• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

A strange release here for Nightmare Records, who usually specialize in something with more balls, but the sophomore effort for Tetrafusion should ease the weary ears of many a metalhead, as their softer, more relaxed take on Progressive Metal unites the tranquil sounds of Wolverine, Ritual, and even Votum with the riff-heavy madness of Cynic, Opeth, and of course, Dream Theater. First few moments into opener "Collage Of The Present" and you're thrown into DT's Scenes From A Memory, though the rest of the track plays out like a patchwork of everything the genre has in its arsenal, from Canvas Solaris-like instrumental wankery to vocal sections reminiscent of Rush or Spock's Beard.

There are plenty of heavy moments to keep you headbanging, but the production is rather weak and their vocalist tends to use a Muse-esque tone most of the time, which makes a lot of the buoyancy beneath null and void. Tetrafusion's first record was purely instrumental, and I can't help but feel that most of Altered State would have benefited from similar treatment, though "Last Chance" does recall early Riverside, so it's not a total loss. With a more appropriate vocalist, this could have been a quality entry into the Progressive Metal world. For now, it's a bizarre footnote in the directory.