Author: Primož Novak
Artist: Meshuggah
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release: year_month
Length: 58:55
Rating: 4.5/5
Ten years ago, Meshuggah probably never imagined they’d be the ones kicking off a whole new trend in metal. They imagined even less that every new album of theirs would be as eagerly awaited as records from the big names who headline festivals.
When ObZen dropped in 2008, bringing the groundbreaking track Bleed with it, the fanbase grew abnormally fast. Before that, the band hadn’t really had much success, apart from a US tour as part of Ozzfest. Their albums were hard work to listen to, complicated and way too unconventional. But times changed, Meshuggah adapted to the masses, ditched the complex concepts and became the leaders of technically minded metal. And all that without cheese or sugary choruses! ObZen is undoubtedly a masterpiece. With Koloss, though, it became clear that Meshuggah, with their focus on groove, wanted to please the masses more. Koloss got relatively good reviews, but quite a few critics pinned it on the album lacking the essential thing: unpredictability. So The Violent Sleep Of Reason can also be seen as a resit exam. At times, Koloss felt like the band had run out of steam.
One thing that’s definitely in line with the band’s style is that Meshuggah haven’t gone soft. Even though they’re a lot easier to listen to than before. With Meshuggah, it still holds true that they’re coldly aggressive, no frills, which in djent bands usually shows up as constant use of catchy vocals, melody and cute ambient parts. Meshuggah are about to blow out 30 candles, and with the flood of djent bands out there, you may well ask what they’ve even got left to show?
Plenty of doubts get silenced already with the opening track »Clockworks«, probably the most intense song since »Bleed« (ObZen – 2008). A track with dynamic rhythms, dominated by the drumming of the mad Tomas Haake, who after all these years still surprises with his off-kilter rhythms and polyrhythms, it makes clear that the chaos is far from abandoned. Haake shows right from the start that fusion jazz is still a good role model for him. Even though it all sounds massive and modern, you can tell the band also drew inspiration from the album Chaosphere (1998). »Clockworks« doesn’t let up for a full seven minutes. It’s a track old and new fans will be licking their fingers over, and every drummer who wants to play complex stuff will be picking it apart. »Clockworks« is the perfect opener. The power of the eight-string guitars immediately signals that Meshuggah remain without competition, even though a huge number of bands playing eight-string or even bigger guitars have popped up lately, none of them come close to Meshuggah’s power. The second track, »Born In Dissonance«, is a pretty typical song, and it was the first one released. Nothing more than an average track that doesn’t overdo the unpredictability or any weird twists.
The third track, »MonstroCity«, shows Meshuggah in their true light again: extremely punchy, partly atmospheric guitars, with guitarist Fredrik Thordendal adding the cherry on top with his atonal soloing. If Thordendal doesn’t blow you away, the punch of this track is all the more convincing. With the slower »By The Ton«, the band touches on the album »Nothing«. Despite the slow pace, Meshuggah keep up the level of complexity with syncopated riffs, and above all you can tell the band is flirting with sludge metal here. The title track once again shows just how intense Meshuggah can get. It’s another excellent example of how the band knows how to build a song in an interesting way, one that keeps stacking up as it goes. As on the previous tracks, it’s clear how important right-hand technique is to Meshuggah. The Swedish quintet also likes to play around with tempo changes. A good example is the track »Ivory Tower«, which has a quite different tempo in its second half than at the start.
One of the more interesting moments on the album is undoubtedly the pair »Stifled« and »Nonstrum«, where the first flows nicely into the second. »Stifled« is a more groove-oriented track that ends with a calm ambient transition, which gets a brutal continuation in »Nostrum«, where Haake’s snare acrobatics stand out, and in the second half of the song the guitars show off their merciless power. The link between the two tracks suggests Meshuggah still have some room to maneuver for an interesting concept album.
Meshuggah don’t let up toward the end, either. »Our Rage Won’t Die« brings to mind some older release, but the whole thing is nicely dressed up in their modern form. It all wraps up with »Into Decay«, which is slow but neither mellow nor dreamy. The sludgy touch again shows off the album’s variety, and in the end it turns out Meshuggah have once again made a top-notch product.
The album wasn’t written solely under the baton of the drummer and the guitar duo. The variety is pretty obvious. Wherever the drums stand out, it’s more than clear that Haake wrote the song. This time bassist Dick Lövgren also took on a writing role, and he didn’t just show up to record his part. The guitar work of Mårten Hagström and Fredrik Thordendal is undoubtedly polished. Thordendal sticks to his atonal, dissonant soloing style, as he’s always done. The least interesting part is vocalist Jens Kidman, who enunciates nicely and comes up with interesting lines, but his vocals are too monotonous. On top of that, it’s more than obvious he no longer has the power he once had.
One of the more interesting things about the album was the recording approach itself. The band went back to analog amps. Meshuggah were one of the main champions of digital amps, but this time they wanted a change, and it clearly paid off. On top of that, they recorded everything live, so the album should end up sounding even more natural. With a more organic approach, Meshuggah haven’t lost a thing. They sound modern and original. And with its sound and atmosphere, the whole thing still leaves the listener feeling trapped in some dystopian world.
Tomas Haake, who was responsible for the rhythmic madhouse of this record, is also in charge of the lyrics. Haake has always had a rich vocabulary, and on every album he explores different themes. This time he turned to current events, interpreting in his own way terrorism, natural disasters, extremism, religious dogma, political conflicts and so on.
Meshuggah haven’t changed. Production-wise, the record is truly massive, while the style stays the same. The instruments are distinct, you can even hear the bass guitar nicely. But there are no wild excursions into experimentation anymore, like they did more than a decade ago. It wouldn’t pay off financially, either. Their credibility doesn’t suffer for it, though. If nothing else, Meshuggah are consistent and stable.
With The Violent Sleep Of Reason, a powerful, varied and complex record, Meshuggah prove they’re still at the peak of their powers. It’s an album that also flirts with their past, and it’ll no doubt win over new fans as well as that small handful of old ones.
Line-up
Jens Kidman – vocals
Fredrik Thordendal – guitar
Mårten Hagström – guitar
Tomas Haake – drums
Dick Lövgren – bass
Production
Meshuggah, Tue Madsen (mixing, mastering)
Tracklist
- Clockworks
- Born In Dissonance
- MonstroCity
- By The Ton
- Violent Sleep Of Reason
- Ivory Tower
- Stifled
- Nostrum
- Our Rage Won’t Die
- Into Decay
