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Meshuggah are always an acquired taste for some, this however is perhaps their most acessible work besides their thrash influenced debut album. Still, this EP shows a clear path what Meshuggah was about to become. Technical and polyrhythmic complete with very tricky use of time-signatures, and the riffs are some of the best I've heard from them. It's definietly a step forward from their debut album and it is the first Meshuggah release to featuring their "classic" sound. This EP is comparable to "Destroy Erase Improve" especially, as they are both very similar in style except for that "Destroy Erase Improve" is heavier and sharper and this one is not quite as heavy, but still extremely complex and raw, without forgetting the acoustic works here too that works incredibly well between the heavy riffing from the band.

There's no weak tracks here, except for the ending of "Aztec Two-Step" which is basically just 5 minutes silence. Otherwise, this is top-notch stuff,with the best track being "Slickening", a great candidate for beign the best Meshuggah track from their early years. "None" is not as mind-boggling as later releases but still a highly recommended EP for fans especially! I'll give it 4.7/5

The birth of the metal experiment.

Meshuggah - progressed. The band's first real outreach towards a more complex and progressive sound, None is a bit more laid back approach from their first progressive studio approach in Destroy Erase Improve. However, for those not adjusted to this band or this sound, it won't seem as such.

It becomes clear very quickly how much this band has to offer. The only comparison I can make to the lead guitar sound is Allan Holdsworth, which is really saying something. However, it's Allan with an unhappy childhood, as evidenced by the dense riffing and distortion. Haake's drums are not as impressive here as they would be on other albums like Chaosphere, but you can already tell how much different his style is to others in the field.

Sickening is the best track here, sounding most like a DEI track but has a very nice clean section to go with it. A great EP to have. The only downer to this is the vocals, which are not near as robotic and structured as they would become later (trust me, you don't want a lot of variety with the vocals with this style of music). For those that can stomach the initial sound, there are enough tricks and turns to keep yourself entertained.

None was released as a kind of teaser to Destroy Erase Improve. I remember when it came out, and the reviewers of various metal magazines praised this EP for the high technical level but also for the special groove that Meshuggah had on this release. I didn´t buy it then but have purchased it a couple of years ago.

The music is very different from the music on the debut album Contradictions Collape as Meshuggah have made their music more simple and groove oriented. A sort of technical Pantera you could say. At the time of it´s release this was called Groove thrash. Many bands followed in their wake and they were considered as a genre defining band. A role they have again taken with their later albums.

The more simple thrash metal on None suits me better than the tech metal attack they showed on Contradictions Collapse even though I am not too impressed. A song like Gods of Rapture is really cool though. Ritual has some singing from Jens Kidman but I don´t think it works very well. The last song Aztec Two-Step is way too long and has an industrial touch that is not to my liking.

The production is a bit better than on Contradictions Collapse, but not really good. The overall impression is that this is a good tech metal EP, but I don´t think it is essential and a 3 star rating is fair.

Meshuggah is a Swedish Progressive Tech Metal band that was originally formed in 1985 under the name Metallien, a name that was obviously hinting at another famous band at the time. Those influences were also apparent on the band's debut album Contradictions Collapse, but let's not talk so much about that era and instead move towards the period that has truly put Meshuggah on the map!

In 1994, Meshuggah was still a relatively unknown act and their debut album did very little to change this. Then came a 30+ minute EP titled None which predated Destroy Erase Improve by less than a year and showed definite improvement over their debut. None had almost everything that would make the band famous, over the course of the next few years, compiled on these short five compositions.

I consider Sickening to be the definite highlight here because, although it's still somewhat of a transitional composition between the two periods of Meshuggah's career, the composition actually show exactly how the band made their improvement by giving us, the listeners, a linear enhancement of their sound. It also helps that Sickening is one of the more well recognized songs in the band's arsenal. All this crammed into a six minute composition alone makes this little piece of Tech Metal history worth purchasing!

I also like Gods Of Rapture which features one of Fredrik Thordendal's trademarked guitar-solos which is backed up by a synthesizer sound that must have been inspired by Mats/Morgan, who Thordendal has collaborated with on a few occasions.

The only real issue I have with the EP is related to the 11 minute concluding track called Aztec Two-Step which actually ends after the four-minute-mark and the rest of the time is filled with sound-effects which are then followed by five minutes of complete silence. There is a minor pay-off at the end of that silence but it's definitely not worth waiting for.

This EP marks the new era of Progressive Tech Metal development and therefore I can't give it anything less than the 4 star rating which it truly deserves!

***** star songs: Sickening (5:47) Gods Of Rapture (5:11)

**** star songs: Humiliative (5:18) Ritual (6:17)

*** star songs: Aztec Two-Step (10:44)