Tetrafusion is a name you may remember seeing floating around recently, and you'd most likely be correct. Tetrafusion released three albums between 2009 and 2012, and went dormant for a little while bassist Mark Mitchell and drummer J.C. Bryant performed with Scale The Summit. Now that the duo have left Scale The Summit over various financial accusations, Tetrafusion is back and ready to release a new album called Dreaming Of Sleep on April 21, though today we're going to start with something you can actually listen to – Horizons.
Horizons came out in January 2012 and is a half an hour-ish EP of pure progressive brilliance that serves as both a gateway to progressive rock for newcomers, as well as a clear masterpiece for the more seasoned listened. From the samba-esque rhythms of "Styrofoam Breath" to the jump into the total quintuplet mindfuck of "Cloudless," it's painfully obvious that everyone in Tetrafusion is disgustingly talented at their respective instruments.
Though despite these talents, the quartet knows when to go a little crazy with things for the sake of keeping the EP interesting, and when to pull back a little bit and lay into something catchy like "Spider Silk." It also helps, and I'm sincere in this conviction, that vocalist and keyboardist Gary Tubbs has one of the coolest voices I've ever heard in progressive rock.
Overall, Tetrafusion reminds me a little bit of early Dream Theater, has its Rush moments, and gets me nostalgic for the car rides back to college listening to Flower Kings. It's progressive rock without the tendency to make the "metal" moments these big, overly-cheesy "SUPER METAL" moments that ultimately ruin the mood. Instead, the buildups to the heavier bits flow naturally, the exits from metal or any other genre Tetrafusion decides to briefly dive into, never sound forced. To put it simply, Tetrafusion's flow when it comes to writing is fucking impeccable.
Horizons is a work that's meant to be listened to in one sitting, so go forth and get your prog on for the day.
