Tesseract – Gig Review & Gallery 4th May @ Croxton Bandroom, Melb VIC

Posted on May 6, 2024 by kjdraven

Photo: Clinton Hatfield

TesseracT
The Croxton Bandroom, Melb, VIC
May 4, 2024
Support: Future Static

Future Static kicked off and ripped Northcote a new one with their infectious harmony vocals and a set of blistering songs. ‘Icarus’ soared high. Maybe it’s because they’re locals, but they get a rousing reception during and after each song. ‘The Embers’ slowed things down though the impact of the drums was felt in the knees of everyone in the Croxton. Frontwoman Amariah Cook sings and screams her way through it, hitting all sorts of notes. ‘The Hourglass’ was introduced as their “proggiest song but it’s still in 4/4”. What it does have is a gnarly bass line with atmospheric guitars. Some songs find their way to metalcore via emo riffs but the breakdowns are unmistakably HARD.

They’re an inspired choice as an opener since they’re not really the same sub genre as the headliner but aren’t totally different either. A great platform to get Future Static in front of a new audience. Certainly they held the room’s collective attention. ‘Venenosa’ absolutely ripped. ‘Roach Queen’ closed out the set with a fast beat that lifted the crowd’s energy level, with singer Cook leading the crowd in the refrain “I was sick and nobody helps me”.

Overheard:

Punter 1: “Fuck that was sick. She’s probably one of the best female screamers I’ve heard”.

Punter 2: “Better than Spiritbox?”

Punter 1: “Way better than Spiritbox.”

The stage fills with smoke as the intro track kicks in, slowly building anticipation before the lights black out entirely. With red lights flashing, TesseracT milked the crowds furore before the full band finally took the stage for ‘Natural Disaster’. The first breakdown hits hard and the crowd head-bangs in unison. Without promoting fans clap along with the beat and raise fits on the final break. There’s barely a breath before ‘Echoes’ triggers jumping and swaying with the riff.

It’s immediately apparent that despite the smaller room size and simplistic lighting rig they are going to draw every last kilowatt from what they have – it’s a stunningly effective mood that suits the melancholy-slash-heaviness of each song. The band are most lit from the back of the stage, meaning they appear in silhouette, which is suitably spooky for the vibe they cultivate.

The older songs, such as ‘Of Mind – Nocturne’, feature some of the best djent riffing the UK has ever produced and it evokes all sorts of reactions from the audience – including plenty of phones to film. There’s a roar and hands in the air when it gets to the “WAKE ME UP” bit.

They get a little bit funky, in a prog way, on fourth song ‘Dystopia’, which has enough bounce for a decent mosh.

On ‘King’, singer Daniel Tompkins stopped the song to ask for phone lights, lighting up the room for “a song about unity” and for a moment the Samsung / Apple rivalry was inconsequential. Most of the crowd sing along with the outro. After that nice moment it was into the sheer slab of bass induced heaviness that is ‘War of Being’. It was suitably epic as the band moved through each section of the song.

Most of the set was split between 2023’s War of Being and 2018’s Sonder. ‘Smile’ got a massive reaction. Even louder was the response to newer track ‘Legion’. It’s a song with stunning vocal parts that Tompkins pulled off in-person and enriched the soul of all who heard it. The band leave the stage for a pre taped section but return with a thunderous version of ‘The Grey’. It’s a slaughterhouse of headbang.

After that ‘Juno’ offers a bit more for the bounce and the kind of red light show that Darth Vader would dig (hey it is May 4th after all). One dude near me was trying to film on his phone but couldn’t help shaking his whole body to the time signature. Can’t imagine what the footage would look like!

TesseracT left the stage but the crowd weren’t done. It’s one of the louder calls of an encore I’ve heard lately and the band reward the loyalty with two songs from Concealing Fate. The demonic call from Tompkins to “show your hands” certainly gave the place a cult-like feel as everyone obeyed. It was hypnotic as fans swayed to the groove, inspired by changes in beat. Singer rated the reaction to ‘Acceptance’ as “pretty good” but announced one more song for the old school fans and pushed the crowd back for a chaotic pit. ‘Deception’ lived up to that intro as dudes crowd surfed or climbed onto shoulders.

Djent prog bliss and there’s zero chance anyone went home with anything but a massive smile.

Review by KJ Draven (Twitter X and Instagram).

Setlist