{"id":5064,"date":"2018-04-20T03:17:55","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T03:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/?p=5064"},"modified":"2018-04-20T03:19:30","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T03:19:30","slug":"review-tesseract-sonder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/20\/review-tesseract-sonder\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: TesseracT – Sonder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world of progressive metal is as broad as it is wide-encompassing. Bands the world over fill the genre with some of the best in technical prowess, musicality, and the truest trait of any progressive metal band: odd time signatures all over the place. But what is it about TesseracT that sets them apart from their contemporaries? To start, the Milton Keynes quintet aren\u2019t ones to stay confined within the usual \u201cprog-metal\u201d circle, which makes them a bit too difficult to really nail down. Call them prog-metal, call them djent, call them whatever you\u2019d like; the bottom line is that TesseracT is looking to rise up the ranks of the progressive music scene, and on their fourth and newest album, Sonder<\/em>, they are here to not just make a statement, but are here to lay down their flag over the entire scene.<\/p>\n

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Off the bat, the sound of Sonder<\/em> is pristine, filled with plenty of presence and nuance in each individual instrument; everything comes through sounding incredibly polished with incredibly clarity. The bass tone of Amos Williams greatly accentuates the dual guitar work of Acle Kahney and James Monteith, with plenty of love for the mid-range all around. Of course, the excellent drum work of Jay Postones is present all over the album, be it in the booming half-time chorus breaks or in the clean syncopated sections; try and count the odd time sections at the end of \u201cMirror Image\u201d in your head as an exercise, then you\u2019ll grow to appreciate the little idiosyncrasies in the arrangement that much more. As for the vocals, this might be the best studio performance we\u2019ve ever heard from Daniel Tompkins on a TesseracT album; from bellowing out epic elongated choruses on \u201cLuminary\u201d to screaming out lines of frustration and dominance on \u201cKing,\u201d he is certainly in his groove and element on Sonder<\/em>, especially when going back and forth between screaming and melodic singing on the track \u201cSmile\u201d with the lines:<\/p>\n

I can feel you getting closer <\/em><\/strong>
\nI can sense you start to smile<\/em><\/strong>
\nI see colossal eyes <\/em>
\nThere\u2019s a shadow on the sun<\/em>
\nAnd no wonder why<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s something delightfully sinister about those lines being sung in two diametric opposite manners.<\/p>\n

There are softer moments on the album, such as the electronic-infused interlude-of-sorts \u201cOrbital,\u201d which feel reminiscent of White Moth Black Butterfly, Tompkins\u2019 other musical project – it\u2019s not a detraction, Atone<\/em> was an excellent album from them, one of the best of 2017. The track sets a very moody and atmospheric tone, leading right into the next track, \u201cJuno,\u201d with very hard and booming guitar work to bring everyone back down to Earth. A fine juxtaposition, for sure. \u201cBeneath the Skin\u201d has a bit of somberness to it, both in its musical structure and in its lyrics, such as in these lines:<\/p>\n

Are we free to wander the world?<\/em>
\nI\u2019m not sure, I don\u2019t think so<\/em>
\nI wait my turn to live without my skin<\/em><\/p>\n

Take another piece of me <\/em>
\nAnd it just might be enough<\/em>
\nTo drag me under beneath the waves <\/em>
\nTake another bite from this worthless corpse<\/em><\/p>\n

The lyrics are sung in a very subdued fashion, as if Tompkins is trying to pass the feelings of lament and worry of the song\u2019s protagonist direct into the listener, both sonically and emotionally, and when accompanied by the building musical arrangement, it makes the track a true standout of the album. However, the track that would describe Sonder<\/em> best would be “King,” starting on a very heavy foot with its booming half-time structure that I can best describe as “headbang-y,” and as it builds you immediately get a wide range of Daniel Tompkins’ vocals, going from solid melodic singing to harsh screaming to falsettos, all in the same verse. The track goes back and forth with its heavier section and a quieter, cleaner section, with the entirety of the song built around this powerful bass line in the background, leading to the apex of Tompkins’ piercing screams of “BOWWWWW!!!! DOWWWWWWN!!!!<\/em>” when the chorus hits.<\/p>\n