Review by Saxy S for TesseracT - War of Being (2023)

I've been listening to progressive metal for quite a long time and it's becoming more and more frustrating to hear the modern djentification of the genre. Not because it's bad per se, but rather because of how poorly it's presented. Most modern djent acts use the exact same bad compositional and engineering mistakes that are littered throughout metalcore. So it's kind of nice to hear an album that doesn't sound like its was mixed from the inside of the percussionist's bass drum. War of Being is a expertly produced album that still maintains the exact tropes that one would expect out of djent-y metalcore. The record's performance is precise and punchy and TesseracT have done plenty of experimentation to differentiate it from other, more comfortable acts like Veil of Maya. The compositions are well crafted; it does fall a little flat at times, especially in the lyrical content as well as the title track that feels like its running on just a tad longer than it should. But "Natural Disaster" is one of TesseracT's best performances, and "The Grey" and "Legion" are superb as well. As it stands, War of Being will likely turn out to be 2023's best "conventional" djent album, even though that might not mean much coming from me. Take that for what it's worth.

Best Songs: Natural Disaster, The Grey, Legion, Sirens, Sacrifice