CATCH THIRTYTHREE

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal, as Meshuggah are (as of this writing) considered, is a very difficult genre to review when it comes to being progressive in nature. Yes, it is very heavy most of the time, and it also represents alot of things about metal that the more traditional prog fan hates. Indeed, more often than not the listener will hear such things as death metal growls, down-tuned guitar riffing, dark lyrics, lack of melody, and absence of keyboards, in alot of cases. So why is Meshuggah even on this site? Well, I think that if these non-fans of the genre would truly listen to bands like Meshuggah, they would find out what all the hype is about; but it is a very subtle thing to notice at first, asnd I must admit when I first listened to Meshuggah, I vowed never to give them a listen again. But for some reason I couldn't resist, and now they are one of my all-time favorite bands, in any genre. But let's face it; with so many metal aspects involved, Tech/Extreme Prog Metal has undoubtedly bifurcated the prog fan community more than any other sub-genre. However, this does not mean a more traditional progressive rock fan is sure to hate Meshuggah and bands like them, but it does mean that if anyone would be more likely to dislike them, it would be someone of an earlier past time, who enjoyed the classic bands, but no longer feels like ''good music'' is produced anymore. While I think this is a nonsense, it is very understandable why a person would feel this way about modern prog music, especially when bands such as Meshuggah and Opeth are considered to be amongst the bands that make up the modern prog movement.

So let's get things started. Firstly, CATCH 33 was my first Meshuggah album. I bought it knowing that I didn't like what I had heard from them before, and that I was either going to grow to love them, or grow to hate them even more. Fortunately, the former scenario came to pass. I was immediately struck by the rhythms of Mårten Hagström, the powerfull yell-vocals of Jens Kidman, and the otherwordly quality of Fredrik Thordendal's lead guitar work. While Thomas Haake isn't doing much on this record (time constraints led the band to use a custom drum machine on this effort), his drum programming matches his real drumming to the T, and now that I have listened to the band's other efforts, it is safe to say that it sounds no different in technique and precision than Haake's actual drumming chops. So his absence on this record is truly not an absence at all, and the drum machine's presence doesn't alter the listening experience in any way.

Something I would like to touch upon as well: Many people seem to believe that Meshuggah is 'math- metal', and feature crazily-difficult odd time signatures in their music. Now, I'm not a music tech, and have little to no knowledge of what proper music theory is, but the band's members themselves have on more than one occasion dismissed this notion, and even pointed out that Haake-- ableit playing something off-beat with his feet-- keeps the standard 4/4 time backbeat going with his hands at all times. So even though Hagström may be playing a 23/16 time sig in the foreground, Haake's hands keep things simply and concise underneath all of the chaos. So this leads me to believe that Meshuggah's comopsitions aren't quite as complex as most people make them out to be, and yet I understand that actually playing the songs is a very difficult thing to do. So I am not trying to belittle the band members' technical abilities, but I am pointing out something that may put a person's opinion of the band in a bit more realistic perspective. More or less, the rhythm structure is based on where the bar line is, and not necessarily what time signature the song is written in, since it is in essence, still basic 4/4 time. Why point this out? Well, I have noticed some reviews on here claiming that Meshuggah really aren't anything special, and that the song structure is too simply to be tech/extreme, so hopefully by pointing out that Meshuggah never aimed at being considered this technically-charged math rock band that people are calling them now, it will help those people to look at the band from a different perspective.

With that out of the way, let's get to the reviewing.

CATCH 33 Opens with ''Autonomy Lost'' (which is actually the first of three parts of the same track), and introduces the thing Meshuggah is most famous for: crazy time signature guitar playing and drumming overtop of a basic 4/4 time backbeat. The rhythm featured here is very addictive, and I just love the way it fuels my adrenaline. Something else (I would find out later) Meshuggah loves to often do is repeat the same riff over and over again, creating a form of hypnotic trance, then once the listener begins to feel comfortable with that rhythm, it will completely change and throw you off once again. It's that not knowing what is around the corner aspect to Meshuggah's music that proves that they are progressive, as far as I am concerned. Jens Kidman is on top of his game on this album, and as his voice comes plummeting in, you know that you are in for the ride of your life. Granted, the experience is very fulminating from the get go, and this lack of atmosphere and presence of non-stop aggressiveness is actually something I actually went considerably out of my way to impugnment (See ''The Bedlam in Goliath''), but in this particular case, I feel like the aggressive aspect in the music works very well, and at least there is some structure and groove to it, unlike the former album I mentioned. I noticed in a couple of reviews for this album that it is assumed that the entirety of this song (Which are the tracks ''Autonomy Lost'', ''Disenchantment'' and ''Imprint of the Un-Saved'') is made up of exactly the same riff played repetetively. This is false. as one would know if they took the time to really sit and listen to the guitar work beautifully executed by Hagström. The riff starts out as a certain rhythm, with a certain number of notes per bar and a certain order in which they are played. At many point within the song, all of these aspects change, and the notes are played in a completely different order, rhythm, and time signature. This means that it is a different riff. Similar notes, but different nonetheless. Therefore, while some people over-complicate Meshuggah;s music as mentioned above, some people also over-simplify it, which is just as wrong to do.

Once the first 'movement' of this song (As CATCH 33 is in essence one huge song that spans the entirety of the album) is over, track 4 begins. Now everything is different, and not just the guitars. This continues on for quite some time until the next blatant transition with the track ''Mind's Mirrors''. This is my favorite of the album, just because it is the most dark, the most strange, and frankly, the most prog track on the record. The spoken word section of the album is to be found here, with Thomas Haake speaking his lyrical poetry into a symthesizer that is unkwon to me, but will surely be recognized my more seasoned music listeners. Following this undoubted;y spooky moment on the album is an equality unsettling yet beautiful quiet section, featuring some of the most atmospheric lead guitar work I have ever heard. Thordendal is really great here, and proves that his band is more than just a death or black metal act; they are truly progressive.

Now we are treated to a song that spans two tracks: ''In Death is Life/Death''. The riffs here are some of the best on the record, with a very disorienting rhythm structure that I still haven't managed to tackle yet, no matter how many times I listen to it. Both tracks are more or less the same, with the only real difference being at the end of track two, when a very foreboding quiet section comes in once again, lasting for a very long time. In fact, it lasts so long, that in the past I have found myself drifting off to sleep with my headphones on late at night as this part plays (Well, even on the heavy parts, I become very entranced and hypnotised by the beats, but this case in particular is very soothing to listen to). Eventually, things kick back into gear again, and the band have done a good job of excersizing an old law of music and created a quiet moment for so long that the ear-splitting opening to the track ''Shed'' seems as if it were the loudest thing on the record yet, simply because the contrast is so extreme. It works very, very well.

So the track ''Shed'' as mentioned a moment ago opens with a blood-curtling scream courtesy of Kidman, and then brealks into some of the most pulsing, throbbing guitar riffs on the whole record. This track is fairly short, and feels even shorter, ending way too soon in my opinion, as I wanted it to keep going.

The last three tracks on the album once again continue a single strand of music composition, and it serves as a very good album closer, complete with yet another quiet moment at the end. This is followed by a gargantuine wall of sound that is actually quite beautiful to my ears, before finally silencing the band members for good. All except one. Thordendal continues to play some very bluesy clean guitar work until the album's end, and it truly strikes me positively every time. The dark, quiet sections have been married with the heavy aggressive sections to create what is in my opinion Meshuggah's best album to date. Will they make a better one? Only time will tell, but I can gaurantee that whatever happens in Meshuggah's future, this album will be remembered for years to come. A four star effort.