TesseracT

[Xenon]

This is so sad.  Another vocalist change?  This band will never gain any momentum with the constant changes. 

From Facebook:

We have amicably parted ways with Ashe as we have found ourselves in different places, creatively. Ashe is a fantastic talent and will continue to be successful in his career and we wish him the absolute best!

Moving forward for TesseracT – Daniel Tompkins will be rejoining us as a full time member of the band. Starting from our main stage performance at Sonisphere, UK on 05.07.14. We are also looking forward to starting writing and recording album three with Daniel, which will begin later this year.

I'm so tired of this. At least they got back Daniel, but overall Ashe was the perfect voice for tesseract.

[krands85]

Just came on to post that I love Ashe on Altered State and live - thought he was the perfect fit for the band. 

[Mebert78]

Ashe's statement:

It has been a great 2 years, but I think it is better off this way. I can only speak for myself when I say that I haven’t been very happy creatively for just over the past year, and that is not to incriminate anyone with the transgression of making me feel so, but unfortunately things just don’t work out sometimes, and the same can be said in return. I hope for the best and I’m sure the future holds amazing things for us all, I do certainly look forward to the next album! TesseracT is back to the line-up I first came to admire.
Thank you to all the fans for so much support and love, you guys should always be the essence of any band’s passion for making the dream real and that holds true with me.
I have always and will always be working on new material for my solo work and my bro's in Voices From The Fuselage, and I hope that as many of you enjoy what’s to come as much as we all will creating it with my fellow musickers.
There will be support, there will be chastisement, but the former is crucial and the latter is fruitless. I hope that that is something we all believe in. I always welcome interaction with anyone who wishes to do so, but as you can imagine there may be an influx due to today’s announcement, so I apologise in advance for not having responded.
Thanks again everyone.

Daniel's statement:

It's with great pleasure that I announce my return TesseracT after the band amicably parted ways with Ashe, who I wish all the very best to for all his future endeavours.

To be clear to all Skyharbor fans please take note that I will remain the bands frontman and look forward to our second album release later this year which we are very excited about.

The future remains extremely bright for both bands and I look forward to seeing you all on the road

- Dan

[Mindflux]

Welp. That stinks. I liked Ashe's vocals a whole lot more.

[senecadawg2]

I liked 'em a lot too. That's too bad.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I like Tompkins.

[Mebert78]

Tompkins singing a Michael Jackson song a couple months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmwUssUtDG4

[Kotowboy]

I wonder what's happening with In Colour ?

[BlackInk]

I do like One more than Altered State, but still sad to see another vocalist change. With, like, 3 changes in the last year or two, it's hard to put faith in anyone "permanently" by now.

[Mebert78]

My question is, im wondering one of three things: did ashe leave the band, did the other band members want to go in another direction, or did daniel approach tesseract about wanting to come back? Basically, who initiated the change? They can spin it anyway they want in their statement, but I wonder what really happened.

If ashe left on his own for creative reasons, then why did he take the job a year ago?  Didn't he know tesseract's sound?

If tesseract approached daniel, I gotta ask why? You just had a breakthrough that was widely acclaimed. Why tinker with the lineup?

If daniel approached them to come back, why did they take him back? It makes him look like a dude who sees his ex in a good place and wants her back.  He left. He left once, and he could leave again. Did they feel like fans were saying their live shows were lacking with ashe, as opposed to daniel? Surely, ashe was a good fit musically, so it couldnt have been his voice.

Its suspicious that the band announced a vocalist departure and addition in the same press release. You would think they'd announce ashe's departure, and then take some time tofind a replacement. But the moves are coming hand in hand. It gives the impression that ashe is being booted, as oppoed to leaving for creative reasons.

[Xenon]

Well, some bands like to have a replacement before anouncing the departure of a member.
Maybe Ashe wanted to focus on his solo stuff, and he got a lot of attention on that for being in Tesseract.

[Mister Gold]

I must say that I hope that things work out for Dan and the band. I've been listening to the stuff he's done since he left the band and he's gotten even better in that time. Just... wow. Incredible singer.

[aprilethereal]

Well I still don't own One, but Altered State is a masterpiece and since Ashe was the absolute star on that album, this truly makes me sad

[Mister Gold]

Well I still don't own One, but Altered State is a masterpiece and since Ashe was the absolute star on that album, this truly makes me sad

Ashe definitely gives a stronger performance on Altered State than Dan did on One, but Dan has been putting out performances of equal or greater quality in his other projects since he left. He does some insane stuff in Skyharbor and White Moth Black Butterfly. I hear the guy apparently practices with his singing constantly and he's definitely shown some drastic improvements since he left TesseracT.

Skyharbor - "Catharsis"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkAFg1qd9I8

White Moth Black Butterfly - "Rose"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbvsLi58VKg

Skyharbor - "Evolution"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIL7UsNXmAo

Skyharbor - "Celestial"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xI7q2DUeJE

I'm sad about Ashe, but I'm very excited to see what they do with Dan on the next album. Hopefully they can stick together this time.

[Xenon]

The best thing about Ashe is how well his voice sound with some many layers and armonies, it blends so beautifully. They will lose that with Dan but they will gain more powerfull vocals and Stage prescense.

[Mebert78]

I've always checked out some of dan's recent projects, and i agree he sounds incredible.  But his juggling of many projects in many different genres and styles kinda reminds me of Portnoy, and makes me feel like he will latch onto whichever of his projects are hot at the moment.  Tesseract deserves someone that is all about Tesseract.  I hope my skepticism is wrong and he is all about Tesseract.

[Mister Gold]

The best thing about Ashe is how well his voice sound with some many layers and armonies, it blends so beautifully. They will lose that with Dan but they will gain more powerfull vocals and Stage prescense.

Indeed. I'm really interested in seeing how Dan interprets Ashe's songs live. Should sound awesome.

I've always checked out some of dan's recent projects, and i agree he sounds incredible.  But his juggling of many projects in many different genres and styles kinda reminds me of Portnoy, and makes me feel like he will latch onto whichever of his projects are hot at the moment.  Tesseract deserves someone that is all about Tesseract.  I hope my skepticism is wrong and he is all about Tesseract.

I can see that, but from the sound of things, Dan has been primarily focusing on Skyharbor since he left TesseracT and his own announcement about rejoining the band only focused on those two bands. I think the other stuff are things he just does in his free time.

My only concern with Dan rejoining the band was that he originally left the band because he apparently wanted to start a family and he and the band agreed that it was better for him to leave before they found out whether or not the band would be a problem or not. Since he's been touring with Skyharbor lately, I'm hoping that means that the family stuff is settled and he's able to commit to his band(s).

On the plus side, it sounds he continued to be a big fan of TesseracT when he left and maintained being good friends with the rest of the band.

[Xenon]

White Moth Black Butterfly - "Rose"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbvsLi58VKg

This is so fucking good.

[Mebert78]

I watched a number of Tesseract video interviews on YouTube last night from the past year.  Some interesting stuff that I noticed.  This was the most interesting interview at the 2:00 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U3ccPsALI8

Apparently, the music was written for Altered Stated by the time Ashe joined the band.  "There wasn't much room for the instrumentation to change," said bassist Amos.  They said Ashe had free reign over crafting the lyrics and vocals and melodies, which to me is a large element of this album's greatness.  In addition, Amos discussed the band's songwriting process.  Amos said Acle (the lead guitarist) writes all the material and then the other band members are basically like actors being handed "a script."  To me, it seemed like he wasn't particularly thrilled that with format, because he also said he'd prefer to be writing during the downtime on the road as opposed to "picking his nose" and waiting for Acle to bring them music.

Amos and Ashe also seemed eager to start working on the next album in this interview, with Amos even saying they had no idea how the next album would sound because it would be the first time they were all writing material together with Ashe.  "We have no blueprint as to how it will sound," Amos said.  "It could be a heavier album, or it could be a poppier album."  In another interview, I saw Ashe say that he hoped some of his creative ideas would be incorporated and "revered" when the band starts working on new material.

With this in mind, I get the impression that the band members maybe butted heads creatively as they started to work on a new album this summer.  I'm sure some people wanted to keep the same songwriting formula, while others wanted to add their own elements to the sound.  If this is the case, it's a total crime that they couldn't find a way to make it work.  Creative tensions often lead to the best music, in my opinion.  Honestly, I'm skeptical whether the Tesseract guys realize the total magic that Ashe's voice, delivery and lyrics added to their music.  Without him, there's a good chance they will fade into obscurity.  So sad that we'll never know what the band could have achieved beyond Altered State. 

[ariich]

I'm not sure I agree, I love the stuff that Tompkins has been working on recently (particularly White Moth and In Colour), and so have absolute faith in his vocal and melodic abilities.

As regards the creative tension, it might not be that the disagreement was over whether others should have any input, which it sounded like the band was committed to from that interview you linked to. I would say more likely is that they are incorporating ideas from everyone, but that there was a creative clash between what Ashe wanted and what one or more of the others wanted, and that it couldn't be resolved in a way that satisfied everyone.

This is all speculation anyway.

[Mister Gold]

I'm not sure I agree, I love the stuff that Tompkins has been working on recently (particularly White Moth and In Colour), and so have absolute faith in his vocal and melodic abilities.

As regards the creative tension, it might not be that the disagreement was over whether others should have any input, which it sounded like the band was committed to from that interview you linked to. I would say more likely is that they are incorporating ideas from everyone, but that there was a creative clash between what Ashe wanted and what one or more of the others wanted, and that it couldn't be resolved in a way that satisfied everyone.

This is all speculation anyway.

Exactly. And based on what I've seen at various other websites on the Internet, I think there are a lot more fans in general who welcome the return of Dan than those who are disappointed by the loss of Ashe. So I doubt TesseracT will 'fade into obscurity' without him. If that happens, it'll be because the band switching up the lineup yet again.

Am I sad that Ashe is gone? Yeah. I got into TesseracT because of Altered State and I found his performance on the album really refreshing to hear in the prog metal scene. But ever since I went back into the band's earlier material and also checked out the other stuff that Dan's been up to a few days ago, I've been really excited to see where they'll go from here.

The more I listen to Dan and his work, the more I think he is one of the absolute best singers out there today. It's simply magic to listen to. I'm very curious to see where TesseracT will go with this next album. I don't think we'll see the return of the harsh vocals, but I can see the band returning to a somewhat heavier sound. I'd love for them to put out their own Perfect Symmetry of sorts.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Tompkins is a tremendous vocalist. My interest in Tesseract basically evaporated when he left, and has been rekindled now that he's back.

[OsMosis2259]

TesseracT Sonisphere 2014 Concealing Fate p1 Acceptance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seJliVsMbZA&feature=share&list=UUzvBMFhS0gqjx1rA0bswiHg

[Mister Gold]

TesseracT Sonisphere 2014 Concealing Fate p1 Acceptance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seJliVsMbZA&feature=share&list=UUzvBMFhS0gqjx1rA0bswiHg

Sooo good. I was a little disappointed to hear that they only played Concealing Fate and April in their set, but apparently Dan only had a couple of hours to get prepared before rehearsals, so I'm guessing they wanted to stick with what they knew he was familiar with. Hopefully we'll get to hear Dan singing some Altered State material in the near future!

[ariich]

I was there, and yeah I was slightly disappointed as I much prefer Altered State, but I totally get that Dan won't have had time to learn the stuff. They still sounded great though, and Dan is a great front man!

[Mister Gold]

Hey guys, guess what? They did another show and there's a short video of Dan singing Nocturne live! Sounds insane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NM-7ZYdG_E

[ariich]

Well, the vid isn't great quality.

Am really glad they're bringing in Altered State songs again though, like Amos said they would in his Reddit AMA!

[Xenon]

here's another video with Dan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gHMhUO2deY&feature=youtu.be

[krands85]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLcuRJA1Dd0 

[lonestar]

  That's adorable

[ariich]

[Mebert78]

New Skyharbor (Daniel Tompkins' other band): https://www.basickrecords.com/news/view/skyharbor-s-sophomore-album-guiding-lights-to-drop-nov-10th-2014

[BlackInk]

Cool. I really enjoy the Illusion-songs on their first album, so I hope there will be more of that stuff.

[Mister Gold]

New Skyharbor (Daniel Tompkins' other band): https://www.basickrecords.com/news/view/skyharbor-s-sophomore-album-guiding-lights-to-drop-nov-10th-2014

Can't wait!

[Mebert78]

I'm loving the new skyharbor song.  Very well executed.  And I love the song's topic.