Tesseract has always been a part of the original cohort of progressive metal bands that would later be popularized under the term “djent”, along with the hyper-popular Periphery, and the unfortunately now-defunct Textures. Yet another band that spawned from the British progressive metalcore band Fellsilent, members would go on to form Tesseract, as well as Monuments and Reflections. Tesseract opted to lean further into the more expansive and ambient sides of the djent-y brand of progressive metal, focusing on writing lengthy, rich, and thematically dense arrangements. This time around, the Milton Keynes area veterans are back after five years with their newest full-length, War of Being following 2018’s Sonder.

At almost an hour’s worth of new music, War of Being is a hefty chunk of music to get through, and Tesseract employs all manners of tonal, pacing, and thematic shifts to make the record feel like a continuous journey rather than individual tracks thrown together to make an album. In that regard, War of Being does enjoy some measure of success, but their older records, in particular the six-movement slab “Concealing Fate” from their debut record One as well as the four major movements on Altered State felt more grandiose in the way the tracks were laid out than their newest record.

In my mind, there are two faces of the newest record, aptly illustrated on the artwork: the heavier groovy-riff sections lending punch and emotive strength to the record, and the ambient cinematic sections which rely on creating space between impactful moments on the tracks and the record. Tesseract has always been masters at walking the tightrope balancing both the faces of their songwriting. However, with War of Being, large portions of the record seem lopsided favoring one side more than the other, and this captures my central grouse with their newest offering.

This isn’t to say that War of Being doesn’t have its heavier moments; in fact, the record kicks off with arguably among the heaviest, most straightforward “djent” metal track “Natural Disaster”. With addictive low-register chugs, in-pocket drums, as well as plenty of vocals, the opening track is Tesseract at their gnarliest! Heavier sections also feature in enjoyably copious amounts on the released single “The Grey”, as well as the mammoth titular track “War of Being”. Unfortunately, most of the other tracks skew deeper into the more ambient, almost poppy side of progressive metal (as poppy as the subgenre tropes can allow). Tracks like “Legion”, “Sirens”, and “Burden” focusing on the aforementioned “space” created with lush soundscapes, grand melodies, and crooning vocals. “Legion” and “Tender” try to throw in a guitar groove here and there, particularly towards the end of the tracks to harken back to the sense of balance mentioned previously, to a point where these tracks and Tesseract’s overall songwriting could almost be termed as “post-djent” at this point (like what post-rock and post-hardcore did to their parent genres). At initial passes of the tracks, these efforts appear to be more hamfisted than a natural progression of their songwriting tools. In contrast, “Burden” dances along that fine line of balance much better, and is the track with the strongest nostalgic feel of their earlier work, with a central melody that is both instantly memorable and pervasively comforting.

Fret not, tracks like “War of Being”, the eleven-minute centerfold of the record is an absolute juggernaut of a track. Perfectly fusing all the elements that make Tesseract among the best in the progressive metal scene, the track effortlessly weaves in and out of both heavy and softer sections, in perfectly choreographed harmony. If there was ever a single track to properly encapsulate the sound that the band was going for with the record, one would have to look no further than its own title track, paying true homage to the purpose of having a title track! Furthermore, the second longest track, and album ender “Sacrifice” also feels like a tale of bittersweet victory, and feels emotionally appropriate as an album closer, relying on longer, more drawn-out sections to drive home the band’s closing arguments, so to speak!

When talking about Tesseract’s skill in creating space between impactful moments, and allowing the listener to enjoyably traverse this ambient space, I personally felt like the drawn-out outros did more to break my immersion in the journey rather than lend weight to it. A stricter editorial hand would have benefited the record as a whole a lot more, as I felt myself reaching for the “fast forward” button more often than I would like to admit on an otherwise well-written record.

Look, I don’t have nearly enough degrees in music, songwriting, and sound design to sit here and nitpick the genius that is the quintet of the superlative musicians that form Tesseract. Guitarists Acle Kahney and James Monteith stand in leagues of their own when it comes to laying down rhythmic grooves overlaid with ambient leads. Drummer Jay Postones is definitely among the most “in the pocket” drummers in the genre, adorning even the most straightforward of musical arrangements with just enough flair to make them pop out of the mainstream. Bassist Amos Williams has among the smoothest fingers in the business. As a particular point of victory, War of Being has more spaces where the bass is allowed to shine through, though as with most metal, I sincerely wish the bass was higher up in the mix to allow us to fully enjoy the mastery that Amos has over his instrument.

Oh boy, vocalist Daniel Tompkins really decided to dust off his work pants for this record. He sincerely tries to hit every corner of the vocal spectrum at various points on the record. The vocals on any Tesseract record have always been a very contentious point, and is usually a sore spot on many modern progressive metal bands, with frequent criticisms that the vocals lean too heavily into the “clean” region, to a point where it begins to sound too “poppy” and “cheesy”. While Dan’s work on War of Being definitely has its moments where his falsetto felt more like exhibitionism, the majority of the vocal work feels more appropriate to the moods created by the instrumentation. This obviously says nothing about the sheer effort, innate talent, and crazy amount of practice that goes into being able to consistently hit the sometimes-absurd notes in vocal arrangements.

War of Being is definitely an expansive work of music and a solid offering from a veteran djent band like Tesseract. While the groovy heavy sections felt extremely impactful, the spaces created between those moments lend an almost “post-djent” feel to the entire record. If you enjoy the interplay between these facets, this record is for you!