Live Review: TesseracT, Caligula's Horse

UK progressive-rockers TesseracT are delivering absolutely crushing live shows right now, and there's no doubt that their compositional skills and instrumental talent inspired rave reactions among their Adelaide crowd. Their hotly anticipated third LP Polaris offers a more vibrant flavour to their previous releases. This makes for a formidable catalogue, which TesseracT are fucking good at playing live.

Caligula's Horse were the main support for the Australian leg of TesseracT's ongoing world tour. Hailing from Brisbane, the five-piece have built up quite the reputation from relentless touring and meticulous songcrafting. Their latest offering, Bloom, is their most diverse and dynamic yet, and with it Caligula's Horse have carved out their own unique mark on progressive music, a highlight being the monolithic Daughter Of The Mountain. Every C-Horse riff is formidable and memorable.

TesseracT are one of the most interesting and praise-worthy bands to crop up in the last decade. The dark brickwork of Fowlers Live complemented the onslaught of crazy guitar riffs, out-of-this-world bass lines, and rhythmically intricate drumming that sent the crowd into a frenzied mosh pit. Daniel Tompkins proved to be a seasoned frontman, and every member fulfilled their role with purpose.

People were losing their minds watching TesseracT, and a thought struck this reviewer: it would be great to see the band return in support of Opeth. They keep you on your toes with their incredible ability to continually one-up themselves. TesseracT played through material old and new in what was a sizeable and satisfying setlist. Their diverse range of songs ensured a large breadth of musical territory was explored; creativity and innovation shine through on every track. With their classic heavy metal sentiments melding effortlessly with a knack for being ahead of the curve, TesseracT are making themselves known as a band that rocks the boat. The entire audience pile respect and admiration onto TesseracT as they draw their set to a close with classic tracks such as Nocturne. Being able to see the output of TesseracT over the coming years is going to be grand.