As a huge lover of all types of progressive music I feel ashamed that I have actually totally missed the band TESSERACT (sorry my fellow prog people).
But as TESSERACT is the only pure progressive band playing Copenhell 2019 (although some might disagree) I of course have to see and hear them.
And as soon as the Brits enter the Hades stage at 15:15, I am SO happy that they are here.
Even though there are some sound issues in the beginning of the show, singer Daniel Tompkins has great energy, running down to the photopit, getting right in face of the audience, trying to get the crowd going.
And wow, what a singer! This is the first time (so far) during Copenhell 2019 that I actually am getting goosebumps all over! He has a beautiful, perfectly pitched voice that goes SO well with the progressive music played by the extremely talented band. And the singer has a feeling to his singing that is totally amazing and contagious.
Unfortunately the crowd is a bit small, and it makes me sad that there aren’t that many prog heads present. But the ones that have made it to see this band are truly enjoying themselves. A typical prog crowd that is not maybe headbanging so much but listening in awe to these talented five Brits, stomping their feet instead of headbanging.
Tompkins thanks the audience for sticking around and makes a joke saying that they are not really good musicians, and actually do not know what they are doing. Oh, my godness, that’s a HUGE joke, because this band is so talented, and we are the ones who should be thanking them, not the other way around.
I can see that there are some more people coming around to join us to watch this band halfway through the show, and I love the fact that prog metal is still interesting to some people, even at a festival like COPENHELL. And that the band play not only progressive rock, but have many metal elements also, makes it even more interesting.
The whole band are really getting warmed up the last half hour of their show, and singer Daniel is spinning and jumping around like crazy, and his body language and energy is just as contagious as his voice. I can tell when I look around me that I am not the only one getting caught up by this band’s performance.
It has been a while since I saw such a tight and talented progressive band live, and once again I cannot believe that I have never heard of them before, but TRUST ME, I am going home after this festival and will find out everything I can about them, and purchase everything that they have released until now, because TESSERACT have certainly found a new fan in yours truly.
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The last acts have now been added to this year’s COPENHELL poster
TRIVIUM, TESSERACT, UADA, VLTIMAS and CABAL will deliver a fistful of quality metal in a hard punch in the face, rounding off this year’s line-up with a handful of really heavy metal bands playing everything from progressive djent to old school death metal.
Through the last two decades, TRIVIUM has reached for the stars with their hyper-efficient and popular metalcore.
The band visited COPENHELL in 2012 and again in 2016, where they laid waste to the audience with their catchy headbanger metal and infectious performance.
We look forward to meeting the heavy boys from Florida yet again for another musical tour de force!
The British band TESSERACT plays progressive metal and is one of the pioneers of the popular djent sub-genre.
Their music is a tornado of advanced rhythmical and melodic techniques carried by Daniel Tompkins’ formidable, explosive voice.
Here is a band that is not afraid of experimenting with genres and reinvent themselves constantly, and the COPENHELL audience can expect a concert full of musical surprises.
UADA appeared like a bolt from the blue with their convincing debut album ”Devoid of Light” in 2016.
The quartet quickly established themselves as one of this decade’s most important new black metal bands, and they have darkened the skies ever since with their pitch-black, melodic approach to the genre.
With a running start and lots of evolution in their sound already, they are ready to throw one hell of a party for all the black metal enthusiasts!
When you use the term ”super group”, you have to make sure that it is a fitting term – and that is indeef the case with VLTIMAS!
A brutal trio consisting of David Vincent from legendary Morbid Angel, Cryptosy drummer Flo Mounier and Mayhem guitarist Rune Eriksen have created an entirely new metal symbiosis with this incredibly heavy music project.
All fans of classic death metal can start looking forward to this experience!
The Danish band CABAL is this year’s ”Tak Rock!” band at COPENHELL.
Their sinister sound lands somewhere between blackened deathcore and hardcore with massive breakdown, spitting and raging vocals and a thick, permeating atmosphere of pure evil. This young band is already playing in the big leagues and showing huge potential.
Purchase tickets, read much more about the festival and all of the bands at Copenhell.dk or in our official COPENHELL app – and follow us at Facebook, Spotify and Instagram.
Sure thing. Hello dear reader; we’re PIQAIA. Our music can best be described as being on the verge between hard rock and metal with a huge PROGRESSIVE in front of either one. It is a mixture of technical riffs, syncopated grooves and a whole lot of melodic layers to give the music a sort of astral vibe which can be difficult to put into words, so it really would be easier if you’d just give our album a listen *wink wink*.
Even though we just recently played our first concert and released our debut album, PIQAIA has actually existed for quite some time. It took many years to figure out, what kind of band we wanted to be. We started out with the intention of playing some kind of progressive metal, but none of us had played this type of music in a band before, so it took a little while to figure out exactly what direction we wanted to go. It didn’t help that we for the longest part were missing a lead singer. Therefore it really tied the music together when Charlie (singer) joined the band and made PIQAIA what it is now.
And now onto “Artifact”… track-by-track, what inspired you, what topics are you dealing with, what do you want to express with this song etc.¨
Charlie says:
“So, the initial lyrical inspiration for the entire album was to make a concept album about the creation and destruction of Earth. We thought it would be interesting to make a classic prog album with inspiration from the 1970s, and we thought it would be an interesting challenge to make an album that not only was stitched together from start to finish, but also from the final track into the first track. So, as you hear the end of Artifact, you can go straight into Raindrops all over again to symbolize the endless Saṃsāra-inspired cycle of life and death. Lyrically then, it was of course equally important to tie the end of the album to the beginning, inciting this sense of a repeating life-cycle, ultimately also working as a metaphor for a pulsating, expanding and contracting universe.”
“I use metaphors of both omnipresent beings interacting with the world it created, and I find it interesting to shift character perspectives, inviting an almost schizophrenic dimension to the narrator of each track. Yeah, its high-brow and super pretentious, and we love it, dammit.”
1. Raindrops
“Raindrops is the beginning track, using the cosmological metaphors that explore creation that has the paradoxical backdrop of a history. I thought it was an interesting challenge to write about the beginning of existence while integrating the idea that there was something before then. But “creation” is definitely the central element to this track. It’s a track that has always sounded musically epic and grand to me and I wanted the lyrics to reflect that same grandeur, lyrically colouring the track with big cosmological themes to reflect the epic scope of a modern creation story.”
2. Landscapes
“Landscapes is the part of the story where the world created enters a sort of claustrophobic, blissful state of stasis. I chose to use the metaphor of an omnipresent being that created the world, trapped beyond further influence of the world he/she created to explain how normalcy is a revered status for a god-like being. I thought it was interesting to add a humanity to this being, inciting doubt, schizophrenia and jealousy; Imagine how crazy it would make you if you saw others enjoy a thing you created without gratitude, and where you were destined to stay out of the way. In that way there’s a story of a person carrying a burden, a responsibility that cannot be let go, and a story of a person who wants to be involved, who wants to be part of something.”
3. Echo
“Going from a world in perfect stasis in Landscapes, we now turn to a world changing. I thought it would suit the tone of Echo since its a crazy mix of genres and musical expressions, and I wanted to explore an eerie feel of both power, imbalance and schizophrenia to convey chaos and randomness, but at the same time an implicit feeling of purpose and inevitability. We’re so happy we have Nico Hansen from Auralist to contribute with some brutal growling vocals, adding a sense of power and chaos to the track. I took inspiration from biology when thinking about the lyrics; I was especially drawn to the notion of bacteria dividing and multiplying exponentially, and wanted to add a bit of a grounded feel lyrically in the midst of the more grand lyrical paint strokes in the first two tracks.”
4. Parable
“Parable is a thematic detour from the overarching theme of a world being created and destroyed. I wanted to add a mythical feel to the whole story, like it was something being told around the campfire, and before our story climaxes, we needed a philosophical lesson. Parable is basically one long ode to Plato’s cave allegory, and I thought it added an interesting dimension to our otherwise pretty linear story arc, and elevated the whole concept album to a more mythical narrative.”
5. Artifact
“In our story of creation (and destruction), we now get to the part of the story where the shit hits the fan. Artifact is all about how the world was essentially destroyed by planetary mismanagement. That’s a fancy way of saying “humans fucked up the world”. I thought it was interesting to tell this story from the perspective of a person in the future, basically repenting and apologising to what he now sees as a man made entity: Mother Earth, aka the Artifact. This is obviously a social and environmental commentary on how we’re now entering the Anthropocene, and how our shaping of the earth can lead to its ultimate destruction. But it also alludes to a potential renewal, a new beginning as destructive forces, man made or otherwise, can incite new creation. In the aftermath of the destruction of Artifact, Raindrops will fall again.”
Could you please tell us a bit about the artwork – who made it etc. and how important do you feel it is to have a cool artwork?
The artwork is actually a painting by our very own Emil Efferbach!
It’s sort of an abstract representation of “the Artifact” symbolized by the red/pink light hidden behind the smoke-looking clouds of blue and turquoise.
Emil says:
“I wanted to create a visually pleasing album and instead of making the artwork on my laptop I thought it was a cool spin to actually paint the entire thing on canvas. The idea of having the ‘artifact’ shining through a deep level of cloudy looking gas actually arose from the idea of a nebula being created. I liked the fact that the viewer is not able to see the actual ‘artifact’ but rather the outlines of one.
We were inspired by a lot of the covers made in the 70’s – and back then it was more common to paint the artwork – it’s just so nice that you can look at the artwork and actually see the paint strokes and the contours of the paint itself – and that was easier to achieve on a canvas that measures 1m x 1m.
As for the colours, I just really liked to use turquoise as a base layer – and a deep quinacridone pink for the ‘artifact’ was a nice contrast to that.”
It was also a way of giving an impression of the album and the band itself without people having to hear the music prior to releasing the album, which is why it was so important to us that the artwork represents both the thematic of the album as well as the bands identity.
So to answer your question: Yes, cool artwork is important to us but it’s equally important that the artwork conveys what the album and the band is all about.
How was your first real studio recording experience?
We did most of the recording at home; guitars at Andreas’s place, bass at Thomas’s, and vocals and Charlies. For the drums we rented a small studio through a friend, but we were handling the recording process ourselves. We didn’t have to stress about time or money, which sometimes can be the case when renting a studio. It was a huge relief but may have also been the cause of our “perfectionism”, meaning that we could spend an entire evening getting that one take just right. This, of course, left us mentally exhausted, but at the very least led to some weirdly hilarious moments (which we will share with you in the not so distant future via our homemade documentary), and not to mention an album we’re very proud of.
Who and what has inspired you musically on this album?
We’ve been compared to Tesseract a lot with this album, and though it is a fair comparison we feel that there are so many other influences. Just to name a few, Periphery has been a big inspiration for the riffs, Plini and David Maxim Micic has influenced our solos and way of piecing together the songs in a dynamically interesting way. Bands like Haken along with The Contortionist and Caligula’s Horse has inspired a lot of the vocals on the album.
We’ve actually made a Spotify playlist with some of the artists that inspires us the most, called “PIQAIA Picks” if you’d like a greater insight in the matter.
Is there any track that means something special for you on the album?
Since they all fill out a part of the underlying story, they’re all equally important to us… sorry for the boring answer.
This is your debut on the progressive metal scene under the banner of PIQAIA! It has already received rave reviews from the critics – The Power of Metal.dk included 
. What are your own feelings on the positive reactions?
During the process of making this album we didn’t really consider that it would at some point be released and that everyone, including critics, would be able to hear and form their own opinions about it. We are thrilled, that an album we primarily made for our own amusement, is receiving so much positive attention, and it drives us to just keep doing what we’ve been doing all along; namely write music for our own sake.
What’s next on your list, any tours planned?
No tours planned so far. Next up is a gig in Århus with Everything Is Terrible and Unseen Faith in November, and then we see where it goes from there. Since we only have one album out with just 5 songs on it we want to focus on writing new material and hopefully have our next album out by 2020.
Thank you very much for answering my questions. Any last words you want to round this interview off with?
Actually, yeah. Hello again dear reader; thank you so much for showing interest in us by making it to the end of this interview! We’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this album, and it really feels like it’s paying off because of you. So thank you and stay tuned for much, much more.
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There is some serious playing going here, particularly in the opening track, Raindrops. In my notes I wrote down JAM a few times, which to me indicates that they are in sync and are rocking out! Solos abound, and we can hear that throughout. Landscapes is up next, and it is another big jam. The drums say hello right out of the starting gate, bashing your brain into a sweet oblivion. There are some quiet passages, but for the most part it is a good prog jam.
Next up is Echo, and this is where the vocal growling comes in. It is not overdone, which I like. In my humble opinion, clean vocals are just better. This track is bright again, very well produced – almost too slick in spots, but still well done. An excellent guitar jam at the close.
Parable is up next, and features one of those creepy, eerie intros that I am always on about. There are desert sands FX, and strumming acoustic guitars. Beautiful playing, and somewhat dreamlike. Towards the close we hear monk -like vocal chanting.
The title track is our closer for the day. Chiming guitar harmonics begin the track, but soon give way to some really heavy guitar chops. This is almost sinister but in an ethereal way. Haunting piano and vocals seem to square up this tune. There are more chops before it’s all over, but no real metal here. This is more like prog rock. I would even venture to say that it’s prog hard rock!
]]>The band comments:
“We’ve been fans of TESSERACT since we started CIRCLES, so it’ll be awesome to finally share the stage with them. We’re also super excited to road test our new material and play some killer shows! It’s gonna be a great tour and experience all round!”
The Australian progressive extremists will release their highly anticipated next album through Season of Mist in 2018.
CIRCLES Australia+TESSERACT
11 Sep 18 Perth (AU) Capitol
13 Sep 18 Adelaide (AU) The Gov
14 Sep 18 Melbourne (AU) 170 Russell
15 Sep 18 Sydney (AU) Metro Theatre
16 Sep 18 Brisbane (AU) The Triffid
CIRCLES are pushing forward the evolution of heavy music. Their intricacy, the emotional heart-string pull of their lyrics, precision, and the sheer force of their output, places them in a class all of their own.With guitarist Ben Rechter assuming the role of melodic vocalist and fellow band members Tetsuya Furuhashi on guitar, bassist and master of screamed vocals Andrew Patton as well as drummer David Hunter providing a maelstrom of musical brutality, CIRCLES are a force to be reckoned with.
Throughout their two releases, ‘The Compass EP’ (2011) and ‘Infinitas’ (2013), CIRCLES constantly broke new ground and introduced fresh elements to heavy music and djent as a genre. They have gained unanimously positive reaction from fans and critics across the globe via these records as well as their remarkable live performances, which have seen them take the stage at some of the most prestigious festivals and on tours alongside some of the world’s finest.
CIRCLES’ previous European tours have included Euroblast Festival, as well as supporting slots for THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, MONUMENTS, and AFTER THE BURIAL. In Australia, the band toured as direct support to acts such as PERIPHERY, FEAR FACTORY, NE OBLIVISCARIS, and TWELVE FOOT NINJA.
Fast forward to 2018, Melbourne alternative progressive rock and metal powerhouse CIRCLES are set to circumnavigate and conquer the world with their new signing and a brand new record in hand will see its release in the latter half of this year.
www.facebook.com/listentocircles
www.instagram.com/listen_to_circles
Line-up
Ben Rechter: lead vocals, guitars
Tetsuya Furuhashi: guitars
Andrew Patton: bass, screamed vocals
David Hunter: drums
]]>TesseracT – King (from new album Sonder)
Pre-order / pre-save now for release on 20th April https://tesseract.lnk.to/Sonder
Director/Producer/Editor: Kyle Kadow & Steven Cleavland
Gaffer: Spencer Ortega
PA: Casey Deitrich
Sonder adds significant firepower to the band’s arsenal, blending the harsh abrasiveness of One (2011) and progressive ethereal elements of Altered State (2013) with the accessibility of Polaris (2015). Sonder is streamlined, honest and direct with all the trademark TesseracT dreamy atmospherics and bending grooves.
Singer and lyricist Daniel Tompkins explains the concept behind the new song:
“King explores the notion that history is repeating itself. Dominated by patriarchal societies, we find ourselves being lead into disempowerment, corruption and war. The song also focusses on the inner turmoils of living with the constraints of an onerous life.”
The video was shot in a snowy Wisconsin following a brutal storm, to which bassist Amos adds
“We have been very lucky to work with two cinematographers of such vision and quality as Kyle and Steven. We gave them free reign with the creation of the first storyboard. They chose to explore the theme of claustrophobia and how fear can control our lives. Using a luminary figure as a beacon of hope and escape for the characters.”
TesseracT online:
https://www.facebook.com/tesseractband
https://twitter.com/tesseractband
http://www.instagram.com/tesseractband
https://open.spotify.com/artist/23ytw…
http://www.kscopemusic.com/tess
New album ‘SONDER’ out 20th April.
Pre-order here: http://tesseract.lnk.to/sonder
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