Single Slam – Luminary by TesseracT (Sonder)

TesseracT will release their fourth studio album on the 20th of April, this year. That album is called Sonder and it will be released via Kscope. At the same as announcing the new album, TesseracT have also dropped a new song on us with Luminary.

TesseracT have long been recognised as a band that exists outside of the standard metal genres. They are heralded as one of the pioneers of that horrid word “djent” and are progressive in their efforts to keep pushing the boundaries of metal. Layers of atmospherics mix with polyrhythmic riffs and off beat time signatures to give them a unique sound and one that countless bands that have come afterwards have tried to capture.

British band, TesseracT are Daniel Tompkins on lead vocals. Alec “Acle” Kahney is on lead guitar and is also the producer while James Monteith is on rhythm guitar. Amos Williams looks after the bass and backing vocals while Jay Postones is on drums and percussion.

Way back in July last year, TesseracT actually released an early version of the first piece of new music from Sonder in a track called Smile. You can read about that here though be warned, I didn’t think much of it. Though to be fair, it was more like a demo so should be forgiven for sounding incomplete. Let’s hope I like Luminary more.

Luminary is just over 3 minutes long and certainly ticks the boxes of progressive, layered and atmospheric. For me, it doesn’t really tick any boxes regarding being very exciting. A few effects start the track off before a promising crunching riff jumps in. It’s a pretty cool sound. A little off beat with meaty guitars and punchy drums. Early optimism wanes though as the verse descends into a very cleanly sung, acoustically styled section.

The vocals are fine but the music, while layered, is a little dull and flat. A nice little guitar line comes in as the chorus approaches. It is okay, cleanly sung but with heavier instruments. Nothing new really while being a little catchy. More of the same comes for the second verse and chorus which is repeated until nearly the end where we get a quick blast of that early crunching riff before the song ends.

Luminary feels a bit safe as a track to me. It isn’t that it is terribly  bad at all. I guess it could be described as inoffensive. I do like the crunching opening riff and love the guitar line that comes in as the chorus appears. The vocals are fine, not amazing, but listenable. Luminary just fails to inspire really being a track that is alright to listen to once but not really the sort of song that will have you reaching for repeat. I’m sure there are those who will love it, so definitely check it out. For me though, once was enough.

Check out Luminary for yourself here at the band’s website. You can also pick up a preorder of the new album, Sonder from here. You can also grab Luminary, Sonder and more from TesseracT at the Amazon links below. Find out more about TesseracT at their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more info on them and their music. Be sure to give them a like or follow while you are there.

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