Tetrafusion Expands The World Of Progressive Metal

It seems as if metal has more sub-genres than any other type of music and it just keeps broadening its horizon. It has more variations in its style than the color blue in a paint store. The Louisiana based band Tetrafusion has been around since 2006 and falls into one of the more interesting genres of progressive metal. Their latest EP Horizons is a great example of this family of metal and the guys sound right at home.

Progressive rock has long been associated with bands such as Rush and Yes. Well, progressive metal takes that same approach as this bands, but amps it up on steroids. The arrangements are complex and layered and technical at times while remaining very melodic. The more layers you peel back, the deeper the song structures turn out to be. It’s not over the top showy with trying to see how many notes you can crank out on your solo, but still packs a lot of style to compliment the substantial substance of each song.

The band’s instrumental debut in 2009 was Absolute Zero and received critical acclaim in Germany’s Rock Hard, Decibel and Progressive magazines. Their 2010 sophomore follow-up was Altered States and incorporated vocals. That album peaked at #13 on Amazon’s Hard Rock and Metal Bestsellers Chart. Their new album was produced by fan favorite producer Jamie King who has worked with Between the Buried and Me as well as The Human Abstract.

The opening track on the eight song EP is a short instrumental called “Aerosolus” and serves as a intro as if the opening credits were rolling on this short film that the listener is about to hear. The real adventure begins with track two called “Impetus” as the crashing guitar riff rings out to begin the track. This is a great track because it covers so much territory in its six minutes of existence. It has more layers to it than a toddler going out to play in the snow. Guitarist Brooks Tarkington puts on a clinic in diversity on this track.

“Cloudless” is definitely a standout track on this EP. Lead singer Gary Tubbs’ delivery combines spoken verse with soaring vocals while bassist Mark Mitchell lays down a wicked, thumping bass line throughout the entire song. I could also hear hints of Protest the Hero in the song at times, minus the insanity that they bring to their music. “No One Sleeps” starts mellow with an excellent bass line from Mark that really sets a tone for the song, even though it jumps speeds close to a minute into it. The group enters a massive jam session around the three minute mark that’s amazing! Yet another example of a song taking you on a journey with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

The EP ends with “Look Away Pt.1” and “Look Away Pt.2” and they are definitely a tale of two totally different songs. “Pt. 1” starts out with a calm, piano intro and slowly a rich string section can be heard in the background. It’s a beautifully composed song that shows a calmer, more somber side to the band that is warm and refreshing. “Pt. 2” is just the complete opposite, as far as the tempo goes. This is definitely a rock track and may be the most commercial sounding track on the EP.

Overall, I think this is a very solid release from this up and coming band. They show versatility and depth and they definitely are at home in the progressive metal genre. This EP would be great accompanying music on a road trip day where you just roll down the windows and drive with no particular destination in mind. The more I listen to it, the more I really love this EP. If you are a fan of progressive metal, then you must give this a listen. I think fans of all different genres of rock/metal should give it a listen and they might just be pleasantly surprised. It’s available from the band’s website as a free download, just click www.tetrafusion.bandcamp.com . So, what do you have to lose?

Tesseract Brings Progressive Metal To The Forefront

Labeling music has always been a tricky thing to do. There have been some many new genres created that the choices can be as mind blowing as the infinite number of boxes on the cereal aisle in the grocery store. A new band has definitely stood out from the pack of wannabes and is making a name for themselves. Tesseract, hailing from the UK, is winning over fans and critics alike and for all the right reasons.

Formed in 2007 by brainchild and guitarist Acle Kahney, the band started to put together a sound that was very uncommon at the time. Aided by Jay Postones on drums, James Monteith on guitar and Amos Williams on bass, the band was slowly finding their sound. The addition of Dan Tompkins on vocals was the icing on the cake. His diverse range was a perfect fit to the multi layered sound being created. The band are at the forefront of a new era of progressive metal that is blowing away everyone who is experiencing it.

The band just recently released their full length debut CD entitled One to high praise from music critics worldwide as well as fans. They hit the road in support of the CD along with Maylene and The Sons of Disaster and Protest the Hero. I was fortunate to catch up with drummer Jay Postones and guitarist James Monteith before a recent show in North Carolina.

Music is my drug of choice: Well guys, you have been out on the road for a month or so now promoting the new CD, how has that been going for you? Any shows stand out?

Tesseract: The tour has been going really well. We’ve had a few fails along the way so far. We have a rubbish van that breaks down a lot and we actually had to miss one show because of it. The Orlando, Florida show was really good. It was sold out and the stage was really tight and the sound was great. There was also a lot of energy in the room that night and that’s great because you feed off of the energy of the crowd. The Dallas, Texas show was especially awesome. It was one of the bigger venues with a capacity of over 1000. As far as bad shows, Las Vegas was probably the worst gig we’ve ever done in our lives. The problem with Vegas is that it’s only good for two things: losing money and partying and we didn’t get to do the latter. Unfortunately, we did lose money. The venues screw you over and you only get half of your fee and then they take more merch money and a cut of your CD sales; which is actually illegal if you don’t own the copywrite to it……so screw Vegas!

How different is it to tour here in the States as opposed to the UK?

It’s about the same except for the distances. In the UK, it takes one day to go from one end to the other whereas here, it takes a day to sometimes go through just one state. Also, the food is a big difference. Our intestines are clogged from all the greasy, fried foods. I don’t think we can eat another McDonald’s again. The first place we stopped in New Jersey had hamburgers that were like $350 and they were massive. You can never truly eat a burger of that size, that was crazy!

The CD has been out for a couple of months now and the reaction has been very positive. How satisfying is that to you as an artist?

We’ve been very pleased and also relieved quite a bit. It’s a nerve racking experience creating something that you are very proud of, but you have no idea what people are going to think of it. One real worry was that people criticized us about having a lot of the material being available on the internet beforehand, but we haven’t heard much more about it. Overall, we couldn’t be happier with the reaction from the press and especially from the fans.

What do you guys do for fun while out on the road? Who is the practical jokester?

We’re fairly calm, but if I (Dan) see an opportunity for danger, I generally jump on it. We released a DVD with our new album and on hat, there is a clip of me dancing along the edge of the Grand Canyon like a little monkey and we also did that on an iceberg on this tour. Overall, we’re pretty layed back and boring people. There is the occasional, spontaneous meat slap! We were touring Russia and the standard food over there is meat, cheese and bread. We found this big slab of dirty, sweaty meat in the leftovers from our gig. We were on a train ride and Acle was asleep in the top bunk. James gets the slab of meat and slaps it right on Acle’s face. He didn’t wake up immediately, it was couple of seconds, but it gave the meat time to mold to his face. It was so funny! There’s also food fights, but we’re all responsible for those.

I have to ask you about the name of the band and its origin. Anyone dare to explain it?

Well, we could lie to you and say that there is this really deep meaning behind the name, but unfortunately there isn’t. When Acle first formed the band in 2003, he was writing all these cool riffs and he watched a film called Hypercube and heard the word tesseract and thought it was a cool name. It’s as simple as that, but it’s actually a very fitting name for us. Our music is quite complex and if you read into the whole fourth dimension thing, it is kind of mathematical and scientific.

You guys really do have a unique sound. Who would you cite as your influences?

Well, everything from Steely Dan, Pink Floyd and Meshuggah to electronica, Slayer and early Metallica. In between shows, we tend not to listen to a great deal of metal. The last thing you want to do when you get in the van after a show is crank even more metal.

I saw that you guys are up for Best New Band at the 2011 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. How awesome is that?

It was totally out of the blue for us. We received an email telling us that we had been nominated. Metal Hammer has been really kind to us over the last few years. It was really amazing to be even nominated. We hope all of our fans will go over to www. goldengods.metalhammer.co.uk and vote for us.

Can you tell us what we can expect from you guys in the near future?

We are already working on album number two. We have a few songs that are almost finished and Dan is writing the vocals to them. We have another tour that we are going to be doing here in the states later in the year too. Other than that, we will be travelling and busy on the road.

Well guys, thanks for taking the time to talk to us and we can’t wait to see you perform on this amazing bill with Protest the Hero. Keep knocking them dead out there and stealing the show each night.