UK progressive metal titans TesseracT are entering an exciting new chapter, announcing their forthcoming EP, ARC_ONE : Obscura, alongside a new record deal with metal powerhouse Nuclear Blast Records.
Set for release on 5 March 2027, ARC_ONE : Obscura marks the beginning of a bold new era for the band. To celebrate the announcement, TesseracT have unveiled the EP’s first single, the formidable ‘Crucible’.
Since first emerging at the forefront of the ‘djent’ movement, TesseracT have continually evolved, refining their distinctive sound while challenging expectations and pushing the boundaries of progressive metal. Never content to stand still, the band remain as creatively ambitious as ever, with their latest undertaking promising to be one of the most significant releases of their career.
ARC_ONE : Obscura also represents TesseracT’s first release for Nuclear Blast Records, a fitting new home for one of the UK’s most forward-thinking heavy bands. The announcement follows an extraordinary period of touring, with the band taking their music to enthusiastic audiences across Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia.
The three-track opening chapter, Obscura, introduces the first instalment of an ambitious multimedia experience, setting the stage for an immersive new world that TesseracT will unfold for their global fanbase.
Vocalist Dan Tompkins explains, “We’re trying to approach this a little bit differently, in terms of not just dropping a full album. We’re trying to work with how music is consumed in general, but also trying to deliver what we think our fans really want from us: a captivating story and a good concept.”
Thematically, ARC_ONE : Obscura picks up where War of Being left off, continuing the album’s exploration of identity. “War of Being was very much about ego and the masks that we wear,” Dan recalls. “The ending to that album was quite important, because it was about tearing the mask away, which is a key lyric from the album. As I, personally, made more music on the back of War of Being, I started to discover more about myself and my own being. I’ve started to really think about what direction we could take the next batch of music in, and I think, for me, it’s very much about understanding what’s left when you’ve exposed who you really are.”
This introspective journey commences with the lead single and ARC_ONE :Obscura’s opener, ‘Crucible’: a song about suppressing one’s self in order to belong. Its key lyric – ‘if I fit, I disappear’ – summarises what Dan calls “the pressure that shapes and distorts the individual: the fact that we’re being constantly measured and judged and refined until our real, authentic self is just pushed further and further inside us and buried”. It’s a refreshingly episodic piece of music, too, pulling back from the widescreen War of Being to focus on emphatic vocals as well as punchy riffing from Acle Kahney and James Monteith.
Co-produced, mixed and mastered by the band together with Lewis Johns and Pete Miles at Middle Farm, ARC_ONE : Obscura is another testament to TesseracT as trailblazers. Not only is it being released innovatively; it’s home to three immense songs which reiterate why the band upended (and continue to upend) what people thought metal can do. Most exciting of all, this is just the beginning…
TesseracT will be touring ARC_ONE: Obscura across North America, the UK, and Germany, including a marquee show at London’s famed Brixton Academy.
UK/DE tour:
11 March O2 Ritz Manchester UK
13 March O2 Academy Brixton London UK
15 March Die Kantine Köln Germany
16 March Batschkapp Frankfurt Germany
18 March Markthalle Hamburg Germany
19 March Täubchenthal Leipzig Germany
Get your tickets: https://tesseract.os.