Meshuggah - Music Mumblings
Originally published January 2016A while back, I talked at length about my former favorite band, Fear Factory, and reminisced a bit about them and their various albums to coincide with the release of their new album, Genexus. Today I'd like to talk about one of my current favorite bands, though there's no coincidental reason this time. I just really want to talk about Meshuggah and why I went from slight aversion to absolute adoration.
As I mentioned in my Fear Factory post, I didn't care much for Meshuggah when I first heard them. There were a few songs I latched onto here and there, but I just couldn't get into the off-time beats and irregular rhythm. Slowly over time, as I got more and more interested in metal music and listening to whatever I could find, I found myself coming back to those same Meshuggah tracks and finding new appreciation for them. Then their album, obZen, came out and I got hooked.
It was as though a door had just been opened to me in 2008 when obZen came out and a guiding hand pulled me in to show me the way of Meshuggah. Suddenly, I started to see what all the fuss was about and went back to listen to all the albums I had previously neglected. With my newfound appreciation for the band, I was ready for the release of Koloss and dying for the chance to see them live. Both things have happened since then, and neither was anything less than phenomenal.
Meshuggah has been around since the late 1980s, and while their sound has changed significantly over the years to those of us who can hear the difference, to many other casual listeners, their songs may all sound the same. I'm not here to dissuade that opinion, as I lack the musical vocabulary and understanding to argue against it. Instead, I just want to talk about the albums I've listened to and what I like about them.
We'll start with the EPs I have listened to, then we'll jump into the LPs in the order of least to most favorite.
EPs
Meshuggah (1989)
Have not listened to it.... so no opinion.
Selfcaged (1995)
All the songs on Selfcaged can be heard on Destroy Erase Improve, which has some even better songs than this EP provides. All this has that DEI doesn't have is a live version of Gods of Rapture. Otherwise, you're not missing anything.
Pitch Black (2013)
While the most recent EP on this list, I had never listened to it before actually writing this article. To tell you the truth, it's a bit disappointing, considering the fact that there are only two songs on there and one is a live version of a song that can be heard live on so many other releases Meshuggah has had. The song that is on there, Pitch Black, is good but nothing truly memorable. You can skip this one.
None (1994)
None follows suit in terms of being next to useless as an EP when you can get the full LP with all the same songs plus some better ones. However, it does have one track that stands out and makes it better than these sub-par entries: Aztec Two-Step.
While the other songs on this EP are straight from Contradictions Collapse, their earliest LP, Aztec Two-Step is definitely of the newer breed of Meshuggah with its slower, steadier beat at the start. It's certainly nothing special in comparison to the rest of Meshuggah's library, but the track stands out and is still a satisfying entry that really picks up once the blast beats start happening. The problem with it is that it also ends up being a dumb track that is 10 minutes long when the song is actually done at the 4-minute mark. The rest is all silence. If you have audio software that can cut it off at a certain point, it might be worth it to give the song a listen. Otherwise, skip None.
True Human Design (1997)
I don't hold this EP in especially high regard, as it still is not bringing too much to the table that's new, but it does have its merits.
It starts with Sane, a song from the Chaosphere LP. Then, the rest are all different versions of the same song: Future Breed Machine. It's a great song, but I'm not sure if it deserves its own EP with 5 remixes and a live version. Nonetheless, that is what True Human Design is, in a nutshell.
I don't particularly care much for techno remixes of metal songs, but I happen to really like the Mayhem version of Future Breed Machine. It served as a gateway drug into the Meshuggah library for me as the song gives a strong, slow, and steady beat that's easy to listen to. Also on the EP is a bizarre acoustic version of the song Futile Bread Machine. It's weird, goofy, and not something you would expect. I don't care for the track, but it's good for curiosity's sake at the very least.
Rare Trax (2001)
Alright, this isn't really an EP because it's a compilation and has more than 5 songs on it, but I didn't want to lump it in with the other studio albums.
Rare Trax is for the Meshuggah collector who wants to hear the songs that didn't make the cut onto the full releases. While I tend to think there's a reason some were left on the cutting-room floor, this compilation of Meshuggah's early works with a few bonuses is better than I initially expected.
The main strength of this release is the fact that there are only a couple of repeats from other albums. If you liked their sound from Contradictions Collapse and want some fast, gritty, distorted tracks that sound like they could have come from Destroy Erase Improve, this might be worth a listen. And, despite its name, it's pretty easy to find; this is on Amazon Prime's free streaming service along with the rest of Meshuggah's studio discography.
Standout tracks
War
Don't Speak
Sovereign's Morbidity
Concatenation [Remix]
I (2004)
This EP has only one song. It's a good song. It's also 21 minutes long. Enjoy.
LPs
Glancing at the order of albums, you can probably tell I'm a little more partial to the more recent releases of Meshuggah than their early work. However, that isn't to say that it wasn't difficult putting these albums in a particular order, because each one has their own qualities that stand out as an awesome album.
Contradictions Collapse (1991)
The earliest LP on the list, Contradictions Collapse is very different from the rest of Meshuggah's discography. It still has irregular beats and the high-pitched, unsettling guitar solos that Meshuggah is known for, but CC is very much closer to the inspirations of the time period. Thrash metal was still a key influence for up-and-coming bands of the time with giants like Metallica, Slayer, and Death still being strong examples. Contradictions Collapse's tone and beats sound very akin to those examples.
The crowd-vocal bits and the thrashy guitar solos also add to that recognizable thrash quality that Contradictions Collapse has. Songs like Erroneous Manipulation are prime examples of this particular sound I'm talking about. The opening feels similar to something Death would play and the particular sound of the double-bass drums sounds like it's straight off a Death album. I feel like if you were to put this album in a Death or early Metallica playlist for a bunch of metal heads, it would go over rather well.
Meanwhile, songs like Greed and Sickening are where you can see the seeds of Meshuggah's future being planted. Good album.
Standout Tracks
Erroneous Manipulation
Greed
Cadaverous Mastication
Sickening
Chaosphere (1998)
Chaosphere, while low on my list, has a special place in my heart as being the first Meshuggah album I ever listened to. As I said, I initially didn't care for Meshuggah, but there were two songs off this album that kept them on my radar: Neurotica and Sane.
Neurotica had that catchy, almost goofy quality to it that I would catch myself humming while I was doing something, especially if that something was foolish. There was always something I liked about the rhythm and the sound of the notes sliding down the guitar necks. The twangs of the notes and the sludgy bass guitar made this song ooze and drip, and I loved it for it.
Sane, meanwhile, immediately pulled me in with the creepy tone it had at the start. Sane is one of those songs that always intrigued me because of that particular spooky quality it had throughout. It sounds like something that could easily be used alongside photographs and video footage of old asylums and haunted houses. Then you get pummeled with the powerful drum beats the rest of the way. The beat is very steady for a while, then it breaks down and the creepy tone works its way back in.
After my Meshuggawakening, I went back to listen to this old classic and finally realized why everyone liked tracks like New Millennium Cyanide Christ so much, but Sane and Neurotica will always be my old favorites.
Standout Tracks
Concatenation
New Millennium Cyanide Christ
Neurotica
Sane
Nothing (2002)
It tends to be a toss-up for most Meshuggah fans whether Nothing or Destroy Erase Improve are their favorites. Surprise! Both albums are in the middle for me! This certainly isn't to say that they are anything less than awesome albums, because they're both fantastic!
Nothing is that album I consider the first of the modern Meshuggah era. While Destroy Erase Improve certainly helped identify the band more and helped them become more unique, and Chaosphere built off that foundation, what Meshuggah sounds like today is built off the foundation that Nothing laid.
Nothing has numerous hard stops in the guitars while the crashes and hi-hats of the drums keep going which would be integral to Meshuggah's modern sound. It also incorporates some of the special twangs and solos from Chaosphere that helped give it an atmosphere. And, it pumps up the aggression that is so powerful in Destroy Erase Improve. Why isn't it higher on the list? Stiff competition, mostly.
Nothing is the album that I think I can hear the drums the most. Chaosphere showcases the bass, while obZen is very guitar-heavy, but Nothing is a drummer's album. Every hit of the crash, the snare, and the hi-hat is super clear. Still, the guitars and clear vocals work in tandem with this awesome drum performance to make an album that could easily be any Meshuggah fan's favorite. While I think it sounds better than Chaosphere and Contradictions Collapse, it's unable to reach higher on my personal list simply because the standout tracks don't seem as good as those from the other albums.
Standout Tracks
Rational Gaze
Nebulous
Spasm
Glints Collide
Destroy Erase Improve (1995)
This album could be held up by the quality of one song alone on this album: Future Breed Machine. Thankfully it has several other good ones that propel it further up my personal list of Meshuggah albums.
While early in the band's lifetime and still using some of the same tricks from Contradictions Collapse, this is the album responsible for putting the band down the path to greatness. The guitar riffs are erratic and aggressive one second, and then gentle and melodic the next, all while the drums and bass are blasting in your ears. An example of listening to a guitar metamorphosis is listening to the guitar solo of Soul Burn. It goes from the mindless buzzing of a mosquito in your ear to a solo that would be well at home in a Metallica song but sounds much weirder with the irregular beats of a Meshuggah song.
Destroy Erase Improve is an album that gets me pumped up, regardless of which song is playing and how fast or slow the song is. From something as fast as Transfixion to something as steady as Suffer in Truth, this album is fantastic at convincing me to bang my head.
I don't have much else to say about this album other than listen to you if you think you'd like Meshuggah, because it's a classic for a reason.
Standout Tracks
Future Breed Machine
Soul Burn
Vanished
Suffer in Truth
obZen (2008)
Now we're getting to the albums I listen to the most.
With one of the best opening tracks of any of the albums, Combustion comes flying out the gate to amp you up for a mosh pit. I had this song on my workout playlist right in the middle, and every time it came on, it gave me a second wind of energy. I think part of the reason that obZen was the album that got me into Meshuggah was because of Combustion. Its speed and power, as well as how suddenly creepy it became when the guitar solo started just got me excited every time. The creepy sounds that resembled the work of a theremin had been a Meshuggah trope for years, but it finally made sense to me and I only wanted more after just the first track.
Lucky for me there were another 8 songs left on the album. The second track, Electric Red, brings back some more of the irregularity and hard twangs of the band's sound with the same ghostly guitar solos. It's a good song, but it didn't prepare me for what would quickly become my favorite Meshuggah song of all time.
7 minutes and 25 seconds of glorious metal, Bleed is an amazing song and everyone who listens to the genre knows it. Everything from the drums, bass, and guitars, to the screams and even the lyrics themselves are astoundingly satisfying. Bleed's lyrics are an aspiration of quality for songwriting to me in how Jens Kidman is able to come up with such visceral limericks and know how to time them appropriately for the right sound and effect. If Combustion was the song that made me realize how brilliant their creepy guitars mixed with the aggression of their sound, Bleed was the song that made me realize that the genius of Meshuggah was in every member of the band. I've listened to it over 200 times and I still get pumped up every time.
The awesomeness of the album does not stop there as obZen continues down the path of bouncing back and forth between classical offbeat Meshuggah sound and pure aggressive impact. For each Lethargica, there's a Pravus.
A strong album from beginning to end, and it stayed my favorite for a while.
Standout Tracks
Combustion
Bleed
obZen
Pravus
Dancers to a Discordant System
Catch 33 (2005)
Catch 33 feels like the stronger sibling to the album, Nothing; in many ways Catch 33 sounds a lot like Nothing. The guitars and their movement through the music are very similar. The drums are still very clear and easy to hear. The vocals are just as clear as before and even some of the spoken word segments that were present in Nothing.
Yet, I like Catch 33 that much more as an album. The album itself is really just one long song (maybe two), but it's split up into 13 separate tracks. The band probably had a lot of fun on the making of their I EP and wanted to do an LP, but needed a break after 20+ minutes. In my opinion, it could have been just 1 song and I would have still loved it because so much of it is catchy and brutal, it's difficult not to keep listening from one 2-minute track to the next just to see what direction the song takes.
The advantage to breaking up the songs into fragments, besides making it easier to navigate the album, is that it helps highlight various themes the band wanted to take in their songs. The song, The Paradoxical Spiral, is completely enveloped in this swirling sound on the guitar. It's a sound that is present only for the 3 minutes that this song lasts. By breaking it up this way, they're able to give a little extra personality with a track name and some separation.
The only part that I could do without is Mind's Mirrors, which is where the vocals are doing some spoken word to the sound of the bass strings fluttering. It works to the concept of the album and it really builds up the next song by the end of it, but I tend to skip the track out of boredom. In Death - Is Death is similar in its absence of activity after a certain point, but I find it a lot more satisfying. It's a good thing the rest of Catch 33 is so damn strong to make up for it. As a result, it managed to overtake obZen on my list when I finally went back and listened to it.
Standout Tracks
Autonomy Lost
In Death - Is Life
In Death - Is Death
Shed
Dehumanization
Koloss (2012)
That's right. The most recent studio album from Meshuggah is my favorite. I have listened to this album more than any other in the almost 4 years it's been available and I'm not getting tired of it.
Koloss starts off with one of the best and heaviest slow sludgy songs the band has ever produced. I am Colossus showcases the bass, which echoes as we hear the usual guitar twangs and riffs for a solid 2 minutes. Then the song hits a stop and it really tears into itself, as though it’s transforming into something else with fast drum beats and the main guitar riff sped up. We're then treated to the signature Meshuggah guitar solo before returning to the main sound of the song once more. By the time it ends, the sound of the first third of the song is repeated but with new-found meaning and impact so that, when he says, "I am Colossus," its power echoes in your ears long enough to get jolted into the speed of the next song.
From then on the album is strong and consistently epic. Do Not Look Down hits hard with the signature forceful irregularity, while songs like The Hurt that Finds You keep the frenzy up. I really feel, however, that the album finds a second wind of power with the 7th track: Break those Bones Whose Sinews Gave it Motion. The slow creepy guitar of the beginning and the tug of the rhythm riff captivate me every time. When the sludgy guitar kicks in, it stays captivating all the way to the end. A song that manages to be exciting, despite being slower than most of the album.
Swarm picks up the frenzy with an apt title, as it manages to encapsulate its subject with its sound. Then, my favorite track of the album, Demiurge comes on to tear everything down in a wave of anger and power. It is one of the simplest, regular songs Meshuggah has ever made, but its beat and sound are so powerful and exciting, it's a struggle not to get excited when I hear it.
Koloss starts strong and doesn't let go until the last track where it seems to release you to ponder what orgasmic journey you just completed. A fantastic album from start to finish.
Standout Tracks
I am Colossus
Do Not Look Down
Break those Bones Whose Sinews Gave it Motion
Swarm
Demiurge
That's it! That's my Meshuggah list from top to bottom. I don't have much else to say, so I'll leave you with a personal memory regarding the band:
These days, Meshuggah typically plays Demiurge back-to-back with Bleed in a live performance. The crowd appropriately loses its mind each time and has provided me with a memorable moment at a live show. The last time Meshuggah played nearby, I was watching as Demiurge came on right after Bleed. In the middle of the song, bouncers ran past me out of the pit with a guy in their arms screaming "Oh god, my fucking dick!" A true warning for anyone thinking of going into a Meshuggah mosh pit: Beware, you may get your dick stomped.