August 2025 Featured Release - The Infinite Edition

TesseracT - Polaris (2015)

https://metal.academy/releases/4977

Listen to the album here:

https://kscopemusic.bandcamp.com/album/polaris

https://open.spotify.com/album/2HfqxYisagUBxkJiANLbRc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkl7CiCghVI

Excellent choice, Saxy! I look forward to reviewing this album by these British progressive djent masters and the rest of their discography.

I've done my review, here's its summary:

With Daniel Tompkins' temporary departure from Tesseract, the band had to find a couple other vocalists to fill the void; Elliot Coleman in the Perspective EP and Ashe O'Hara in the Altered State album. Whichever vocalist was in Altered State, that's a perfect offering. Now with Tompkins returning to the band, people were curious about where UK's djent leaders would take them next, and if they would continue to impress. It seems like Tompkins has taken some ambience from his other band at the time, Skyharbor, because that's we're getting more of in the greatness of Polaris! I've also noticed a bit of prog-rock elements as well from late Anathema and The Contortionist at that time, considering those bands share the same record labels, Kscope and eOne. Despite this rock-ish ambience, they never sacrifice the dynamic aggression, picking up where One left off. The bass, drums, and vocals drift through space, while the guitars are still djentrified. This 5-member djent quintet stays true to their identity while breaking the mold. That's how unique and talented they are. And if there any flaws at all, they're so trivial and unnoticeable in the flow of things. An excellent album like this deserves at least one full listen, and Polaris has all you can ask for in smoothness and aggression!

4.5/5