A Meshuggah discussion

Conor Fynes wrote: Meshuggah personally, are a band I can appreciate for up to two minutes at a time, before it starts to hurt my brain. :)

heheheheh

I've heard the same thing from a few people.

For sure...it is not easy listening, but heavy metal never is.
As I said, and I'm sure a lot of people would agree...it truly is a matter of taste.

As musicians, they are incredible...forging their own style and utterly destroying all preconceptions of how 'metal' should be played...yet, I can appreciate to the average listener that it is a bunch of noise.

It's like marmite...you either love it...or you don't!


Personally, I adore them...they have constantly destroyed convention within a specific realm of 'metal' music...and will continue to do so.

Yes, Fredrik worships at the throne of Allan Holdsworth...but let's face it, I had never heard of Allan until I heard Meshuggah and I can thank the nutty Swedes for introducing me to his work.
If you came out the other way...then yes...Meshuggah would be a total headf**k for you...

Everything leads from and to someting else...we have all enjoyed finding bands that have influenced our hero's, yes?
And I think that is the true excellence of any band worth their salt.

avalanchemaster wrote: moe_blunts wrote: avalanchemaster wrote: and Thordendahl's solos are just Allan Holdsworth ripoffs. that's not a fair assessment. I suppose it would offend your sensibilities less if I said that his solos are influenced by Holdsworth.... if you don't agree, well then I would have to question your exposure to Holdsworth....

holdsworth is in a league of his own. really awkward guy, too, but he sure as hell can play.

Fredrik's solos are more ripoffs of beebopjazz saxophone...


Edited by moe_blunts - June 26 2009 at 14:17

avalanchemaster wrote: and Thordendahl's solos are just Allan Holdsworth ripoffs.

that's not a fair assessment.

They are so much better live than on album.... that said, I find their I ep to be their best release.  It is just the right length, has just the right changeups and keeps it intense from beginning to end.  Catch 33 is somewhat boring imo.  Chaosphere is excellent.  so is Obzen.  Nothing is almost too repititious for me. (yes I get the polyrhythmic interplay)  The early material is a different beast all together... very thrashy.  Well most of their stuff is somewhat thrashy, but just insanely complex rhythmically.... sort of like african polyrhythmic contortions... call them a love/hate band.... and Thordendahl's solos are just Allan Holdsworth ripoffs.

also, the best related project is not a Meshuggah album at all, but the extremely rare "Fredrick Thordendahl's Special Defects- Sol Niger Within version 3.33" which features more diversity, better songs, and Saxophone in some songs.... like Meshuggah meets jazz.... good stuff for sure!

wow... it seems my story would be exactly the same... spooky...

zappaholic wrote: Chaosphere was my first exposure to Meshuggah as well, and I didn't care for it.  A few years later I decided to give them another shot and picked up catch thirtythr33.  That's the one that hooked me.  Since then I've picked up Nothing, I and obZen - all great discs, but catch thirtythr33 is still my favorite.

Wow. I have the EXACT same story as you when it comes to my getting into their music. Spooky . . .

I actually find Chaosphere to be their most interesting. The grooves are simply divine. If you wanna get into the album, just headbang a little bit to the ending of Sane or Neurotica.

their songs may sound chaotic but they are so structured it makes most peoples head spin. if meshuggah is about anything,they are about structure. Thats where that whole "how do they play this" thing comes in. chaosphere is disjointed as an album and the songs arent as memorable as the songs off nothing or well... anything they've done.

Favorite meshuggah album is probably catch 33, though I is pretty great too. I heard their rhythm guitarist (not thorendhal) say once that their songs were rhythmic exercises so i really enjoy that aspect of the music. i like picking it appart and attempting to disect the song, which is pretty fun. 

If you think their songs don't have structure, you won't enjoy anything they have released. They aren't for everyone, so I wouldn't be surprised if you never found anything from them you liked. The point of their music isn't to be melodic or traditionally structured; it's to be rhythmic and trance-like. You can't go into a Meshuggah album expecting 4/4 time signatures and melodic singing about Tolkein-esque fantasy worlds. A lot of traditional prog is like that, but Meshuggah is a different breed altogether.

I'd say Chaosphere is their worst album between Destoy Erase Improve and the present. The production isn't the best and songs are very good, but definitely not consistently on par with their other work. I agree with your comments and highly recommend you take a look at the I Ep and Catch 33. They are very mature in songwriting and the production is great on both.