TesseracT - Altered State

TesseracT - Altered State
2013 / Progressive metal

Djent. Profanity to some and an attraction to some. The amount of 'djent' artists has exploded this decade and the absolutely atrocious quality of some of the bands who call themselves 'djent' have caused the word itself to describe awful chugging riffs and other generic elements. TesseracT are one of the most known artists in this field, but fortunately, they know how to do this right. 

As people read that TesseracT are a modern progressive metal band, they already expect low tuned guitars and rhythmic guitar passages, but TesseracT is more than that. The departure of Daniel Tompkins caused quite many people to sort of avoid 'Altered State', but Ashe O'Hara's performance is top notch. The vocals are, in my opinion, one of the best ones in progressive metal. Moody and powerful and even though the pitch is pretty high, the vocals don't sound whiny.

The rhythmically playful guitar passages and the lead guitars in the foreground create a pleasantly energetic mood and the overall mood range goes from joyous to gloomy. TesseracT don't just chug open strings. The variation of the guitar passage is wonderful and ranges from powerful and loud riffs to ambient influenced clean guitars. The way the songs and the album are built is also magnificent. Every song has its own position on the album and has a smooth transition to the next song. The album actually consists of four parts, which are divided into separate songs. 

Even though 'djent' usually predicts awful wannabe progressive metal or 'progressive deathcore', TesseracT shows how 'djent' should be done. 'Altered State' and 'One' (TesseracT's first album) are definitely essential modern progressive metal albums, whether people like it or not. 

Favourite songs: 'Of Mind - Exiled', 'Of Reality - Calabi-yau