#michael lessard

The Contortionist - Language (2014)

Pretentious is a word I often use to describe things in a negative light. Perhaps everyone uses the term in such a way. Though I must not deny that my thoughts on this album are fairly pretentious. I have long since refused to talk about this album; as I never felt that my words would fully describe what this album means to me. Why it is my favorite album. What it means to me. It might be the only 5 that will always be there. One I never in my 6 years of knowing the album have thought about lowering the rating. It is a testament to how wonderful I feel this album is. Though to accurately depict my love for this album, I must explain my history.

Like a lot of people at some point in their life, I was once innocent, and hid away my troubles because it is a common thing to do. The more troubles I hid, the more insecure I grew. The more insecure I grew, the more I started to see my life falling around me. Paranoia and anxiety grew, and I felt that I would be the next Humpty Dumpty. Self-loathing and cynicism grew. I grew insecure of that, and grew to hate it. The seed that made me discover what hate truly was. Insecurity in its most aggressive form. You hate the very things you wish were punished because you are punished yourself for a similar reason. Lacking the understanding of context and situational differences. I never fully understood these things because I almost refused to. I truly felt I would not leave the situation I was in. I was a preacher who did not follow my own teachings. Speaking out about hypocrisy but not seeing my own. Always aware but never accepting it. I rather would hide my own problems by going after others'. Though in 2014, I believe things started to change.

High School was pretty rough for me, but looking back even through all the depression and hardship, I feel like it was the best time in my life in a way. It helped me become who I am today. I met someone who changed my life. His name was Lance. He introduced me to metal, and many artists that made me become the passionate music lover I am today. He showed me Rings of Saturn, an artist that I obsessed over to ridiculous levels. Through them I discovered two albums. One of them is this album. My YouTube recommendations recommended me this album. My first listen I don't remember fully. I just remember being amazed by the beauty of everything I heard. It made me reflect on better times. I listened to it a lot because genuinely the instrumentation was the best thing I had ever heard at that point. Normally music kinda fell out of favor with me after a while, but this just stuck. Stick it did. I began to notice the smallest of details in the album and were amazed by them. The manic screams in “Language II: Conspire” that are almost unnoticeable at first, the lovely beginning to “Integration”; one of my favorite songs ever, the beautiful bass solo in “Thrive”, the outro to “Primordial Sound”, the outro to “Arise”, the outro to "Ebb and Flow”, and the reflection “The Parable” brings. That Alan Watts quote sticks with me, it feels like a reflection on the entire album. The more I think about this album, the better I feel about myself. The lyrics made this for me. I feel like it told me how to change and I never noticed. I feel at this moment now that I finally understand its message. It is symbolic of the human cognitive process. How we grow as people, despite the monotony of everything going on around us. Like tides pushing and pulling; ebb and flow. Everything is so simplified lyric-wise that it almost sounds cryptic, and that allows you to interpret it your way. Something I grew to love in music without noticing. This had far more impact on me as a person than I ever realized. I never could describe it because I never understood how transformative it was of me. Until now.

Language is important, both in reality and speaking about this album. This album feels meticulously thought out and executed at the highest of level. The instrumentals all compliment the wonderful and welcoming voice of Michael Lessard. It gets aggressive when it needs to be, and always at the perfect times. The lyricism is perfect, and sees Michael at his full potential. It is uplifting to think that the man who wore "The Contortionist" merch in a music video shoot 3 years prior to this album would become the vocalist of this band. It uplifts you. Michael Lessard is not only inspiring inside the music world, but outside too. A wonderful individual who is a living example that you can change, and make things better for yourself. I remember a couple years back reading a story of how Language inspired a 9 year old kid to stand up against bullying, it put me to tears seeing how impactful music can be to people. This album just feels like a reflection on Michael Lessard as a whole. It also feels like a part of me. I am so proud of who I am. Happy that I finally reached this peak, and ready to tackle the next with a smile for once. Trying to get back into shape, just like Michael has done. I hope people reading this can find an album that means to them what this album means to me. Or something else in their main interest. Art is powerful. It transforms and inspires generations to do things that they never thought they could ever do. I am happy I was able to understand its impact on the world. Through all the years of people thinking art was dying, it has survived. I feel blessed to have the thing that made me happy as a child continue to transform me today. Language is what made me discover this power once again. It is the most vital musical work to me. It will always be. I finally fully realize why I love this album. It is so empowering.