Altered State (Tesseract album)

Altered State is the second studio album by British progressive metal band Tesseract, released on 27 May 2013 on Century Media Records.

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Bloody Disgusting[3]
Exclaim!7/10[4]
Kerrang![1]
Revolver[5]
Rock Sound9/10[6]

Altered State
Studio album by
Tesseract
Released27 May 2013
Recorded2012–2013, 4D Sounds Studio (Recording, mixing & mastering)
Genre
Length50:41
LabelCentury Media
ProducerAcle Kahney, Amos Williams
Tesseract chronology
Perspective
(2012)		 Altered State
(2013)		 Polaris
(2015)
Singles from Altered State
  1. "Nocturne"
    Released: 12 October 2012
  2. "Singularity"
    Released: 30 April 2013

Background and recording

Altered State is the only full release by the band with vocalist Ashe O'Hara. Amos Williams stated about the new singer: "It's amazing how much one person can change a band. Ashe is full of life and wit. It's brilliant to have such a guy around. You know, we're still Tesseract, but with a slightly more energetic and vibrant colour about us now".[7] Live drums for the album could not be recorded due to financial and time restraints; drums were partially programmed by guitarist Acle Kahney and partially played by drummer Jay Postones on a digital percussion pad.[8]

Release and promotion

The band released their first single, "Nocturne", on 12 October 2012; it was officially uploaded to the Century Media Records' YouTube channel. On the same day "Nocturne" was available as a free download through the Century Media Records' SoundCloud website. On 15 March 2013 the band announced pre-order bundles as well as the official album artwork.

During the months of March and April the band released four trailers leading up to the full album stream of Altered State on 12 May 2013.[9] The album debuted at #94 on the Billboard 200 and at #4 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums.[10]

Reception

Altered State has received critical acclaim. On the review aggregator site Metacritic the album has received the score of 85 out of 100, based on five reviews.[1] New Noise Magazine gave the album a five-star rating, saying: "Altered State is not only a masterpiece of progressive metal, this is truly one of the greatest albums ever made, period."[11] Bloody Disgusting website also gave the album a 5/5, saying: "With their sophomore album Altered State, Tesseract have cemented themselves as one of the most creative, daring, and innovative bands of today",[3] whilst The Monolith online magazine called it "probably one of the most complete examples of the genre to date."[12]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Acle Kahney and Ashe O'Hara.

No.TitleLength
1."Of Matter"
  • I. "Proxy" 5:05
  • II. "Retrospect" 5:33
  • III. "Resist" 3:40"
14:16
2."Of Mind"
  • I. "Nocturne" 5:50
  • II. "Exiled" [13] 8:50"
14:40
3."Of Reality" 9:49
4."Of Energy"
  • I. "Singularity" 8:21
  • II. "Embers" 3:36"
11:56

Personnel
  • Ashe O'Hara – vocals
  • Acle Kahney – guitar, drum programming
  • James Monteith – guitar
  • Amos Williams – bass
  • Jay Postones - drums

Guest musicians

  • Chris Barretto – saxophone in "Of Reality - Calabi-Yau" and "Of Energy - Embers"[14]
  • Paul Waggoner - guitar solo in "Nocturne (instrumental)"[15]

Other

  • Ion Lucin - artwork[16]

References
  1. "Reviews for Altered State by Tesseract - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  2. Gregory Heaney. "Altered State - Tesseract : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  3. Jonathan Barkan. "Bloody Disgusting - [Album Review] TesseracT 'Altered State'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  4. Natalie Zina Walschots (23 May 2013). "TesseracT - Altered State • Metal Reviews • exclaim.ca". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  5. J.D. Considine (14 May 2013). "Review: Tesseract - Altered State - revolvermag.com". Revolver. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  6. Richard Cartey (30 May 2013). "TesseracT - Altered State - Reviews - Rock Sound Magazine". Rock Sound. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  7. Interview with Amos Williams, by Grande-Rock.com retrieved on 22 November 2013.
  8. Postones, Jay. "Are the drums programmed on altered state?". ask.fm.
  9. "TESSERACT - Altered State (Full Album Stream)". YouTube. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  10. "Daft Punk Scores Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  11. "Tesseract – Altered State – Review by Ridge Briel". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  12. "TesseracT - Altered State". The Monolith. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  13. "TesseracT". www.facebook.com.
  14. "TesseracT: third 'Altered State' trailer video (updated)". Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  15. "TesseracT". www.facebook.com.
  16. "Spherikal by Ion Lucin (video)". Retrieved 7 April 2015.
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