Having already release their début album One back in 2011 and their Perspectives EP last year, Tesseract fans have patiently awaited release of their second full-length Altered State. The new album notably has a change in vocalists who makes an amazing début on this album.
People looking for an album that rivals One will possibly argue that this new album is better than their previous one, and they could be right — this is definitely miles ahead of One as far as the music goes. Over the course of the few days I’ve had of listening to this album, I’ve listened to both albums back-to-back as I’ve tried to see where Altered State weighs up.
Whilst at first this may just seem on par to One, I think it stands head and shoulders above it. Altered State is a single piece of music, however you look at it, and it flows brilliantly from one track into the next. All the while it has the same backbone to Tesseract’s music which is heard on One and on the Perspectives EP: the syncopated drum rhythms, the low bass lines and guitar work, whilst Ashe’s vocal work is just fantastic.
Conversely, this album is not as explosive as One is (halfway through the “Concealing Fate” concept) and it seems more gentle yet with the same amount of groove and complexity, whilst for me there is just something about this album. There are releases I’ve looked forward but lately some have crept up on me, Tesseract’s new album being a fine point of this, and I would like to suggest that it could a strong contender for the album of the year.
Whilst Tesseract one hand keep the same amount of intensity in their music, they also manage to branch out and add a lot of saxophone playing towards the end, most notably including a solo which finishes the album. Again, I really do think this a dark horse to become a top-flight album of the year. If you are entirely new to Tesseract, then it would be wise to and pick up One and then check out Altered State.
If, like me, you’re a fan of this band then you’ll probably find yourself giving Altered State at least a couple of listens, and then maybe more to let it really sink in. I cannot honestly fault anything about this album, it totally blew me away when I first listened to it and the wait was definitely worth it. Given time, I hope this really does well and please check it out.
RATING: 4 / 5.
