TESSERACT Announces New EP 'ARC_ONE: Obscura', Shares First Single 'Crucible'

U.K. progressive metal titans TESSERACT begin their new era with the announcement of their new EP "ARC_ONE: Obscura", and signing with new label home of Nuclear Blast Records.

"ARC_ONE: Obscura" will be released on March 5, 2027. In recognition of the news, the band has revealed the first single, the mighty "Crucible".

Since making their earliest waves at the crest of the "djent" movement, the leading lights of U.K. progressive metal have refined a singular approach while constantly toying with expectation. As ambitious now as they've ever been, TESSERACT's new undertaking could go down as their crowning achievement.

"ARC_ONE: Obscura" marks TESSERACT's first outing for heavy metal haven Nuclear Blast. The EP also follows what has been their greatest run of touring to date, playing to rapt audiences across Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia.

The three-song kick-off, "Obscura", introduces what will become a multimedia spectacle for their global following.

TESSERACT 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" — summarizes 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, "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 U.K. and Germany, including a marquee show at London's famed Brixton Academy.

North American tour dates with ENTHEOS and SUNBORN:

Jan. 07 - New York City, NY - Irving Plaza
Jan. 08 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
Jan. 09 - Montreal, QC - Beanfield Theatre
Jan. 10 -Toronto, ON - Concert Hall
Jan. 12 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
Jan. 13 - Charlotte, NC - The Underground
Jan. 15 - Atlanta, GA - Buckhead Theatre
Jan. 16 - Orlando, FL - Beacham
Jan. 18 - Houston, TX - House Of Blues
Jan. 19 - Dallas, TX - Echo
Jan. 20 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theatre
Jan. 22 - Phoenix, AZ - Nile Theater
Jan. 23 - Los Angeles, CA - The Belasco
Jan. 24 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
Jan. 26 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
Jan. 27 - Seattle, WA - Neptune
Jan. 29 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
Jan. 31 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall

European tour dates:

March 11 - O2 Ritz - Manchester UK
March 13 - O2 Academy - Brixton London UK
March 15 - Die Kantine - Köln Germany
March 16 - Batschkapp - Frankfurt Germany
March 18 - Markthalle - Hamburg Germany
March 19 - Täubchenthal - Leipzig Germany

TESSERACT is:

Daniel Tompkins (vocals)
Acle Kahney (guitar)
James Monteith (guitar)
Amos Williams (bass)
Jay Postones (drums)

Photo credit: Naomi Paulmin