Review Summary: Show me that you're in control / Stand up because I need my vision changed
Despite TesseracT establishing a fairly distinct sound that allows them to be easily distinguishable from their peers, they’ve more often than not had a problem writing music that actually stands out. While
One was a compelling initial stride to take, it was only really a half step as the band simply took the foundation of their prior EP and tacked a few extra songs on either side. Yet tracks like "Lament", "April", and "Eden" showed strong glimpses of promise that this band could eventually carve out something remarkable. All of these building blocks were initially toppled over by the departure of standout vocalist Dan Tompkins, traded for Ashe O'Hara. Although Ashe's tenure only lasted for one album, said album
Altered State's noticeable scale back of the intensity to match Ashe's vocals still carried through into the albums following Tompkins's later return. This shift centered around ambience and bass grooves suited O'Hara's higher range and floatier timbre well enough, but once it was Dan's time to brave such terrain he got bogged down as if he was trudging through a swamp of chugs, culminating in the underwhelming career nadir
Polaris. Although
Sonder saw a step in the right direction as Tompkins saw a slight degree of greater comfortability, it still wasn't quite enough to triumph over the band's usual shortcomings.
The suspicion that any flicker left of the TesseracT star had largely seemed to fade was hard to fight off, further exacerbated by a 5 year gap between releases. But the band was aware that they needed to go all in, and they signaled that when they kicked off the album cycle with their most ambitious track to date: a winding 11 minute opus that spans all the ground the band ever covered while bearing the most teeth they had in ages. Dan in particular drops a colossal performance, and the return of his screams see him naturally finding a home in this more jagged landscape that actually sounds like it came from somewhat of a heavy band. Not to say the track is absent from the band's usual melodic hallmarks however, as it also signaled a huge uptick in Dan's hook writing. Once trudging awkwardly through a sea of forgettable grooves, Dan finally has some space to let his melodic sensibilities really shine, which he does in the title track's triumphant outro. While this track sets the bar the highest regarding compositional intricacy and density, it served as a remarkable sampler for what ended up being the strongest TesseracT album to date.
Right off the bat you hear how reinvigorated the band is as opener "Natural Disaster" blows the cobwebs away with an intensity unheard of on any prior releases. The bouncy intro punches you in the goddamn face, with not only some much needed pulse and energy to their groove, but also the full on reintroduction of Tompkins's phenomenal screams. The band then breaks apart for a slower groove to support a vocal passage from Dan that feels like a ray of sunlight beaming through the remnants of a turbulent sky. This is all handled with a ridiculous amount of confidence and control that in a minute accomplished more than the band had done the whole decade beforehand. This was a band who evidently sharpened every single part of their toolkit, with that idea only further reinforced throughout the song's wild, unpredictable twists and turns throughout its 6 minute runtime.
As these are the only two songs that lean on breaking into the whole "shattering into dizzying multiplications of uncountable djent rhythms", this leaves a lot of space that TesseracT use to drop their most sweeping and explosive payoffs to date. The choice to bring back the heaviness from the
One era works wonders as a peppering across the majority of the tracklist, and it's balanced alongside the most deliberate use of their ambient influence as well, so no track feels overpoweringly dominated by either side. Early album banger "Echoes" is emblematic of this, with its gigantic payoff made all the more toppling by its stunning tranquil bridge, that unfolds itself after one of the record's more visceral performances rounding out the final chorus. "The Grey" follows and plays out its bookends like a "Dystopia" callback on a higher heat setting, as the bass and guitars bounce away underneath effortless switches between cleans and screams, but it follows a stunning transitionary introduction that makes it land all the more satisfyingly. Even the gorgeous ballad "Tender" sees Dan roar over a titanic groove that highlights this sense of control and confidence mentioned beforehand that runs throughout the whole record. While these grooves generally play out in a less complex fashion than their previous work, they're implemented to hit at higher impact.
The best part about this instrumental scale back however is Dan finally being able to take the reins. Dan's always been an exceptional and diverse vocalist with a broad range of outstanding projects, but he massively stepped it up here and took full advantage of this newfound free space. Dan pushes both his clean and harsh range to unheard limits in his wider discography, reaching the highest notes he's ever belted out on the same record as he drops his most visceral harsh performance to date, even working in some deep, rattling lows. His versatility is particularly integral to career highlight "Legion", where he drops a jaw-dropping hair-raising vocal performance in its final act that could shatter plates. Dan also takes this free space and greatly ups his melody game, filling the album with the most engaging vocal runs he ever has within this project. This is especially visible on the closing duo, as his vocal writing on "Burden" allows that song to pull off a remarkably smooth transition from F dorian to C mixolydian to C minor without missing a beat, while "Sacrifice" wraps up the record with some of his most stunning and satisfying resolutions around the tonic.
This isn't to say the rest of the band isn't doing anything to write home about though. TesseracT's idea of scaling back the technicality is still plenty intricate. The drumming underneath the chorus on
Polaris throwback "Sirens" for instance provides the right amount of rhythmic instability to keep the song from feeling too route, but they also fit into the context of Dan's melody phenomenally. It feels as if this album was written with his passages in mind, rather than constructed around the instrumentals this time around. Even in the moments devoid of Dan's presence the band finds ways to shine though, and they're hugely essential in supplying the contrast needed to make this record succeed. For as astounding as the climax of "Legion" is, the ambient outro that rises in its wake is nearly as chill inducing of a moment, as the tails of pianos fade and ring out and build a soundscape that's simultaneously beautiful and haunting. This serves as a direct transition into "Tender" through a subtle shift up a half step that shows a heightened degree of concern for subtlety and album interconnectivity than they've arguably ever had.
War of Being is everything it needed to be and more, and it's done the unexpected in catapulting TesseracT to the top of a mountain that long seemed unreachable for them. It's unheard of for a band operating in a sound that reached its peak nearly a decade ago to drop their most complete, cohesive, dynamic, and engaging album. It’s especially unheard of if none of those adjectives were terribly in the cards to describe your band to begin with. But TesseracT have proven themselves to be a rare exception to that rule, and have finally gotten out of their own way and boldly taken the massive strides they always needed to.
