Review: Benjamin Coe
A lot has happened in the years since English prog giants TesseracT released their last full-length album, Sonder. A global pandemic forced not just the band, but the entire world to rethink and reconfigure the way we all go about our daily lives and earn our keep. Touring bands in particular had to think outside the box as to how they could continue to engage their audiences without being able to actually tour the world. And TesseracT not only survived this period of strain and uncertainty, but they flourished.
For a band spread across various cities and countries, they made the most of modern technology releasing a Live in Lockdown special in which each member played their individual parts from the comfort of their own homes and when the opportunity arose for them to be in the same place for a period of time, they recorded and unleashed the amazing Portals live album/DVD to critical and audience acclaim.
And it’s this type of forward-thinking that has brought us to now, with TesseracT gearing up to let album number 5, titled War Of Being, out into the world and once again solidify their place at the top of the progressive music podium. Having released two singles as a small-yet-satisfying taste of what to expect from the phenomenal record that they have crafted, the djent giants are clearly pouring everything they’ve got into these new tunes and everyone’s better for it.
Opening with the heavy Natural Disaster, vocalist Daniel Tompkins continues to show why he is one of the best vocalists this world has to offer. The aggression and passion shown across War Of Being’s 9 track run time is unparalleled in the bands back-catalogue. It’s as if they’ve had nothing better to do for the last few years than play and perfect their chosen instruments and strongly hone their songwriting skills. And boy has it paid off.
Tompkins has gone next level with what he can do with his amazing vocal range, from guttural roars to his signature soaring highs all underpinning the colossal riff work of dual guitarists Acle Kahney and James Monteith which in conjunction with the ever-increasing talent of drummer Jay Postones and rhythm section partner, bassist Amos Williams, has the band performing far beyond what they’ve achieved in the past.
TesseracT are the kind of band that with each release they leave you wondering “how are they going to top this?” and every single time they smash it right out of the park. Songs such as Legion and Tender will have you picking your jaw up from the floor and the vocal work on Sirens almost brings a tear to the eye. It’s so hard to imagine where they will go from here, but for the moment we can just sit back and revel in the sonic awesomeness that is War Of Being.
Easily the bands heaviest and darkest album to date, War Of Being might not grab you instantly but after a few listens these songs will be clawing their way through your skull and throwing curve ball after curve ball to prove once and for all that TesseracT are the absolute kings of what they do and rightfully deserve their place atop the podium of prog metal.
TesseracT – War of Being is out Sept 15 via Kscope
Pre-save / Pre-order War of Being now!
https://tesseractkscope.lnk.
