Meshuggah Discography Well folks, this is the band that started it all for me. This is the band that transformed me from a useless 12 year old video game dork into a useless 18 year old music dork. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for ObZen by Meshuggah (CD, Mar-2008, Nuclear Blast) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
Meshuggah’s sound and style has always been a unique blend of polyrhythmic patterns and soul crushing melodies. I find it near impossible to play any track from this band without methodically bobbing my head while visions of fractal enlightenment dance behind my eyes. Their most recent album continues this tradition, while also showing the band’s ability to be fresh and innovative with a style that has recently become the trendy sound in metal. Since the release of 2008’s ObZen, countless bands have formed under the premise of using Meshuggah’s pioneering sound to create something of their own. And while some of these bands have experienced success, or grown into their own unique sounds, Meshuggah remain the engineers and godfathers of a progressive metal style that they created back in the late 1980’s.
Ranking Meshuggah albums is possible the most difficult challenge when it comes to doing this type of posts. After hours spent on pushing these records up or down on the list, it has come down to this.
08. Contradictions Collapse (1991)
Quite different from what you may expect from Meshuggah, Contradictions Collapse shows their obvious thrash metal influences. Contradictions Collapse is in fact, a technical thrash album—one that has a sort of Master of Puppets era Metallica meets Testament with a dash of Watchtower feel that shows roots of the band’s groovier, heftier sound, but certainly shows the band’s rougher, less polished but still technically stunning ability and compositions.
07. Koloss (2012)
2008’s obZen was dabbed with elements that hark back to Meshuggah’s early, thrash-influenced works, ultimately making it more of an amalgamation of their progress. With Koloss, the band has once more made an allusive step, but this time in regards to production. With the so-called ‘djent’ style taking Metal by storm with its overproduced and, at times, grating sound, what better way for Meshuggah (dubbed the pioneers of this sound) to set themselves apart from the countless clones. With intricate tweaks to its production, Koloss is an organic sounding record that is more akin to 2002’s Nothing, albeit with greater attention to detail and polish. Furthermore, Koloss does not feel as burdensome in the long run for listeners as Catch Thirtythree, obZen, and even 2006’s overproduced re-release of Nothing did with their immense, oft-grating weight.
06. Catch Thirtythree (2005)
Catch Thirtythree, being the experimental album that it is, has been described by Meshuggah as “one song” in a similar vein to previous EP release I. I guess the difference being that this album has been divided into sections with clusters of them making one “mini song”. Pretentious? A little bit, not that this really matters though as the musicianship on display is of a considerably high calibre.
Like the EP I, Catch Thirtythree insists on repeating the rhythm sections until you can think of nothing else. The repetitive nature of the album will leave the listener hypnotized and immersed in the dark, heavy, artificial atmosphere created, making the album completely memorable as you’re repeatedly pummelled by this truly intriguing music. You can visualise the scene of production; a bleak, barren factory which just fits the almost mechanical, empty feel of the album. The emotionless, robotic screams courtesy of vocalist Jens Kidman, stop-start crushing guitar riffs, rumbling bass and off-beat drums all contribute to making this album their most accomplished, atmospheric and unique effort to date.
05. Destroy Erase Improve (1995)
If there’s one album where substance meets style in a glorious dissonance—it is in Meshuggah‘s classic album Destroy Erase Improve. Released in 1995, it was a big step for the band that was known more for sounding like a mix of Pantera and Metallica with European metal sensibilities. They then started carving a style of their own when they released theNone EP which showcased their affinity for jazz like improvisations and odd time signatures. On Destroy Erase Improve, Meshuggah just continued with evolving their style and showing their virtuosity.
Meshuggah‘s sound is complex, intricate, and jealously guards its secrets. The only thing that is really palpable upon first listening to this album is a sense of almost suffocating heaviness; a feeling that I have so far found to be entirely unique to Meshuggah. Everything just seems so mechanical, precise, and brutal, and yet you have absolutely no idea what the music is trying to accomplish. Further listens eventually unveil Meshuggah‘s true intentions. With all the talk about their inaccessibility, this album contains some of the band’s best instrumental grooves ever. But these aren’t your cheap, run of the mill 4/4 thrash grooves; these grooves are made up of complex, asymmetric parts. You wouldn’t think that a 17/4 drum pattern and guitar riffs in 11/6 time could lock together into a headbanging groove, and yet they do. This is only one aspect of Meshuggah‘s genius.
04. Chaosphere (1998)
What was hinted on Destroy Erase Improve is immediately built upon and improved on Chaosphere. The songwriting is far more organic and layered than the previous record, taking a more classical approach to the composition as opposed to the textured approach of DEI, while still forcing it into the rhythmic motion of jazz with a greater emphasis on the speed of thrash, the contradictory principles shaking the songs down to their foundations.
Chaosphere epitomizes the core attributes of metal, it is deafeningly resonant, it is headlong and relentless in its sonic assault and it is tailor made for engendering psychic disintegration slowly leading to the depths of complete chaos and derangement. The music is not only intense but its just raw and highly dense, it definitely is not just an attempt at complexity but still is a near impossible feat to be emulated. This record has this complete lack of ambiance, there are no elements which can remotely be associated with musical coherence. Chaosphere has an unprecedented originality which complements its extreme density to such an extend that there is hardly any room for dissection and re engineering. In other words it is seemingly impossible to identify the DNA of Chaosphere. There is no single root to this sound, it is daunting to recognize the inspiration or the influences of such a crass din.
03. ObZen (2008)
Despite all of the brilliance employed on ObZen, there is the impression that the music may have been more enjoyable, had Meshuggah pulled out more than one fancy trick to work with.
ObZen features a general return to jazzier modes, although the music Meshuggah makes on Obzen certainly will not be seen as jazz to the vast majority of listeners. Instead, the first impression is that of highly rhythmically unconventional thrash metal, complete with some incredibly aggressive shouting vocals, courtesy of Kidman. Despite the very angry and in-your-face attitude the music presents however, the album is backed up by a surprisingly vivid exploration in philosophy. The album name itself turns out to be a portmanteau of the words “obscene” and “zen,” and the album reflects on how the human race has found a state of harmony through constant violence. Heavy material to be sure, and the music reflects this through each palm muted riff.
Kidman‘s vocals take some time to warm up to, but like quite a few progressive metal bands, the vocals are the weakest link in the sound. Every instrumentalist is an absolute genius at playing intensely complex rhythms, while keeping in check with the separate rhythms each other member is playing. The album’s seemingly streamlined, fluid sound is an impeccable quality, even with the polyrhythmic structure that defines Meshuggah‘s sound, and obZen‘s songs flow into each other even better than the schisms that divided their 2005 LP while retaining their unique and distinct identities.
02. The Violent Sleep of Reason (2016)
The skilled musicianship of Meshuggah has never been in question, but their talent seems to shine through even brighter on last year’s The Violent Sleep of Reason. Lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal really cuts loose at various points over the course of the record, unleashing wonky, disjointed solos that curl their way in and out of your ear holes. The entrancing rhythm section, spearheaded by guitarist Mårten Hagström, and augmented by the talents of bassist Dick Lövgren, keep a persistent, driving beat alive throughout The Violent Sleep of Reason. But these precise elements pale in comparison to the god-like percussive skills of drummer Tomas Haake. Watching his drum playthrough videos are mind bending, and the fact that each of these songs were recorded live makes me giddy beyond on reason at the prospect of seeing this band perform songs from this album live. They pulled out all of the stops, and it paid off.
These aren’t necessarily new sounds for Meshuggah, but they haven’t made music like this for a long time. Their records are technically proficient, often to the point of sacrificing the song for the sake of the instrumentation. But on The Violent Sleep of Reason, the music has a higher priority.
None of that is to say that Meshuggah is less proficient than they’ve been in the past. But it feels like the technicality is embedded in the music, and not the other way around. The rhythm section is as tight as always (which is impressive, given the bizarre polyrhythms and time signatures), and the vocals are as insane as ever, but most importantly, these songs are their best in over a decade.
Playing these songs live in the studio certainly adds another dimension to the record. It makes Meshuggah feel young again, like they have something new to say—even when they’re going back to basics.
01. Nothing (2002)
Meshuggah’s 2002 release Nothing is the biggest landmark in their career and is the album which put them on the map through the constant, unrelenting emphasis on heavy rhythm sections. The chaotic and sporadic nature of their previous full lengths and EPs catered toward a narrower, more thrash loving audience. These releases, while excellent in their own rights, resulted in Meshuggah getting somewhat lost in the fold and stuck at a crossroads: continue down their thrash-leaning road, or take the more powerful aspects of their sound and refine them. The result is a culmination of grooves and off-time beats in the lowest, heaviest tuning which changed an entire metal landscape and sparked a new era in extreme music.
The release stands almost entirely as a rhythmic assault, with each song providing an abundance of downtuned riffs and groovy passages. With all of the complex riffing of the album, essentially syncopated to a 4/4 beat, Meshuggah utilize the best of both worlds and provide a template any listener can easily digest. From the opening riff of “Stengah,” Meshuggah simultaneously pummel and serenade their audience through the use of intense brutality and scattered, floating guitar leads. “Straws Pulled At Random” and “Closed Eye Visuals” are perfect examples of this, where in all the chaos and brutality of the songs they allow the music to breathe and emerge in a way that was previously more sporadic. The mesmerizing leads are perfectly built into the rhythms, allowing the listener to better follow the intricate soloing guitarist Fredrik Thordendal is seamlessly executing. Many sections of Nothing take advantage of Thordendal’s creative genius, as shown on previous releases, and allow for their music to take a step back in the midst of the rhythmic madness and toss in jazz territory feelings of floating and airlessness which help captivate listeners.
Meshuggah was formed in 1987 in Umeå, Sweden. At this time the line-up was Fredrik Thordendal – guitars, Jens Kidman – vocals, Johan Sjögren - guitars, Per Sjögren - drums and Jörgen Lindmark - bass. Jens Kidman soon left the band and started the band Calipash with bassist Peter Nordin, drummer Niclas Lundgren and guitarist Torbjörn Granström.
Johan Sjögren left Meshuggah in -88 and guitarist Jonas Lindberg took his place in the band... Fredrik Thordendal found Calipash’s music more in line with what he wanted to do and so left the band (leading to the dissolution of the band, as this line-up). Fredrik kind of “took” the Meshuggah band name with him as he joined forces with “Calipash” and they went under the Meshuggah name from then on... During the early stages of the now “reformed” Meshuggah - Torbjörn Granström left the band.
At the time of the debut EP “Psykisk Testbild” in -89, the line-up was: Fredrik Thordendal – guitars and vocals, Jens Kidman – guitars and vocals, Niclas Lundgren - drums and Peter Nordin on bass.
In late -89 drummer Niclas Lundgren decided to leave the band.
Tomas Haake joined on drums in -90, before Meshuggah recorded their first LP, 'Contradictions Collapse' which was released in 1991. The band had during -90 signed a record deal with the German record label Nuclear Blast.
Between this record and the next one, the band had a couple unfortunate accidents that forced the band to remain silent for the rest of -91 and a good part of -92. Fredrik Thordendal cut off the tip of his left middle finger at work. The fingertip was sewn back on, and with a fair degree of re-learning and practising he regained his abilities and skill within a year or so. Tomas Haake also had a work-related hand injury that same year, where he cut up three fingers on his right hand in a wood grinder of sorts. Several months passed without practice or rehearsals.
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Another big change also happened during -92, where guitarist/vocalist Jens Kidman decided to focus on the vocals and at the end of -92, beginning of -93 he left his guitar duties over to Mårten Hagström.
Hagström was earlier in the band Barophobia with drummer Tomas Haake and Mårten and Tomas had been playing together in different settings since back when they were in the sixth grade!
The new lineup recorded the EP 'None' in 1994. The EP 'Selfcaged' – which was more of a demo for the upcoming album “Destroy Erase Improve”, was recorded in April and May 1994 and though not really meant to be an official release, NB decided to release it as a “teaser” for the coming album.
January 1995 saw the band returning to the public, when they left off for a short European tour organized by the record-label. Shortly after returning back home they recorded the album 'Destroy Erase Improve,' and then they were off again on a nine week European tour supporting the American band Machine Head.
Halfway through this tour, bassist Peter Nordin became ill and developed problems with the balance nerve in his inner ear. He was chronically dizzy, and in a constant sense of vertigo. He had to go back home to Sweden to be hospitalized, leaving the band on tour without a bassist. The bassist Adam of Machine Head offered to help out, but Meshuggah decided to try out as a four-man band again. At some shows, Fredrik played the bass through his guitar rig, at others they went with just two guitars (with Mårten playing through a pitch shifter, shifted one octave down). When Fredrik handled the bass he also played his leads on it.
Destroy Erase Improve was released in May 1995, this time with more proper marketing by the record label. In the autumn of 1995, they did a short tour with Swedish band Clawfinger throughout Scandinavia and Germany. The first couple of shows were done without a bassist - Peter Nordin had now left the band due in parts to his illness but also for other personal reasons. A new bassist joined the band, without ever rehearsing with Meshuggah, he met up with the boys before a show in Hamburg, and ended up playing with the band from then on; this was Gustaf Hielm (formerly of Charta 77). That fall, Meshuggah also went on a month-long European tour with Hypocrisy.
During 1996 Fredrik was busy working on his solo album. This album “Sol Niger Within” was released in March through UAE in Scandinavia, and in Japan in April. Fredrik also appeared on the debut album of Swedish “super-duo” Mats & Morgan. Meshuggah recorded a demo in the summer. Some the tracks on this demo later ended up on the 'Rare Trax' release of -2001...
In May of -97, the band relocated to Stockholm to live closer to their management, bookers and the record industry in general. A new EP was recorded, with one new track, 'Sane'.. and three remix versions of the opening track 'Future Breed Machine', from their latest album, 'Destroy Erase Improve'. The EP “The True Human Design' was released that fall after numerous delays. Around the same time, Fredrik's solo album, Sol Niger Within, was released in the USA. Towards the end of -97, the planning and writing of the next album started.
Gustaf Hielm joined the band as a permanent member in January 1998 after more than two years as a session member.
The recording of Meshuggah’s next album 'Chaosphere' started around may of -98. Immediately after recording the album, the guys went to the USA for a short tour. The album Chaosphere, showing a seemingly faster and more aggressive Meshuggah was released in November -98.
Meshuggah did a thorough tour of Scandinavia and northern Europe with Entombed right after the album was released. In 1999 Meshuggah did their first “proper” U.S tour, supporting the mighty Slayer for 6 weeks. The new album and the live appearances got them a lot of good press in the USA. While waiting for the coming fullength release, the fans could enjoy the 'Rare Trax' album, a collection of demos and impossible-to-find recordings, like the -89, 3-song EP 'Psykisk Testbild' among others. This album took nearly a year to be released and wasn't available until the fall of 2001.
For the next U.S tour, Meshuggah supported Tool for a three week run, in the fall of 2001. In March of 2002, Meshuggah announced the title for their next album - 'Nothing”. The Nothing tracks were first demo-recorded in Meshuggah's home studios, late -2001 through april -2002. The recording of the actual album started in May of 2002, and was finished in 5-6 weeks. Again the guys went to the U.S immediately after finishing the record - to do the Ozzfest tour.
The album 'Nothing' was released in August -2002 and it showed a Meshuggah focusing more on groove and a lower/growlier production. With the new addition of 8-string guitars, this album brought a new dimension to the “Meshuggah sound”. Following the release, Meshuggah once again went on tour with Tool in the USA at the end of 2002. This time for 8 weeks.
Meshuggah were busy playing different tours promoting the NOTHING album until late -2003/early -2004 and around this time Gustaf Hielm parted with the band. Early -2004, Meshuggah again entered the studio to record the 21 minute song later to be named “I”.
This release was different in several aspects; it was not released on Nuclear Blast but instead on the small Cleveland, OH based label Fractured Transmitter Records. Meshuggah's 'I” was the first release for this label owned/started by Jason Popson, previously vocalist/songwriter for the band Mushroomhead. The EP “I” was also more experimental in the sense that it’s one continuous piece of music, where Meshuggah venture through influences from past to present, creating one heavy and disturbingly eerie piece of music. 'I' was also written/recorded as a 'random', rhythmically non-structured piece. Drums were recorded 'at random' and once pieced together into a continous 21 minute 'drumtrack' - the guitars were 'charted out' and recorded bar by bar!
With Gustav now no longer in the band, Meshuggah needed to find a new bassplayer and even though they auditioned 4-5 bassplayers from the Stockholm area, they didn't feel that they had found 'their man' among these - Instead, through mutual friends in the band Darkane - Christofer Malmström and Peter Wildoer suggested Meshuggah should talk to Dick Lövgren, formerly of bands Time Requiem, Armageddon, Last Tribe and Cromlech. Dick was also a touring 'stand in' bassplayer with In Flames and Arch Enemy for a few tours. Meshuggah met with Dick and after a first rehearsal, Meshuggah instantly knew they had found the 'right guy for the job'!
With the 2005 release “Catch Thirtythree”, Meshuggah showed a new experimental side of the band, with this guitar driven, trance-inducing, one continuous piece of music clocking in at 47 minutes! As 'Catch Thirtythree' was somewhat of an “experimental piece” Meshuggah only did a few tours in support of this album. Even so, they got the Metal Hammer Award for 'Best Underground Band 2005'.
In the fall of 2007, Meshuggah started writing their coming album, later named “obZen”. On this album, Meshuggah mixes influences from their past to present (and future it seems).
At the release of 'obZen', in March of 2008, the album immediately got a lot of attention and entered the U.S billboard at place 59 for the first week’s sales. This album has more dynamics and is differenciating more, both in tempos and vibes of the different songs, compared to previous albums. This is also, according to the band, something they really went for when writing the album.
To many, the most memorable 'obZen' song and in some ways probably the most extreme Meshuggah track to date, “Bleed” was also made a video for. This video, with its scary and twisted imagery, also received a lot of accolades and even won a “metal video of the year” award. The video was written and directed by Ian McFarland/Killswitch TV.
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Ian McFarland has also, at the time of this bio being written, recorded several live shows with the band and the plan is to have the first ever Meshuggah Live DVD released in early -2010.