You know, I gotta say, as a fan of progressive metal, 2015 has been one hell of a year.
Seriously, not only have there been some absolutely excellent releases from the likes of Between The Buried And Me, Periphery, Widek, Shattered Skies, Plini, and more, but with upcoming records from Skyharbor, Uneven Structure, Scale The Summit, 2015 has been a prog-head's dream. If this keeps up, I'm kind of afraid my Best Albums of the Year list is gonna consist of almost entirely this genre. I mean, I love me some prog metal and all, but geez, give the other genres and artists some room to breathe, will ya?
And as the proverbial whipped cream on top of the milkshake, we have a new release from Tesseract, one of the leading bands in the scene and one any fan of djent-infused, bass-heavy, atmospheric progressive metal should definitely be familiar with. Especially with their masterful 2013 release Altered State, a must-listen album in my opinion and easily one of the best albums of that year, hell, maybe even of this whole decade.
So when the news came we were getting a new release from these guys, needless to say, I was excited.
I'm happy to say those expectations were met. TesseracT have delivered another masterful work here on Polaris.
The album begins on a slow, foreboding buildup before exploding into the first track Dystopia, which sets the tone for the record perfectly. The chugging lead guitar and bass work harmonize together beautifully, and Daniel Tomkins' vocals, whispery, reverberating, yet urgent and powerful, show Tesseract's knack for complex, layers, and atmospheric bliss in terms of the technical musical standpoint, and the rest of the album lives up. All the arrangements, progressions, and pure instrumental talent and complexity shown on this record is impressive, as well as being absolute heaven on the ears. When this album slows down, it reaches a state of sounding hypnotic, almost trancelike, as every instrumental flourish, every note is strewn together beautifully. Not a single bit of musical space is wasted, and it forms a beautiful and massive landscape of sound.
Most tracks on this record don't flow into each other like they do on Altered State, as well as lacking the multi-act story structure, yet it still manages to feel as cohesive and large in scope as the band's previous releases.
Every song adds a new flavor to this album's sound and scale. From the soft guitars opening up the track Torniquent, to the heavy, dark tone set in the ethereal opening of Cages, before that soft, gentle guitar leads into the track proper in the most beautiful way possible, this album proves to be one of the band's most diverse releases to date.
Some moments on this album are outright breathtaking, and there is no better example of this than the closing track Seven Names. Seven Names may very well be one of the best songs released this year. It's intense, dark, emotional, and passionate in all the right ways. Tesseract has always been very abstract in their songwriting, but Seven Names feels much more personal and intimate, and the soaring instrumentation and Tompkins' screaming leads to the song feeling epic and grand, almost apocalyptic, and serves as a perfect closer to this album.
All in all, if you're a fan of Tesseract or this kind of music at all, Polaris is a must, another great release from a great band. If you're new to this band, well, I'd probably recommend Altered State above anything (seriously, that album is fucking great, go listen to it now if you haven't), but Polaris is definitely worth your time as well.
BEST SONGS: Seven Names, Torniquent, Cages, Messenger, Survival
WORST SONG: N/A
Final Score:
9/10
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