• Meshuggah
    114 replies, posted
[b][u]Introduction[/u][/b] Meshuggah is a Swedish five-piece experimental metal band formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman and guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas Haake, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who joined in 1994, while going through a number of bassists. Since 2004, the spot has been held by Dick Lövgren. Meshuggah first attracted international attention with the 1995 release Destroy Erase Improve for its fusion of fast-tempo death metal, thrash metal and progressive metal. Since their 2002 album Nothing, Meshuggah uses eight-string guitars and downtuned, groovy riffs. Meshuggah has become known for its complex, innovative and precise songwriting and musicianship, and polyrhythmic song structures. It has been labeled as one of the ten most important hard and heavy bands by Rolling Stone and as the most important band in metal by Alternative Press. Meshuggah has found little mainstream success but is a significant act in extreme underground music. Nothing and the later albums charted on the Billboard 200. In 2006, the band was nominated for a Swedish Grammy Award. Meshuggah's commercially most successful album, 2008's obZen, peaked at No. 59 and sold 11,400 copies in the first week and 50,000 copies six months after its release. Since its formation, Meshuggah has released six studio albums, five EPs and eight music videos. The band has performed in various international festivals, including Ozzfest and Download, and embarked on the ObZen world tour in 2008. [b][u]Musical Style and Traits[/u][/b] When describing Meshuggah's experimentation, stylistic variation and changes during its career, journalists have categorized its sound within several musical subgenres. Heavy metal subgenres avant-garde metal or experimental metal are umbrella terms that enable description of the career of the band in general. Extreme metal crosses both thrash metal (or post-thrash metal) and death metal, which are at root of the sound of Meshuggah's music. The band is often labelled as math metal (for using elements of math rock) and progressive metal. The music of the band has also been described as grindcore, a fusion of extreme metal and hardcore punk. Meshuggah also incorporates elements of experimental jazz. Rockdetector uses the term hi-tech metal to describe their style. In its review of Nothing, Allmusic describes Meshuggah as "masterminds of cosmic calculus metal—call it Einstein metal if you want". Meshuggah creates a recognizable sonic imprint and distinct style. Trademarks and characteristics that define Meshuggah's sound and complex songwriting include polyrhythmic structure, odd riff cycles, complex "rotating" time signatures, rhythmic syncopation, rapid key and tempo changes and neo-jazz chromatics. Hagström notes that "it doesn’t really matter if something is hard to play or not. The thing is, what does it do to your mind when you listen to it? Where does it take you?" A trademark of Thordendal is free jazz-like soloing and lead guitar. He is also known for the usage of a "breath controller" device. Haake is known for his precise cross-rhythm drumming with "jazz-like cadence". The vocal style of Jens Kidman varies between hardcore-style shouts and "robotic" death metal vocals. Kidman also alters the pitch of his screams to match the instrumental part of the band. In a typical polyrhythm by Meshuggah, the guitars might play in odd meters such as 5/16 or 17/16, while drums play in normal 4/4. An example of Haake's dual rhythms is a 4/4 and 23/16 rhythm. He keeps the hi-hat and ride cymbal in simple 4/4 time but uses the snare and double bass drums for 23/16 rhythm. On "Rational Gaze" (from Nothing), Haake plays simple 4/4 time, hitting the snare on each third beat, for 16 bars. At the same time, the guitars and bass are playing the same quarter notes, albeit in a different time signature, and eventually both sides meet up again at the 64th beat. Hagström notes about the polyrhythms, "We’ve never really been into the odd time signatures we get accused of using. Everything we do is based around a 4/4 core. It’s just that we arrange parts differently around that center to make it seem like something else is going on." [b][u]Albums[/u][/b] Destroy, Erase, Improve (1995) True Human Design (1997) Chaosphere (1998) Contradictions Collapse/None (1999) Rare Trax (2001) I (2004) Catch Thirty Three (2005) Nothing (2006) Obzen (2008) [b][u]Videos[/u][/b] Rational Graze [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBLjLV8AGIA[/media] Bleed (Funny) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya9KVl3ndrE[/media] Bleed (Official) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc98u-eGzlc[/media] Interview PT.1 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxUC-8ZSs_I[/media] Interview PT.2 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfpBtjZRdYg[/media] Air Math [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A_tSyJBsRQ[/media] Shed [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjzIBI3jkKY&feature=channel[/media] Q: Why do all their songs sound like they got the timings wrong? A: Math metal. Read mcpwny's "A Little Lesson About Polyrhythms" - [url]http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=681380[/url]
Wonderful fucking band! I love 'em! 8 string guitars and polyrythms! Doesn't get better than that!
This only happens when I post in the music section! Fuck! Stop being gay, post system!
Meshuggah are by far one of the best fucking bands I've heard.
Indeed guys. Help me keep this alive!
Awesome band. Nothing is my favourite album.
I seem to like obzen the best
Nice thread. Pretty amazing band; I liked Rational Graze and its video. EDIT: duuude you joined one day before me.
haha yeppers. and rational graze is kickass dude!
nice thread you got there, I like Meshuggah hehehe
thanks
Bumparooni [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Bump" - Kazumi))[/highlight]
You should at least write your own thread instead of taking it all off of wikipedia
[QUOTE=SilverHammer;13433890]You should at least write your own thread instead of taking it all off of wikipedia[/QUOTE] I'm not reviewing them. I'm helping people discover them.
I didn't say you had to review them silly You can describe a band with your own words can't you?
Meshuggah is Crazy in hebrew [img]http://d2k5.com/sa_emots/emot-rimshot.gif[/img]
Next time you make a thread, don't only copy/paste. At least try to write something yourself. And the thread never even made it to the second page. If you're going to bump, try to at least say something that makes the thread worth bumping. Meshuggah is great. My favourite songs are probably New Millennium Cyanide Christ and Bleed.
sorry about that. My favorites are obzen and combustion.
Meshuggah are indeed fucking awesome. My favourites are Combustion, Stengah and Bleed, but I tend to listen to the whole albums anyway.
[QUOTE=TheGuru;13440959]Meshuggah are indeed fucking awesome. My favourites are Combustion, Stengah and Bleed, but I tend to listen to the whole albums anyway.[/QUOTE] well, what i look at is. If the band is truly good,Which all the bands i listen to ARE,you only diserve to hear the whole album even if it isn't your favorite, because why else would you have it than to listen to it.
Me and sirpopsalot are maybe seeing them live next Friday.
seriously? dude, you need to send me a PM and tell me how it was!
I saw them live in the smallest room ever (Manchester Academy 3). It was pretty immense, I've got to see them again
Their new album is pretty intense, I also like Catch 33.
I love them, amazing band. Always blows my mind. And one of my favorites must be Spasm.
Yeah, they never refuse to impress me.
From my experience, Catch 33 is one of their worse albums.
[QUOTE=Viginti Tres;13468222]From my experience, Catch 33 is one of their worse albums.[/QUOTE] Really? Explain your reason for this
[QUOTE=Peavy262;13468274]Really? Explain your reason for this[/QUOTE] Well, more of a personal taste thing for it. But it was less technical compared to their earlier work, and even Obzen. It was still good, but it was lacking something that they had with earlier albums.
I want to go see them, but the closest they come to the Boston area is New York, and that's a 4 hour drive I don't want to make alone, and I don't know anyone who would go with me for this type of music. Damn shame, too, as they're also touring with Cynic. Would have been an awesome show.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.