The video for ‘Crucible’ introduces TESSERACT’s forthcoming EP ARC_ONE: Obscura. Available to watch and stream now, the lead single opens the three-song release with a song about suppressing oneself to belong.
ARC_ONE: Obscura arrives March 5, 2027, with pre-save available. It marks the UK progressive metal band’s first release for Nuclear Blast Records following their signing to the label.
‘Crucible’ centers on the lyric ‘if I fit, I disappear.’ Vocalist Dan Tompkins describes its subject as “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”. The announcement describes an episodic arrangement focused on vocals and the guitar riffs of Acle Kahney and James Monteith.
The EP continues the exploration of identity on TESSERACT’s earlier album War of Being. Tompkins connects that record’s themes of ego and masks—and its ending about tearing the mask away—to the questions driving the new music.
“As I, personally, made more music on the back of War of Being, I started to discover more about myself and my own being,” he explains. “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.”
The three-song EP begins a broader multimedia undertaking. Tompkins says the format reflects both listening habits and the band’s interest in developing a story: “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.”
TESSERACT and Lewis Johns co-produced, mixed and mastered ARC_ONE: Obscura. The band emerged alongside the djent movement and have since toured Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia. Their lineup comprises Daniel Tompkins on vocals, Acle Kahney and James Monteith on guitar, Amos Williams on bass and Jay Postones on drums.
TESSERACT will tour ARC_ONE: Obscura across North America, the UK and Germany. The North American dates feature Entheos and Sunborn and begin with a January 7 appearance at Irving Plaza in New York City. The supplied tour schedule does not specify a year.
- January 7 — New York City, NY — Irving Plaza
- January 8 — Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club
- January 9 — Montreal, QC — Beanfield Theatre
- January 10 — Toronto, ON — Concert Hall
- January 12 — Baltimore, MD — Baltimore Soundstage
- January 13 — Charlotte, NC — The Underground
- January 15 — Atlanta, GA — Buckhead Theatre
- January 16 — Orlando, FL — Beacham
- January 18 — Houston, TX — House Of Blues
- January 19 — Dallas, TX — Echo
- January 20 — San Antonio, TX — Aztec Theatre
- January 22 — Phoenix, AZ — Nile Theater
- January 23 — Los Angeles, CA — The Belasco
- January 24 — San Francisco, CA — The Fillmore
- January 26 — Portland, OR — Roseland Theater
- January 27 — Seattle, WA — Neptune
- January 29 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Depot
- January 31 — Denver, CO — Summit Music Hall
- March 11 — Manchester, UK — O2 Ritz
- March 13 — London, UK — O2 Academy Brixton
- March 15 — Köln, Germany — Die Kantine
- March 16 — Frankfurt, Germany — Batschkapp
- March 18 — Hamburg, Germany — Markthalle
- March 19 — Leipzig, Germany — Täubchenthal
Announcement photography credit: Naomi Paulmin.
