Meshuggah

Just discovered this band couple days ago. I'm not a fan of metal but this is such a great band ! Really original band ! what do you think of it ?

Excellent forward thinking band.  They have progressively gotten more odd and complex with their rhythms over time.  Their latest, Catch 33, incorporates more soundscapes.  The major drawback to the band is that they do tend to repeat a lot of sections and often you find yourself wishing for change.

Destroy, Erase, Improve
Nothing
Chaosphere

all great albums.

Headbanging and Beerdrinking 

Meshuggah is amazing I honestly think that they are the most progressive band out there right now.

Mind-boggling time signatures, but no recognizable melody...ever.

Still, they're amazing to listen to.  They're one of those bands that you can never quite keep up with, and just when you think you can, they're a step ahead again.

GoldenSpiral wrote: Mind-boggling time signatures, but no recognizable melody...ever. Still, they're amazing to listen to.  They're one of those bands that you can never quite keep up with, and just when you think you can, they're a step ahead again.

As has been observed above, they tend to get repetitive - and I find that where they're not actually repetitive - ie using unusual time signatures and slight changes to rhythms, that it ends up sounding rather samey anyway - but I find that with the minimalist composers like Philip Glass.

The approach to composition of their more recent work is quite interesting in itself - being fairly well rooted in the minimalist school of thought, but I find the whole philosophy too structure focussed rather than musically focussed.

What I mean by that is that there are so few changes in the other elements of music that I get bored quite quickly - I prefer my music to be more rounded.

Having said that, I do like the sound of the brutally heavy soundscape they create - just in small doses.

I understand it's supposed to come across as hypnotic, and can hear how that effect would be created, but I still find Hawkwind and early Metallica more hypnotic - ie the key for a hypnotic feel to me seems to be in simplicity of rhythm with shifts of organic cross rhythms rather than huge swathes of carefully calculated (one might suspect pre-programmed) polyrhythms.

Just my few pennies.

I can't stop listening to Catch 33.. the quiet moments they've added on that album fully round out the sound, while of course remaining as disharmonious and amelodic as possible! If you've judged them only from their early thrash material then pick up Catch 33 as it is incredibly haunting and delicate in places. Also, the harsh monotone vocals are less present - I understand that they're most offputting for the traditional sympho/space rock fans.

(probably should adapt this into a review)

Destroy Erase Improve is a great album, very memorable songs which are also technically proficient,

Edited by mithrandir - May 07 2006 at 16:43

MikeEnRegalia wrote: GoldenSpiral wrote: Mind-boggling time signatures, but no recognizable melody...ever. Still, they're amazing to listen to.  They're one of those bands that you can never quite keep up with, and just when you think you can, they're a step ahead again.   Check out Textures - they just released a new album. They remind me of Meshuggah a lot, but they are much more melodic and diverse. Doesn't mean that they're better than Meshuggah though - I like them both!

Just checked them out... Textures definitely get my seal of approval!