TesseracT
Errai
(eOne Music / Kscope)
With a progressive metal band as prominent and as allegedly pioneering as TesseracT, almost any minor release begins to seem about as significant as the debut of another band’s entire studio album, if for no other reason than to see if they changed their singer yet again.
Many fans would be pleased to know that Daniel Tompkins still reigns with the gang in their new EP, Errai, a re-working of four songs from their latest release, Polaris. In true fashion of keeping the amount of LPs and EPs in their catalogue at a ratio of 1:1, the fellows in TesseracT take another whack at experimenting with their sound as they did with their Perspective EP.
Unlike their last EP, however, which in proper Meshuggah-True-Human-Design form experimented with grooving acoustic guitars, Errai focuses on the more ambient side of things by remixing the gentler and non-Steven-Wilson-sounding Polaris tracks of “Survival,” “Cages,” “Tourniquet,” and “Seven Names.”
While it’s not the first time the members of the four-dimensional hypercube have incorporated piano or synth sounds, the EP’s foundation is wholly comprised of such textures. One would be hard-pressed to find overdriven guitar or even grooving, but in return the prog subset is heard in a completely new and refreshing light.
“Survival” begins with a minute-long swelling of a piano before the rest of the band joins in, and even then the keys retain a strong prominence. Also notable are strings and telephoned drums, along with Tompkins embellishments that are beautiful even for his standards. In fact, because of the stripped down guitars, Tompkins’ voice becomes the focal point of all the songs, and he frequently takes advantage of this fact.
The newly interpreted “Cages” features more Tompkins goodness, omitting one of the rare moments in Polaris where he actually growls. “Tourniquet” introduces some tasteful electronic drums and is almost completely void of human-played instruments, and is followed by “Seven Names” elegantly ending the EP with a David Gilmour guitar solo and the Anathemic chord progression that helped wrap up Polaris on such a good note.
Errai is a unique and revitalizing sound for TesseracT, but doesn’t end up having as much lasting appeal as its past incarnation Polaris. Whether it’s because Polaris stands strong in its own iconoclasm or Errai clocks in at under 20 minutes, the EP leaves one wondering how bold TesseracT could be with sounds like this and how far they could take it. All in all, Errai is a novel direction for an already novel band, and worth checking out if for nothing more than to see what else these guys are capable of.
