[Review] TesseracT - Altered State

There's a lot of discussion around the use of the term djent, similar to the way people use the word indie to describe a particular sound or "genre", there's a lot of musicians who either embrace the term or refuse being refered to as a "djent band".
British rock band TesseracT has separated from the djent tag not by speaking out against or in favor of being tagged as a djent band, but by expanding and growing their sound release after release; commencing with their 2011 debut LP "One" (in my opinion a masterpiece of progressive metal) and later with their 2012 EP "Perspective", introducing a new vocalist and showing an unexplored side of the band.

Altered State goes further in that direction, leaving out growling vocals completely, turning down the distortion in favor of a more processed, electronic sound and refining their songwriting. From the first song you are greeted with new vocalist Ashe O'Hara's (Voices From The Fuselage) vocals and the sound of distant, echoing guitars before the song jumps in volume through a crescendo of processed guitars.

While some songs like Exile and Singularity are long and have a strong progressive feeling about them, most of the compositions offer more traditional structures, often building around different variations of the same riff or beat. The drumming keeps the songs together, both keeping a straight 4/4 beat and laying down heavily synchopated polyrhythms regularly, which are one of the trademark elements of TesseracT's sound. The first single Nocturne is a perfect example of both these things, and it does a very good job at showing what this new record is about.

Altered State keeps things fresh and shows the band hasn't suffered at all from changing vocalists three consecutive times, an excellent record overall, and one I'll be listening to for a long time.

9.5/10