives, it's very strong, nervous and heavy. "Ashes Swallowed" is perhaps the strangest title with an unprecedented association between rhythmic metal and violin declination, a bit of bass à la Tony LEVIN, heavy sounds of unhealthy ARS NOVA, short but punchy title.

"Zero Mask" a nod to the pandemic and this cruel lack? I can not believe it. Solemn intro then a dark universe going from ZAPPA to KING CRIMSON for the melancholic side; the synth wants to be hovering allowing to send you in an astral journey where mushrooms explode like this drums; musical fusion with synth reminding me this time of the GENESIS of the 80s then the synths of RUDESS before coming back to the heavy dark sound. "Hollowing the Flame" its convoluted, yes I like to write it when it goes into several musical drawers; between heavy and dark prog, between fusion and dark, between musical madness and bucolic passages like this refreshing Austin accordion and this Marxophone from elsewhere; choppy bass with memories of YES and its bass player, in short twirling. "The Catch" always full of vitaminized musical sap and a more romantic declension so as not to fall into the spleen with violin; it's still very heavy, says my girlfriend who passes by and gives me big eyes; so the metal tag is well forward away from the post current of the start; a dynamic and energetic groove, furious! "Idol Obedience" continues or continues on the same plot to the point that I thought it was just a break; it calms down a tad to let the tempo plunge on lugubrious, icy atmospheres where the piano matched with the striated guitar makes its charm; well the heavy metal prog djent returns and seems to run at a gallop on the last minutes of this electric title where the bass delivers its last cartridges.

CONTEMPLATOR releases this album 'musical melting pot' bringing a holistic approach to different genres and giving itself no constraint, a double-edged trap smoothly led finally. Christian PACAUD helped by his acolytes delivers sound in its raw state where the reminiscences of the groups mentioned are more markers in the state than real influences; he manages to amalgamate metal, guitars and violin, heavy and hovering riffs, groovy and jazzy atmosphere, modern djent tunes at times and dark heavy to make you travel on his unique personal ideas; he is in this sense a progressive musician of the 21st century freeing himself from the dinosaurs to offer a fresh, modern and inventive updated sound. The morphosis risks taking you into a new musical register sweeping away all your values ​​of the prog spirit.

 Sonance by CONTEMPLATOR album cover Studio Album, 2016
4.00 | 1 ratings

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Sonance
Contemplator Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by rdtprog
Special Collaborator Heavy, RPI, Symph, JR/F Canterbury Teams

— First review of this album —
4 stars From Quebec Canada, the band is playing some instrumental Progressive Metal on the technical side and avant-garde style with atonal key signatures. You won't find an instantly hummable melody, but rather an intense atmosphere of dark and heavy music that put you in a discomfort zone. The music is mainly driven by guitars/bass/drums and violin. But there are some passages when the music gets lighter, especially in the first part of the beautiful song "Welkin". The last track "Meridian" is another brilliant song with some nice balance between melody and technique and some tasty string arrangments. If you enjoy the style of bands like Unexpect and Opeth, this has a good chance to satisfy you. You should also check out their first EP from 2013, who is not bad at all and more melodic
Thanks to rdtprog for the artist addition.

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