Meshuggah - Obzen
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Free Music Notes for Obzen
Free Music Review: Something old, something new
Hit: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this. I liked Catch-33 and I lot, but it's good to hear them do more "traditional" songs again rather than extended pieces. And while they seem to be taking some cues from older material (especially the aforementioned "I" and "Chaosphere") a couple of big things really stood out and made this different from anything they've released in awhile.
First, the opening track "Combustion" is really, really catchy and energetic, despite still sounding relatively difficult to play. It's a straightforward thrash metal song with only a couple of deviations from 4/4. 4/4? Meshuggah??! After "Nothing" came out, I wondered if they'd ever write anything in a "normal" time signature again. Not that that's such a huge thing in itself, but coming from Meshuggah it sounds kind of like they're writing songs again with more aggression and less exclusive concern with technicality.
The second big difference between ObZen and a lot of their other work is that a lot of the songs feature more melodicism. Especially notable in "Pravus" and the close to "Dancers to a Discordant System," there are chimey, almost organ-like chords behind the hard, arrhythmic guitar. This makes the songs sound a lot fuller and more engaging. In short, I really like the direction they've taken with this album. Enough said.
Free Music Review: Mirror mirror on the wall
Hit: 5 Stars
The age old question "Who's the heaviest band ever?" will always be a matter of opinion and relativity - that is, Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" had no equals when it was released, but now sounds tame by today's standards. The ante was upped several times - "Women And Children First" from Van Halen, "Ride The Lightning" from Metallica and "Far Beyond Driven" from Pantera are all high water marks in the heaviosity contest.
Meshuggah certainly can lay claim to part of the throne for the first part of this millenium with this new slab of chaos called "Obzen". Like their sonic godfathers VoiVod, Meshuggah revel in twisted tempos and chord work that suggests the noisiest free form jazz with guitars tuned low and turned up. Some call it math metal, but it's more like assault metal. Imagine Fear Factory with ripping lead guitar and the late Denis D'Amour of VoiVod's signature fretwork.
No one track really stands out - it's hard to pick an individual track when the whole thing sounds like somebody miked an avalanche.
Still, there's chops aplenty, contorted drums, fine guitar work and the obligatory gutteral screaming that this time around fits the bill. These Swedes are indeed a punishing bunch, and those faint of heart or those who consider Bon Jovi metal should cower in fear.
Free Music Review: ObZen-ly good!
Hit: 5 Stars
Man, it's been a long 10 years! That's how long it's between since I was blown away by a MESHUGGAH album, that album being the ultimate Holy Grail of technical, extreme metal, Chaosphere', of course. The monolithic drone of 'Nothing' really wore thin with me (or never really caught on to begin with) pretty quickly, and neither 'I' nor 'Catch 33' could compete with the over the top, all-out viciousness of 'Chaosphere.' Having heard 'Bleed' (best Mesh song since 'New Millennium Cyanide Christ' or thereabouts......) when it leaked, my expectations for 'ObZen' went sky high and and even though 'Bleed' turns out to be the #1 highlight on 'ObZen', the rest of the album delivers in spades. This is the MESHUGGAH I want! It's not 'Chaosphere' Pt. II but rather a happy medium between that album and the more recent output. To me, there is a new/old energy and determination that comes through on 'ObZen' - maybe it's because Tomas Haake is back being the throne in the flesh rather than programming 'the drum kit form hell'. Either way, this is like the perfect companion piece to BLOTTED SCIENCE's equally mindblowing, all-instrumental evocation of extreme tech metal insanity, 'The Machinations of Dementia', and I'll be spending lots of time delving into the depth of 'ObZen.'
Free Music Review: Meshuggah out does them-selves yet again
Hit: 5 Stars
This record it the most brutal thing i have ever heard in my life. Most reviews say it's a step backwards to Meshuggah's old sounds and they are kinda right, but more wrong lol. Let me explain, upon first listen it feels like Chaosphere or Destroy Erase Improve, but after each listen you realize this is the most interesting, challenging and heaviest record they have ever made. Imagine taking Destroy Erase Improve and multiplying it by Catch 33 and that's kinda what you have, but with a pinch of something new.
Combustion and Pravus are the heaviest songs on the record, and the song Bleed makes my feet hurt just thinking about being able to keep up with the double bass of drummer Tomas Haake, who also provides all of the amazing lyrics to the record, "Ripples ascend to the surface of my eyes; their red pens drawing at random, at will; a myriad pain begotten in their wake; the bastard spawn of a mutinous self.
Overall, this record is Meshuggah at their finest. Where in the past their music seems to attack you on three dimensions, Obzen adds a fourth. It may take a listen or two to grasp the full concept being that there is just so much happening at all times, but trust me, this record is worth it.
Free Music Review: My first Meshuggah album
Hit: 5 Stars
I've browsed their reviews in guitar mags. Something intigued me. So I bought their newest album. As you can tell, I'm coming to this review without any knowledge of previous output or fan favourites. But I have been listening to Opeth, Tool, Mastodon, The Fall Of Troy, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Mars Volta, Joy Division very recently.
First impressions? A dense record, full-on all the way through. A bit of a cacophony.
Later impressions? It's a grower. I'm getting to understand the seperate songs. Getting to hum along to the riffs and bits. It's still an awful racket, though! But I like that.
I'm an older music fan, and have been listening to King Crimson since they started (well, second album). And I'm amazed how influential their sound and playing has been on new metal music. I thought I was the only person listening to KC as they continually reinvented themselves. Evidently not.
This album has some blistering guitar playing on it that clearly owes an influence to KC's duo of Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp who were making new sonic worlds in the 90s and Naughties.
I like it! As Mr. Belew once said.