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Altered State (Tesseract album)

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Altered State
Studio album by
Tesseract
Released27 May 2013
Recorded2012–2013, 4D Sounds Studio (Recording, mixing & mastering)
Genre
Length50:41
LabelCentury Media
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

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

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.[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

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.[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

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. "Exile" [13] 8:50"
    		• 14:40
    3."Of Reality"
  • I. "Eclipse" 5:03
  • II. "Palingenesis" 2:46
  • III. "Calabi-Yau" 2:01"
    		• 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. ^ 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. 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. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
    11. ^ "Tesseract – Altered State – Review by Ridge Briel". New Noise Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
    12. ^ "TesseracT - Altered State". The Monolith. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
    13. ^ "TesseracT". www.facebook.com.
    14. ^ "TesseracT: third 'Altered State' trailer video (updated)". Retrieved 27 May 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
    15. ^ "TesseracT". www.facebook.com.
    16. ^ "Spherikal by Ion Lucin (video)". Retrieved 7 April 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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