Released on September 18th, 2015, “Polaris” was the third album from the British metal innovators, TESSERACT, and their first on the KScope label, best known for all sorts of post-prog acts, Steven Wilson, and ANATHEMA. This endeavor also marked the return of their original vocalist, Daniel Tompkins, who had been fronting the ambience-driven quantum proggers, SKYHARBOR, after his departure in 2011. All this was somewhat indicative that this album would be a significantly more atmospheric affair than TESSERACT‘s debut, on which this lineup had last collaborated. Okay, the band’s 2013 endeavor “Altered State,” which featured prodigious Ashen O’Hara of VOICES FROM THE FUSELAGE on vocals, had already plunged into the atmospheric depths of djenty prog-metal, but as much as I love the album and O’Hara‘s contributions to it, for me, there is only one definitive vocalist that fits TESSERACT‘s music like a glove – and it’s Tompkins. The emotive power of his vocals was one of the very aspects that made this album really stand out among its peers. It was no small feat, considering what great albums did come out that year: “The Congregation” by LEPROUS, “Coma Ecliptic” by BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, “Bloom” by CALIGULA’S HORSE, and “A Dream in Static” by EARTHSIDE, to name just a few. While the album was perhaps less groundbreaking in its polished approach than those two previous outings, it rolls out those familiar-sounding bangers with such force that you’d better embrace yourself. This album is capable of both overwhelming you with its intensity and soothing you with those oh-so-lovely atmospheric qualities.
The contemporary polyrhythms of djent serve merely as a point of reference on this album, with the watchword being “prog.” This approach was applied to a resonant effect already on “Altered State,” but here, it is taken to even more beautiful extremes. By this time, even the most fanatical adherents of djent were ready to shake hands on the fact that TESSERACT was something much more than that (or less, depending on how strait-laced-puritanical you wished to be about the subject). One of the most haunting examples of this is the raw-emotion-condensed-into-ambience of a track entitled “Tourniquet.” It is basically an intricately layered pop song about love, but one filtered through the band’s unique prog-metal prism – quite an unorthodox thing to do for a metal band, perhaps, but anything genuine to the point of raw is rarely best served by being placed into a tidy little box and wrapped with a bow. The slow, ambient build-up is something that makes every single hair on your body stand on end in anticipation of the final explosion. It is only in the song’s coda that you get a few djenty grooves.
The balance between the more riff-driven bangers and the atmospheric gut-punches is near perfect in this selection. The album kicks off with a run of three songs that rely mostly on crushing riffs, and then “Tourniquet” leaves you breathless for a moment, before another batch of quantum riffs bulldozes over you. Of course, in the riff-burgers, there are ample ambient passages to tug at your heartstrings. The middle section in “Phoenix” is particularly effective in this respect, as well as the first half of “Hexes.” Finally, “Seven Names” brings the album to a close with an atmospheric-prog tour de force that does not pale in comparison to the emotional impact of “Tourniquet.” The song basically distills holy fire into spiritual ointment for the soul with methods rooted in the grimoire magic of djent in every bit as forcefully as the closer, “Eden,” did on the band’s debut.
Tompkin‘s otherworldly vocal delivery is something that obviously steals your attention most of the time, but drummer Jay Postones does every bit as impressive a job behind his kit throughout the album. His quantum syncopations almost make you experience a flash forward in time – you can almost hear the sound of the future before it even happens. When this album came out, I had already perched these djenty Britons at the top of the prog-metal ladder, thanks to “Altered State,” and this fine selection only further proved that I was right. The concept of ramming brutal, off-kilter riffs against each other against the backdrop of ethereal sonic bliss was the best damn thing since the invention of the electric guitar – and I still do believe it is. I merely have trivial complaints about this album; it really has no flaws. The song order could have been different, that’s all. Then again, over the past 10 years, I have grown accustomed to this order, and, as this endeavor begs to be listened to in one go from start to finish, I guess I would hate to have it any other way now. “Polaris” was yet another statement of astonishingly high caliber, released in the relatively short time span of 4 years, so it’s no brainer that TESSERACT would become the luminous sages of the Empyrean prog-metal realms they are now, 10 years later.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Dystopia
- Hexes
- Survival
- Tourniquet
- Utopia
- Phoenix
- Messenger
- Cages
- Seven Names
Lineup
Daniel Tompkins – vocals
Acle Kahney – guitars, production
James Monteith – guitars
Amos Williams – bass, backing vocals
Jay Postones – drums
Label
KScope
Links
https://www.tesseractband.co.uk
