REVIEW: TESSERACT took over Bristol's O2 Academy with an intense and entertaining show....

There’s nothing better than a sold-out show towards the end of a European tour, tonight, you could sense the anticipation in the air with a mixture of merchandise from onlookers including the likes of Tool and Devin Townsend as the mighty Tesseract brought their live show to Bristol’s O2 Academy.  

First up was a young band who are currently making waves on the Mathcore scene, The Callous Daoboys from Atlanta, Georgia. Each song preluded a popular music hit mixed straight into face-punching riffs and vocals. Straight off the bat, they launched into 2022’s ‘Star Baby’, the audience wasted no time in setting up the first ‘wall of death’ of the evening. The rest of the setlist continued to be uncompromising. 

Setlist 

Star Baby 

Violent Astrology 

Pushing the Pink Envelope 

Waco Jesus 

What is Delicious? Who Swarms? 

Blackberry DeLorean 

Fake Dinosaur Bones 

Rather embarrassingly, this listener had not heard any songs from the next band, Unprocessed, but, by the end of their set, he was converted! This tech-metal phenomenon, coupled with a venue full of fans made the German outfit feel very much at home. Manuel Gardner's vocals and guitar technique were amazing to hear and watch. Each song had hints of classic Iron Maiden and Metallica with their guitar licks, yet I could hear elements that reminded me of newer act Polyphia. All in all, a solid set which, despite a small power glitch for the final track ‘Haven’, the room was suitably loosened up and ready for the headliners. 

Setlist 

Hell 

Lore 

Fear 

Abandoned 

Thrash 

Deadrose 

Glass 

Haven 

Tesseract, being the incredible prog-metallers that they are, wasted no time showcasing their talents of the past 20 years which kicked off with their first hit from 2023’s War of Being album ‘Natural Disasters’. There is something magical hearing Daniel Tompkins's vocals on stage for the first time, with a direction of sound that is Tesseract. Tonight was also the first time this reviewer had seen main stay, James Monteith on stage with Tesseract after watching him perform with his other band, Cage Fight. 

The second song dived straight into ‘Echoes’, which demonstrated the strength of songs on show from the latest concept album.

The setlist was centred around War of Being with the band treating the fans to sprawling atmospherics, impassioned vocal performances and incendiary level heavy riffs. They steered away for an occasional B-road journey which took in hits from their massive back catalogue which kept things fresh and balanced.  

Come the end of the 90-minute show of absolute power from Tesseract with the djent tones we have all grown to expect from the Milton Keynes outfit, fans both old and new were treated to an absolute master class. 

Setlist 

Natural Disaster 

Echoes 

Of Mind - Nocturne 

Dystopia 

King 

War of Being 

Smile 

The Arrow 

Legion 

The Grey 

Juno 

Encore: 

Part 1 - Acceptance 

Part 2 - Deception 

Review by Pete Jones

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