Could TesseracT Be the Next Big Crossover Metal Band?

You guys: TesseracT’s new album Altered State, released earlier this year, is really f’n good. It’s a grower, for sure, and it didn’t quite grab me immediately, but now that I’ve had some time to live with it I’m way into it. I’ve posted a full stream of it below via Spotify for you to check out if you haven’t yet, or to give another shot if you already have.

If not for the oft-maligned term “djent” and this band’s association with the genre (the creation of it, even), I could easily see TesseracT being a band that crosses genres and pushes into all sorts of new territories, be they indie, alternative (whatever those words mean these days), mainstream hard rock radio, plain old mainstream radio or beyond. All the ingredients are here: the musicianship and heaviness, sure, but also the hooks (both musical and vocal), the accessibility, the weirdness, the cerebral factor, the sexy British aspect, etc. They could’ve totally been the next Tool, playing arenas ten years from now. But yeah, then djent had to go and become a huge thing and fuck it all up. Who knows, maybe it could still happen?

This all occurred to me as I was watching the band dominate a New York City audience last week opening for Cult of Luna and Katatonia. I could totally see TesseracT playing for audiences at Coachella, Bonaroo, <Insert Radio Station Here> Fest or pretty much anywhere and instantly winning them over. Their music has got a real universal appeal to it when you forget what you already know about their place in the metal scene and attempt to come at it with a newbie’s ears. Not that that’s necessary to enjoy it — it should resonate with metalheads too — but I’m just trying to point out that I think there’s something more here that our jaded metal asses can easily overlook.

Anyway, check out their new video for “Nocture.” The live portions of it actually do a fantastic job of capturing what it was like to see these dudes play live. New vocalist Ashe O’ Hara was fantastic, by the way, spot on, and a much better visual presence and fit than Daniel Tompkins was.