Meshuggah

Meshuggah is amazing.  I'm really into their new album Catch 33, as well as the EP "I".  I think they're a bit heavier than some people on here would appreciate, but their complexity is awe-inspiring, and I think they're closer to prog metal than many bands listed on this site under that genre.

Edited by Useful_Idiot

"I" is pretty cool!

thanks, Bryan

Edited by Joren

maybe i should see them when i go to download fesitval. They are on the snickers stage on saturday!

"I" is outstanding, the feedback outro sounds like Gyorgi Ligeti's music at the very end of the "stargate" sequence in "2001: A Space Odyssey," then it goes silent, also like "2001"; 

wait, are you talking about the band called meshuggah? Isnt it a death metal band? Thats what it sounds like to me...

Edited by Dreamer

It is death metal, though, isn't it? Or at the least very brutal thrash.

I guess they COULD be classified as death or thrash metal, but I haven't encountered another band in either of those genres that sounds anything like them.  They have death metal's vocal style and for awhile had thrash's speed (although Nothing and Catch 33 have made it even more difficult to classify them due to the slower tempo), but they use time signatures and rhythmic techniques that you'll never hear from Cannibal Corpse or Iced Earth.  They're not really prog metal either, although they do have elements of it.  I've heard some use the term "math-metal" to describe them, but I really find it impossible to pinpoint exactly what style they're playing.  And really, who cares?

Strange, I'm trying to listen to one of the songs now. It's got all the death metal charecteristics, at least as far as i know. Fast double bass drums, fast guitar with loads of distortion, no real melody, screaming vocals. Even the song names, Sane, Future breed machine and War are extremely metal-ish.

Way too heavy to my liking.

Meshuggah are pretty good. I have their album "Nothing" down on my list of albums to buy, but there are many other CDs i would rather get. The thing that draws me to Meshuggah is the fact that they manage to create complex rhythms while still retaining an awesome groove. The thing that slightly turns me away is the fact that a lot of it sounds too similar. They over-use the whole polymeter thing until it gets boring. It's still good stuff to listen to, but i'm not sure if i could listen to a whole album of it.

I also have the Fredrik Thordendhal's (sp?) Special Defects cd, and that has the familiar polymeter thing going on, but more frequent jazzy, holdsworth-esque leads. It is quite interesting, but still i'm not sure if i would consider it brilliant. I will say, though, that the drumming from Morgan Agren is quite astounding to say the least

The difference between Meshuggah and death metal? For one thing, most death metal bands don't groove much at all, let alone the amount Meshuggah does. The vocals are much more shouted than growled, there's tremendous lack of double bass (drums) usage in Meshuggah. Thomas Haake tends to follow the guitar line with his feet and often snare (while there's always a cymbal - often the china - keeping the steady beat, hence the groove). Since the guitar lines are not blazing tremolo style picking, the drums don't indulge in that action either and you don't get that concrete bed of riffing style that a lot of death metal bands use. There's really huge atmospheric gap between Meshuggah and death metal. Loud and heavy does NOT equal death metal.

Having said all that, i'm not a genre nazi, and you guys can call Meshuggah what ever the hell you want as far as i'm concerned. It doesn't change how they sound, does it?

Edited by Reverie

I is easily the best thing theyve ever made, and likely to be one of the best metal recordings of the past few years, hands down.