TESSERACT: Sonder (PROGRESSIVE METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Feelings and emotions are often much more complex than the words to say them. Based on this frustrating observation, the American John Koenig invented neologisms to describe them in his "Dictionary Of Obsure Sorrows". The interest of the approach lies above all in its existentialist postulate which places man at the centre of all reflection on the world. Thus the term "Sonder" defines the awareness that the life of each being we come across is as complex as ours and that we may only be passing through their existence. If it is the starting point of Tesseract's new album, this term can also define the music of the British band: a cerebral and complex progressive metal with an assumed existential message and an unfathomable modernity.

Tesseract's new opus is modern in every sense of the word. A contemporary and stripped down artwork, short titles, a total duration of barely thirty-seven minutes and a wide production in every way remarkable, "Sonder" is the fruit of the work of a band sure of itself and its music, which perfectly understood that it was expected at the turn after a "Polaris" that had not been unanimously acclaimed and an anecdotal "Errai". And in fact, "Sonder" is a snumb to the sorrowful spirits who wanted to bury Tesseract too soon. For "Sonder" does more than reassure about the combo's compositional talent, it is the quintessence of it.

From the very beginning of the album, the track 'Luminary' puts things in order: massive riffs, polyrhythms, clear guitars full of reverb and delay in the background, we are well in the universe of Tesseract, with however an even greater attention to detail in the mixing of the instruments and a feeling of cohesion between the musicians until now unequalled. The magnificent 'Juno' is in this respect a pure marvel chiselled down to its smallest instrumental parts, the rhythmic base of a surgical precision of the slapped drum-bass couple allowing the guitar harmonies to evolve continuously to serve the sublime vocals of Daniel Tompkins.

"Sonder" is also modern in its perfect balance between progressive metal (the fabulous 'King' and the very toolien 'Smile') and atmospheric rock ('Orbital', 'Mirror Image'), even clearly ambient ('The Arrow'). The band has learnt the lessons of "Polaris" and has managed to erase the length of their previous album to keep only the essential, a sophisticated atmospheric djent which with "Sonder" is much more concise and direct thanks to the exceptional coherence of its musical purpose. Even if some will reproach Tesseract's music for being too thoughtful and cerebral, for modern metal fans, "Sonder" will undoubtedly be one of the albums of the year. - Official website

TESSERACT

SONDER

KSCOPE

PROGRESSIVE METAL