TesseracT recently toured the US along with Scale The Summit and openers Anciients, and I was fortunate enough to catch them during their stop in Atlanta, at the very packed venue Drunken Unicorn.
Anciients opened the night with their fantastic blend of Mastodon-meets-Opeth brand of metal. Intense and engaging, they played a monstrous set of music that would convert just about any metal fan. If you love the aforementioned bands, and dig the sonic landscaping of Tombs and Neurosis, Anciients is definitely worth checking out. They are touring hardcore off their release Heart of Oak (Season of Mist), and their string of high-profile gigs is beginning to pay rewards.
Scale The Summit has gained notoriety as young prog metal upstarts, and it is deserved. Boasting young musicians with an average of 22, this group of technicians impress with their energy and passion for their organic blend of music they call “Adventure metal”. Completely instrumental, they managed to keep the audience hanging on every note, cheering on the band’s clean, musical execution. True to prog form, the songs are epic in length, but are very well-arranged so your ear never tires. One can hear the Dream Theater influence, and certainly Between the Buried and Me, the band that connected three of the four members from their inception. To this listener’s ears they reminded me of BTBAM (who I like) but with a huge dose of Animals As Leaders too. The music never gets too dark; it seems as though their youthfulness has not yet experienced the negativity in life that can filter into an artist’s songs. There is a brightness, an exuberance to their sound that is uplifting without being cheesy, and stops just short of overindulgence. All the members, guitarists Chris Letchworth, Travis Levrier, and drummer Pat Skeffington are great musicians, but special mention is in order for newest member Mark Michell. Not only is he a joy to watch, but he is front and center, a place usually not reserved for a bassist.
Due to the length of their songs, they played only 8 in their set, inclusive of “Glacial Planet”, “Whales” and “The Olive Tree”. Occasionally, Guitarist Chris Letchford would address the crowd, but this was an otherwise vocal-free, exciting musical trip. I commend Scale the Summit for bringing their brand of thoughtful enthusiasm to a genre that can be stuffy and overwrought. Well done!
The crowd was very respectful and appreciative of all of the acts, but they saved their biggest roar for TesseracT. It was quite a switch from a purely instrumental band to a band led by the soaring, bombastic vocals of recent addition Ashe O’Hara. O’Hara is a strong front man and is good foil for the intensity of his band mates and their driving djent/prog metal sound. TesseracT played a nice selection of songs from their 3 full-lengths that had the audience singing along from the front of the stage to the back of the venue, pacing the set list so there was very little room to come up for air. There was much fist-throwing, head-bobbing and body-rocking, so even if you aren’t a fan of the band you couldn’t help but be moved by the love shown to them by the crowd. I will admit to not being familiar with this band at all before tonight, but I left much impressed by their performance. It was a great lineup for lovers of metal with a proggy bent, and each band brought their own unique taste of it.
Lynn Jordan