Textures - Dualism

OK, so I originally wrote this article back in 2011 when "Dualism" was being released.  I was such a fan of the album that I forgot to write a follow up!  I have been on this album for the past few weeks and completely forgot how amazing it was!  For those of you who are not familiar with Textures, this description from Angry Metal Guy:

The guys in Textures are smart guys and they make smart metal. Their brand of metal has a lot of technicality and there’s no tediousness in their approach to song writing. So if you’re a two-digit IQ kind of listener, please don’t bother us with any dim-witted comments you may have concerning how pretentious you think these Dutch fellows sound. -Angry Metal Guy

So for a few more details, Textures hails from Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands and has been together since 2001.  Originally labelled as a metalcore band, the band has moved towards the progressive aspect of metal, especially after the release of "Dualism".  The band currently consists of:

Daniel de Jongh – vocals | Jochem Jacobs – guitar, vocals | Bart "Bastærd" Hennephof – guitar Remko Tielemans – bass guitar | Stef Broks – drums | Uri Dijk – keyboards, sampler

"Dualism" was released on September 23rd, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records.  This also marked the first album to feature current vocalist Daniel de Jongh.  The kicker of it all, the album artwork was created by former vocalist Eric Kalsbeek (in collaboration with bassist Remko Tielemans).

(Album artwork courtesy of Textures and Nuclear Blast Records)

1. Arms of the Sea

2. Black Horses Stampede

3. Reaching Home*

4. Sanguine Draws the Oath*

5. Consonant Hemispheres

6. Burning the Midnight Oil

7. Singularity*

8. Minor Earth, Major Skies

9. Stoic Resignation*

10. Foreclosure

11. Sketches from a Motionless Statue

(* = AFGM Recommendations)

Dualism's combination of sheer epic compositions with polyrhythms, melodic and growling vocals, heavy atmospherics, and precise production melds together to produce one of the top albums of 2011. It might not be the most br00tal, most technical, or most kvlt album to come out this year, but it definitely pleased me and will most likely please you as well. -Metal Archives

As someone who was very new to progressive metal at the time, I was completely fascinated with the tempo changes, the BPMs, the melody mixed with screams, and the overall production of the album.  I'll admit there were a few tracks that took some time to get used to, but for tracks such as "Reaching Home", I was hooked from the first riff.

"The video was shot on Lanzarote (The Canary Islands) and was directed by Textures' bass player Remko Tielemans together with the help of Kunststoff Media." -Nuclear Blast (via YouTube)

Not a bad first introduction for you new fans of Textures.  I think what sealed the deal was getting the live experience shortly after.  Textures was on tour supporting Periphery/The Human Abstract during the 2011 North American Tour.  I was fortunate enough to watch Textures perform new material less than a month after "Dualism" was released.  While being bias towards vocalists (being one myself), I was heavily fixated on the precision drumming of Stef Broks, as you can see below:

Dualism is the most atmospheric Textures album to date, concentrating within its songs a great mix between Daniel De Jong's yelled Gojira-like vocals and mind-traveling mellow passages that give the listener a soul raising feeling, the latter being a remarkable characteristic for the dutch metallers. -Metal Storm

So I hope this all provided you a good introduction to the band, or a re-introduction.  Rumor has it they are currently working on their follow up album to "Dualism", which is scheduled for a release sometime in 2015.  You can be sure I will be posting information about it.