The Moshville Times - Review: TesseracT

Pioneering, home grown prog-metallers TesseracT have just released their latest studio instalment, which comes in the form of a four track EP, stripping back songs off their latest full length Polaris.

Similarities can be drawn between the band’s earlier release of Perspective as this EP reveals to the listener a more laid back and ambient vibe, similar to that earlier EP. Nonetheless the arrangement of parts in Errai are intricate and delve into a whole new realm of sounds for the band.

Notably this gives an opportunity for vocalist Daniel Tompkins to truly mesmerise listeners with his amazing vocal abilities, without possibly competition from the rest of the music. TesseracT are known for their grooves and complex rhythms, which may sometimes draw fans away from the vocal centre piece. The intense harmonies and addition in vocal parts to these reworked tracks really do bring Dan into a new light.

First track “Survival” begins with a long piano intro, coupled with ambient reverbs and synths that churn quietly in the background. This allows an intimate duet between the keys and vocals, just before the rest of the band kick in – it is truly beautiful. The keys remain a prominent feature of this track, along with additional strings and moments of heavily eq’d drums to add to the ambient vibe.

Second track “Cages” begins in similar fashion to the first track. A steady build up between Dan and the rest of the music drives on till the entry of the rest of the band around the middle of the track. Whilst most of the tracks compromise of clean guitars and stripped back drums, “Cages” does feature thumping distorted bass lines and their classic guitar tonne briefly.

On the contrary the third track “Tourniquet” comprises of a new territory of sounds for the good portion of the song. Aesthetic and elegant synths and soundscapes created building up the song dominate the accompaniment to the vocals. This is my favourite track off the EP.

The last track on the album “Seven Names” gracefully ends the EP with an airy and ambient guitar solo midway through the track. It features much of the same instrument wise and the stripped back version of this song does justice to the heavily climatic ending of Polaris.

On the whole Errai felt like a sweet treat for many TesseracT fans that constantly long for more material. Hearing the four tracks in stripped back formed gave Dan centre stage and pleasantly brought new sounds to the ever growing compendium that TesseracT bring to this genre.

Errai is out now and can be grabbed from Amazon. The following links support this website: