Remember yesterday, when I posted about the We Are The Foundation EP? This is similar to what could have happened had Monuments continued with the style. 2 vocalists, vintage djent, Monuments and TesseracT in one, raw but good production, bass (kind of)? It's all here.

It took me a bit to find this. I don't believe it's on Spotify or any other streaming service, and unless someone recommends the album, it's not very discoverable. So you could say that the words were indeed hidden. Anyway, this album is really great, and extremely unique. Now, I say this every time, the artists I listen to are all different, but this album is different different. It's aggressive and simultaneously atmospheric and melodic. This can probably be attributed to the John Browne (Monuments) and Acle Kahney (TesseracT) combo, and they write really well together. Of course, Neema Askari and Joe Garrett also write really well, with their parts playing off of each other, similarly to Neema and Greg in the Monuments EP. Although I think that Neema and Greg are definitely better in this regard, Joe does provide a different feel on vocals with his deeper screams that contrast more with Neema's iconic whatever he does.

So what happened to Fellsilent? They died. TesseracT was beginning to get popular, and Acle probably liked working on his own project rather than working on Fellsilent, so he left the band. Following him, the drummer and Joe left as well, leaving just John and Neema. That was pretty much it. John already had Monuments, so he began working on the project he had established, and Neema hopped on (only to be kicked off). Just like that, Fellsilent was done, and while it would have been really interesting to see where they had gone, The Hidden Words is a great album, and we now have TesseracT and Monuments (well, Monuments might be done now) to carry Fellsilent's legacy.

Oh wait, you might want singles. Immerse is really good, as is Double Negative and Age of Deception. Now go listen to the album!

I'm back pretty early, aren't I? I believe I've posted this EP before, but this time I'll give the lore drop and analysis.

Greg Pope and Neema Askari were a set of vocalists on Monuments that joined after Fellsilent (pre Monuments + TesseracT) fell apart. Neema was on Fellsilent, but Greg was new. This is mostly irrelevant though, as when Monuments released this EP and opened a live show for Periphery with this lineup, it was clear just how well their voices worked together, and how well their (albeit unique) vocals fit over the music. Getting into rumor and/or I'm not sure territory here, but they were both under the belief that Monuments was over, so they "left" the band. Clearly the band wasn't actually done, and they picked up another vocalist (Matt Rose). This led to a song being cut (Memoirs) which they actually tried releasing, but Neema and/or Greg threatened legal action due to the iconic chorus. So, we got Gnosis, with completely re-worked vocals, and Greg and Neema were nowhere to be found.

So where does that leave this EP? Well, it was only released on myspace, so the compression and mixing is kind of raw garbage. Not even good raw, if it wasn't this good I would not be listening to it. But it IS that good. It's catchy, the vocal style is unique and executed well, the riffs are Gnosis riffs so they're good. What's bittersweet about this EP is, this is what Gnosis could have been. This music with Gnosis mixing would have been an amazing debut album, rivaling The Amanuensis. Instead, most people prefer the instrumental version of the album, and rank it lower, if not the lowest, out of all of the Monuments albums.

Before I leave yet again (no I'm not listing singles it's only three songs), I want to discuss lyrical themes. They sound left-wing and political, something that did happen on Gnosis (a bit more vaguely), but just completely died after that.

Like, this is explicitly anti-capitalist. When I heard this I went nuts. Gnosis was vague, but this was much better, especially lines like "Refuse the system because the system will re-use you" and even just "We Are The Foundation".

This one is sadder to me, because it hits close to home. I thought I knew it all, thought I knew what actually had to be done to help people. Then I learned how the world really works, how things are done intentionally with the knowledge that people are hurt and exploited. Even if we manage to fix a world that's actively decaying, what of the souls lost along the way? What of the souls who we lose every day to the system, the cycle? When will enough people see past the brainwashing, the propaganda, and realize these things, that money is irrelevant, that their worldview is likely built on lies?

Something else lost with Greg and Neema was songwriting. The themes were good, the lyrics themselves were good, just everything about this EP and this band had so much potential, not just to be a good band, but to spread a message. That didn't happen, though. So I'll sit here, still listening to this EP, thinking of what could have been, while appreciating what happened. Gnosis is still a great album, as are The Amanuensis, In Stasis, and Phronesis (except for lyrics on Phronesis, they're really bad). Enjoy this EP, it's quite the gem, even if the mixing is mid.

When I first found this album, it was an instrumental version, and for a month or two I thought that was the only version of the album. As nice as instrumentals are, I am a vocals person at heart, so I didn't listen to it. After burning myself out on The Amanuensis and In Stasis for the first time, I found it again and decided to give it a shot. Then I heard vocals, and I was confused. Turns out it did have vocals, and I just happened to get the wrong version . So what makes Gnosis stand out, and why do I enjoy it?

Well, I'm glad you were totally asking that question. This album is raw, especially compared to other Djent albums from the time. Yes, P1 and One were both more raw than P2 and Altered State, but Gnosis is another level of raw in it's production and style as a whole. The guitar tone is something that really stands out, and yes I say this like half of the time, but listen to it and you'll see what I mean. It sounds like a machine, and it definitely works for this album. Also, AUDIBLE BASS OH MY GOSH!!! Obligatory "bring back bass". The vocals are also really interesting and uniquely raw. Monuments has always had a vocalist issue, which meant that they have music with like 5 different vocalists out there. This album was done by Matt Rose, and while some people don't like his vocals, I think they really work on this album. The raw mechanic guitar tone combined with his harsh screams is something you have to hear to really understand what I'm describing.

So, what's the issue with this album*? I'll leave that for the day 5.5 post on the "We Are The Foundation" EP, becuase there's a bit of Monuments lore that needs to be gone over. Long story short is that the album was supposed to be done in a different style with different vocalists who were maneuvered/deceived out of Monuments. Either way, this album is still really good, and definitely stands on its own. If you need singles, listen to Admit Defeat, removed, and Regenerate. As always though, if you have the time listen through the whole album. It has quite a unique sound, one that never got returned to, and likely never will.

Alright, I'm feeling quite tired today, so you all are getting the rapid-fire round this time.

What I like: Vocals are great, up like an angel, down like a wounded ox. Guitars are great, as is usually the case with Periphery. It djents, its great, it has its super harsh moments on songs like The Price is Wrong and will have you emotional by the time you've finished Lune.

What could be improved: Where's the bass? I heard that bass play-through of Prayer Position and the bass line was so good, why can I barely hear it in the mix. I'm not asking every band to sound like TesseracT, but at least take notes in terms of mixing an album. Other than the lack of bass, this album has amazing mixing.

What do you all think of this album? It took a bit to grow on me, but I grew to like most of the songs on it. While always liking Lune and The Price is Wrong, the rest of the album got better and better to me the more I listened to it. Especially the Habitual Line-Stepper to Flatline to Absolomb, the whole second half of the album is probably my favorite.

Wow, okay. I didn't know I had a cult until a few months ago, and they actually make really good music. W Cult! I remember making a post about a track on this album, but I think it's time for the whole thing, don't you think?

Where to start. I found this album when I was looking for prog metal albums with female vocalists for the sake of voice training purposes, and what I found was quite the gem. I had never listened to "post-metal" or Cult of Luna before, Mariner was quite the departure from my djent. I really enjoyed it on the first listen through though, and it's now one of my favorite albums. Julie's vocals are great, I was not expecting what she would do on this album but it really makes this album. I actually don't know the band members for this band, but whoever does the deeper screams is also really good, and the two of them sound really well with each other. The instrumentals are also great, and in a way they create a feeling of immersion with patterns and powerful riffs. The riffs will often take their time, letting you take the whole thing in before its gone, and I love that about this album. Everything just works well together! Also, there's no singles today, I guess you could listen to Chevron or Cygnus but this album is best experienced in its entirety.

That's going to be all for today's rec. Let me know if you enjoy/enjoyed this album or not, and feel free to give me some recs as well. I'll be back tomorrow

Hi everyone, I'm back with another album (of course). This one was recommended to me a few days ago by @vovchik_ilich@hexbear.net, and I've really been enjoying it!

If I had to describe how this album felt the first time I listened to it, I would say nostalgia. It really tickles my nu metal and 2000s alternative rock senses, in a good way. The guitar tone is really good, I've always been a fan of these kinds of tones. In addition to guitars, the vocals sound amazing. Not only do they get angelic (I love angelic vocals), but the vocalist does a lot of different things with their voice both pre-production and post-production. It's also proggy, of course, and that's what really makes this album for me. Yeah, nu metal and alternative rock could both be good, but add prog and it ascends.

This album has its heavy/harsh moments, its calm and melodic moments, and its proggy moments. I really enjoyed it, and hopefully you will too. For individual tracks on this album, check out Themata (this album in a nutshell), Cote (for 2000s nostalgia), Sewn and Silent (clean melodies), and Scarabs (for heavy proggy guitar goodness).

That's going to be all, hope you enjoy, and thanks again for the rec vovchik_ilich!

P.S. If you don't end up liking this album, just listen to "Omitted For Clarity" on loop

I think I'm going to recommend an album each day as I begin to upload music to TankieTube. Considering I've never made a post on One, I thought it would be best to post this on day one of this posting spree.

One has to be one of my favorite albums. It takes a sort-of ambient tone, which then is interjected with harsh guitars and vocals. The guitars do Djent, and the riffs are pretty satisfying. One thing that was hinted at in One was bass. It's the most quiet bass in any TesseracT album, and yet it can still be heard, something that was more common at the time (Monument's Gnosis, for example). However, while most bands decided to lower the volume of the bass, and flatten the tone, TesseracT leaned into it, with a rich and audible bass in all of their future albums.

Dan Tompkins is amazing on this album. His voice can go from a angelic, but sad-sounding cleans to the harsh pitched screams of an inner conflict. I once saw someone come up with a comparison between Dan Tompkins and Ashe O'Hara (Altered State) that really sums it up well. While the way Ashe sings demonstrates that same melancholy emotion followed by understanding, Dan takes that and focuses more on the moments of struggle. For this in action listen to both Ashe and Dan's versions of Perfection (Dan's is on this album). He's very flexible and versatile on this album, and although he's a bit low in the mix sometimes, it's not so jarring that it's felt for the whole album. The only bad thing about this album for Dan as an individual, was that he wrecked his voice. He was never quite able to pull of the same kind of vocal performance until War of Being, meaning that the harsh vocals that felt pretty iconic were used sparingly in both Polaris and Sonder (Ashe didn't scream, so Altered State has none). This is not a jab at any of these albums, and I feel like the harsh vocals they did use in songs like Messenger (Polaris) and King (Sonder) worked really well.

I don't seem to be talking about one a lot in this rec, and it's because it feels like such a unique album. If you've heard TesseracT at all, many of the sounds they built upon in future work started with this album. This album stands on its own though, and it's still probably my second favorite TesseracT album. Concealing Fate (All 6 parts) is amazing, and tracks like Lament, Nascent, and Eden are just as amazing (I've just listed most of the album).

So, before I go, let me provide some single songs you might enjoy. The best part about One is that, like Altered State, you can pick anything. Love harsh vocals? Nascent and Sunrise. Beautiful cleans? Deception and Perfection. A bit of everything? Lament or Eden. Like all of these? JUST LISTEN TO THE FULL ALBUM AT THIS POINT! That's all from me, if you read this I appreciate it, and enjoy the album.

A tip for streaming from TankieTube: The website can actually be connected to through Newpipe's PeerTube option, so you can play the album in the background like you would on a streaming service!

Altered State 2, on TankieTube too!

Yeah, so my review still holds up, this album is still probably one of my favorites, its great to get back into, and I still think it is a masterpiece. Is there anything more to be said that I didn't say? I love this album, and now it's in a location where people can listen to it, in its entirety, without worrying about YouTube BS or streaming service tracking or anything else. If you didn't see the original post, or don't remember what was said, give it a read! Its especially good if you're on the fence about listening to this album.

Reading it again, I was in a different place at the time. I had just started my transition, and this album was on repeat for me. It played when I buzzed my legs for the first time (no, I didn't shave at first) and I still sing the songs, or hear them in my head, whenever I shave anything. I used the shaving as an example, but this album really is linked to the gender euphoria I felt when I first did those things, and if there was any album that would be my "transition album", this would have to be it.

I'll probably always be a bit sad that Ashe O'Hara left TesseracT, and the band never really returned to an album like Altered State. I do think it was overall not a bad thing, because I've really grown to appreciate Polaris, Sonder, and War of Being, but none of them will ever be as special to me as Altered State still is. I can really appreciate Dan Tompkins though, after really getting into Polaris and War of Being I can hear just how amazing his vocals are as well, and I've grown to love his newer stuff too (I used to only like One).

That's all from me this time, and no, I do not think there will be a third Altered State post. Maybe I'll do an in-depth post on Polaris or One at some point.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know I'm eating my words from a bit ago, again. I said that I could not really get into albums like Periphery's P5 and TesseracT's War of Being. I was once again wrong, at least about one of them. Sorry P5, you'll have to wait until another time, where I may or may not like you. Anyway, War of Being post before an Altered State post, what's wrong with me?

Well, I already did an Altered State post, although I might do another when I upload it to TankieTube, because it is just that good and absolutely deserves two posts. But we're not here to talk about Altered State. I left War of Being playing, and I made sure to sit through Echoes, which eventually did grow on me, but it was holding me back. The Grey, Legion, and War of Being are all amazing songs, and the rest of the album definitely holds itself up pretty well too. While it does flow well, I do feel like this is more of an album made of "heavy hitters" rather than the one really amazing album flow that Altered State has. Stop comparing it to Altered State!

Going into this, I thought the production was pretty flat, and that's because it might be, but it also might not be? I'm kind of struggling to hear it, but there are moments that definitely could have been mixed better, and there are moments that live up to TesseracT generally having good mixing. You have to realize, bad TesseracT mixing is like Monuments mixing on a good day, so it's not the end of the world. There are so many places where the bass rips and is just so present, I love that this band does this with their bass instead of just making it low in the mix or pretty much just muting it (I'm still salty about AJFA, even though I don't listen to Metallica too much anymore). I also need to talk about the vocals, because Danithan Tompkins went over 9000 with this album. He's always been a great vocalist, but this album marked a bit of a style shift and a return to One's harshness. One sounded great, but I believe it may have not been good for his voice. He manages to bring that energy and more to War of Being, hopefully in a healthy way this time. Now to talk about riffs.

War of Being feels like its own thing, but I can hear bits and pieces of other albums at times. Sometimes, I hear One. Others Altered State. Others, I can hear Altered State 2 (Polaris). I even hear a bit of Sonder. Its nice to see that they didn't just mush the sounds together though, you can hear it for a moment if you catch it, and then its back to being War of Being. Some of these riffs though, and the guitar tone, almost remind me of a modern djentified and progiffied version of Trivium's Shogun. The Grey has a riff like this, and so does War of Being. If you've listened to Trivium's Shogun, you'll know what I mean when you hear it. In fact, IF YOU WANT SPECIFIC SONGS TO LISTEN TO, PLAY THE GREY and WAR OF BEING. Now that the people in the back have heard me, I wanted to say that I absolutely love the riffs, and I want more of this.

Anyway, I've gone on long enough. Enjoy War of Being, and don't worry, I'll post Altered State tomorrow.

I was talking about music the other week in the trans mega, and how I couldn't really get into the newer TesseracT stuff. So that was a lie...

If you want specific songs, I have four words for you: Tourniquet and Seven Names

(although if you're looking for higher-energy, do Dystopia and Messenger)

I've really been enjoying Spiritbox lately, so I thought I would share alert you all to this EP's presence.

Additionally, I have ended my friendship with HexReplyBot. TankieTube is my new friend, thanks TankieTanuki!