OBZEN

Meshuggah has always impressed me in terms of heaviness, brutality, complexity, and songwriting. Obzen is a peek in the bands career for me because I personally believe that this is an essential progressive metal record.

I first learned about Meshuggah through a friend, it took me a while to get into them but I did. I started off with this album. It took me a minute but eventually, it came to me. Obzen also helped me get into the heavier side of progressive music along with bands like Opeth, Nile and Mastodon.

Obzen starts off with Combustion, which In my opinion is one of their best songs that gets overlooked. Its fast, heavy, and full of energy, the perfect album opener. Second is Electric Red, its a song I consider a "deep cut." The song has this catchy groove riff that I really enjoy. The third song is Meshuggah's holy grail, Bleed. Bleed is one of the bands most well known and best songs, and for great reasons. Its technical, long, and overall a strong song. The guitars go to town on this song along with the drums, bass, and vocal delivery. Lethargica has a another catchy riff similar to Electric Red. Lethargica is one of the stronger tracks, even though its another underrated and overlooked song. The atmospheric part towards the middle is a nice touch too. Obzen, the title track is one of the heavier songs on the album. It starts of with and incredibly heavy riff that has a large impact. I believe that Jens Kidman's vocal attacks are strong on this song as well. The next two songs This spiteful snake, and Pineal gland optics are hidden gems in the bands catalog. They both don't have much to write home about but, that doesn't mean that they are bad. Pravus has a lot of impact and it is one of the strongest songs on the album. The closing track is Dancers to a discordant system. This song is another one of many masterpieces that Meshuggah has. Its nearly ten minute length lets the band really kill it on this song. The technical complexity and the guitars and bass, the drums and the vocals all are strong on the epic.

Overall, Obzen is a must listen for the progressive metalhead, or any prog fan. Its an essential listen in my opinion and I believe that it is one of the greatest albums in prog music history. Listen to it if you want extremely heavy tech prog metal, or your just getting into the band, Obzen by Meshuggah is mandatory.

Strongest Tracks: Combustion, Bleed, Pravus, Dancers to a discordant system. Weakest Track: Obzen 10/10 A Masterpiece