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Altered State (Tesseract album)

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Altered State
Studio album by
Tesseract
Released27 May 2013
Recorded2012–2013
Studio4D Sounds Studio (Recording, mixing & mastering)
Genre
Length50:41
LabelCentury Media
Producer
  • Acle Kahney
  • Amos Williams
Tesseract chronology
Perspective
(2012) 		Altered State
(2013) 		Polaris
(2015)
Singles from Altered State
  1. "Nocturne"
    Released: 12 October 2012

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

Background and recording

[edit]

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

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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.[citation needed]

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

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Altered State has received universal critical acclaim. On the review aggregator site Metacritic the album has received the score of 85 out of 100, based on five reviews.[3] 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",[2] whilst The Monolith online magazine called it "probably one of the most complete examples of the genre to date."[12]

Track listing

[edit]

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

No.TitleLength
1."Of Matter
  1. "Proxy" (5:04)
  2. "Retrospect" (5:32)
  3. "Resist" (3:40)
"		14:16
2."Of Mind
  1. "Nocturne" (5:50)
  2. "Exiled" (8:50)[13]
"		14:40
3."Of Reality
  1. "Eclipse" (5:03)
  2. "Palingenesis" (2:46)
  3. "Calabi-Yau" (2:00)
"		9:49
4."Of Energy
  1. "Singularity" (8:20)
  2. "Embers" (3:36)
"		11:56
Total length:50:41

Personnel

[edit]
  • Ashe O'Hara – lead vocals
  • Acle Kahney – lead guitar, production, drum programming
  • James 'Metal' Monteith – rhythm guitar
  • Amos Williams – bass, growls, backing vocals, production
  • Jay Postones – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

  • Chris Barretto – guest saxophone on tracks "Of Reality – Calabi-Yau" and "Of Energy – Embers"[14]
  • Paul Waggoner – guest guitar solo on track "Of Mind – Nocturne"[15]

Additional personnel

  • Ion Lucin – artwork[16]

References

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  1. ^ Gregory Heaney. "Altered State - Tesseract : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  2. ^ a b Jonathan Barkan. "Bloody Disgusting - [Album Review] TesseracT 'Altered State'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Reviews for Altered State by Tesseract - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  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)". Archived from the original on 12 April 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
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