[Live Review] TESSERACT (Brisbane)

The Triffid, Brisbane
Sunday September 16, 2018 :

The last time British djent-prog powerhouses Tesseract performed in Brisbane, they attracted a healthy crowd along to live music institution The Zoo. Since then, they’ve released this year’s excellent album Sonder, their most commercially successful record to date. This time, they manage to pack out a larger venue (The Triffid) and their live sound is even more immense and immaculate than last time.

The early-comers are welcomed with local prog-metal outfit Opus Of A Machine who are clearly thrilled to be here, throwing a lot of enthusiasm into their performance. It’s a sign of things to come, as all bands tonight have a great combination of focused intensity and energy. After the Brisbane combo finishes up to a deservedly warm response from the already-healthy crowd, it’s now time for Melbourne band Circles. With new album The Last One recently unleashed, the four-piece are visibly pumped to play their new songs to a live audience. The music sounds thick with effects, but not to such a level that it overpowers the band. The guitars have an appealingly full sound, somewhere between a crunch and a roar, and while it’s rare to include such detail in modern heavy bands, there is also a fantastic use of two-part vocal harmonies that adds to the music’s immersive power.

Prior to the headliners starting their set, there’s an introductory ambient/drone piece of music that rises in volume and intensity as the house lights go down. To enormous cheers, the band gets straight down to business with ‘Luminary’, perhaps their most immediately accessible moment to date, managing to blend their trademark complexity with a killer hook and a bite-sized three-minute duration.

In addition, the band boasts a subtle but effective lightshow that keeps the band members largely in mysterious silhouette, illuminating the emotion of the songs more than the guys themselves. Also, this show has the best sound I’ve heard in ages – kudos to both venue and mixer for a great job.

Meanwhile, Tesseract proceeds to combine the catchy (‘Survival’) with more complex fare such as ‘Of Mind – Nocturne’. Aside from ‘Luminary’, there are two further moments from Sonder in the form of ‘Smile’ and the new record’s best track ‘King’. Best of all, they play the first three parts of their ‘Concealing Fate’ song suite, unexpectedly starting with parts two and three early in the set, and concluding the whole night with a blistering take on part one.

All of the elements which made the last Tesseract gig so memorable are present and correct, only amplified. The tricky time signatures, punchy yet intricate drumming, huge riffs and soaring, passionate vocals sound more epic than ever, while a haunting undercurrent gives the music an appealing atmospheric chill. There is precision to their art, but it’s combined with warmth and humility. Frontman Daniel Tompkins can be seen shaking audience hands and even points out one fan up the front singing along with every tune. Tesseract seem genuinely awed by their own success, which is a refreshing thing to see indeed.

Reviewer: Matt Thrower