Altered State

After an impressive debut, Tesseract return with Altered State, a sophomore effort that finds the band expanding its progressive metal sound in a bigger, more ambitious direction. Ditching the harsher vocals of their first album for a wholly melodic style, Tesseract take an important step out of the shadows of some of their forefathers, adding a new dimension to their sound thanks to the vocals of new singer Ashe O'Hara, whose soaring voice complements the band's impressively technical songwriting. Changes like these help the band to stand out in a sea of wildly talented acts, making Altered State a follow-up album that doesn't just live up to their debut, but blows it out of the water. ~ Gregory Heaney