This album is heavy, intense, and beyond epic. When the term djent was just a twinkle in the loins of Periphery’s Misha Mansoor, these guys were ploughing a loan furrow of technical experimentation, taking metal to a whole new universe. The unreal rhythms created by drummer Tomas Haake are insane. Ably abetted by Frederick Thordendal on guitar, Marten Hagstrom on guitar, and Dick Lovgren on bass. You can throw traditional rhythmic counting out of the window, as these guys are on a different planet. Math metal was invented for these guys.
Combustion is an immense chunk of heaviness and groove to warp your brain around. Just when you have managed that, Electric Red changes it completely as the grooves are insane, heavy, and in a superb odd time. Bleed starts with a mental staccato guitar burst – the only way I could do that would be with a stick or something. There seems to be three grooves going at the same time. Killer stuff! How Jens Kidman keeps the intensity going with the vocal is beyond me, and Live he is super intimidating – a huge presence on stage.
Lethargica opens Side 2 with an insane up down riff in superb d-tuned insanity. Obzen, the title track, follows and has to be the lowest sounding riff I have ever heard. The guitar strings must be as loose as wool! This Spiteful Snake is quite a simple riff when you break it down, but what surrounds it gets heavier and more complex as the song evolves. I love this tune. Pineal Gland Optics is nuts!!! You have to hear this rhythm and groove to believe it – it’s as though the drums are the lead instrument.
We flip over to Side 4 and start with the penultimate track, Pravus. It’s as heavy as hell, and the grooves and rhythms are even more crazy than before. Dancers To A Discordant System is the last track, and if possible, is even more brutally heavy and twisted. There are no other bands like Meshuggah, they are a one off. If you are remotely interested in this type of heaviness, then this is a good place to start.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
