NONE

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)