Sonder

Album review

While many were eagerly for awaiting a new album from A Perfect Circle, others were counting down the days until the release of TesseracT’s fourth album. Obviously, many will celebrate both bands, as the latter would probably never had existed without the former, even if they have come a long way since their first EP Concealing Fate. In eleven years, this leading figure of djent and prog metal has become a name worth following, particularly since the imposing Polaris, arguably one of 2015’s best albums. Despite its chronic instability, the band has seen tremendous progress (no pun intended), and is now competing with the biggest names in the genre such as Dream Theater, Tool, Between the Buried and Me, Mastodon, and even their Australian cousins from Karnivool... And as is often the case in the history of rock music, the Milton Keynes quintet adds an indefinable and ever so British touch of originality and sassy creativity.

Some tracks appear more consensual and approachable, and beyond opening with the melodious Luminary, the album Smile, released as a teaser during the summer of 2017, is able to blend a certain form of instrumental complexity with a polished writing, halfway between Faith No More and Linkin Park (yes, that’s a rather broad range, but there is a bit of both in the band’s musical language). The ballad Orbital wouldn’t have felt out of place on the latter’s heavily criticised One More Light. With a phenomenal singer such as Daniel Tompkins, they could undeniably afford it! On the rest of the album, almost anything goes for Tesseract, from the simple and more or less brutal (King) to long tracks where funky syncopations alternate with sublime ethereal compositions. Beneath My Skin/Mirror Image would have Incubus drooling, just like all those who have tried to switch from an emotional range to more subdued or solemn atmospheres in the last ten to twenty years. The band reaches a new level of mastery, as the guitarist/producer’s expertise seems without bound. Granted a few metal fans might be taken aback listening to the very pop Juno, an improbable mix between Michael Jackson and Chevelle or Saliva… But all things considered, it’s only further proof that Tesseract have everything it takes to go far, very far. © Jean-Pierre Sabouret/Qobuz