Admittedly, I often turn a blind eye to “bonus material” as haphazardly placed remixes and acoustic versions aren’t my cup of tea, but with a band like TesseracT, you’ve got to give it a go right? And, while they haven’t hugely strayed from the regular path of progression, they continue to create complex and melodic dissonance that stems from their djent roots. Alongside their tour edition of the critically acclaimed ‘Polaris’ comes ‘Errai’, a four track EP with tracks reimagined by TesseracT’s long time live producer and sound engineer, Aidan O’Brian.
In a way, ‘Errai’ poses as a canvas to project Dan Tompinks’ trademark soaring vocals, his voice being the focal point of each track. The structure of ‘Survival’ and ‘Cages’ remains true to the originals but they’ve stripped down their signature massive, heavy rhythmic sound to an atmospheric soundscape.
‘Tourniquet’ is show-stopping; spacey and serene to begin with, before a heavy interlude and haunting piano outro at the six and a half minute mark. This unfortunately casts a shadow on the final ‘Seven Names’, which is probably the most unique offering on the EP. Atmospherically delayed lead guitar and a dynamic mix certainly put a different take on this track.
With ‘Errai’, TesseracT expose their more vulnerable nature which should be heard, even if you’re more inclined to the heavier side of things. That said, I doubt this EP hints at a new sound for TesseracT, but rather them showing us just how much they can do by creating an even more ambient and lyric-focused soundscape. It’s an opportunity to see the songs from a different angle and also a triumph to their dynamism that you don’t get with many artists.
4.5/5
‘Errai’ by TesseracT is released on September 16th with ‘Polaris’ (Tour Edition) on Kscope.
TesseracT links: Website|Facebook|Twitter
Words by Phoebe Messenger (kangaezu_ni)
