5 Bands That Are The New Faces Of UK Heavy Metal

5. TesseracT

In the mid to late 2000s, a bunch of virtuoso guitarists who grew up listening to way too much Meshuggah and SikTh started exchanging riffs and ideas on online forums. This was the birthing process of the phenomenon that would become 'djent'.

Ridiculous name aside, djent is a controversial brand of progressive metal music with characteristic palm-muted chords that acts as the angsty heavy music sibling of dubstep.

Though the djent scene has much of its origins in America with the likes of Periphery, Animals as Leaders and Born of Osiris, the UK hasn't exactly kept quiet, with the likes of Hacktivist and Monuments being spear-headed by Milton Keynes' TesseracT.

Blending djent with ambient atmosphere, TesseracT have acted as ever-maturing pioneers to the genre, earning praise from peers and critics alike, culminating in being awarded the 'Progressive Music Award for New Blood' by Prog Magazine in 2012.

The band have set themselves apart due to their evolving sound and their high-level of production, carried out by in-house by bassist Amos Williams and guitarist Acle Kahney.

This is all in spite of a revolving door of lead vocalists in their early years, a position now occupied by scene darling Dan Tompkins who is enjoying his second spell. TesseracT's reputation has grown enough to be invited to tour with the legendary Devin Townsend earlier this year.