Meshuggah Album: “Destroy Erase Improve (Explicit)”

Every genre has its malcontents. Classical music had Beethoven and Stravinsky; jazz had Miles Davis and Jaco Pastorius; rock had Frank Zappa. And starting with this album, Meshuggah did the same thing for metal - stomped eardrums flat, pulled the genre somewhere it probably didn't even realize it could go, and generally served notice that the existing rules & definitions just weren't good enough anymore.

And the result is.. scary stuff. Time signatures and meters are a joke. Gut-punching guitar hits and jagged drum lines tackle multiple time signatures in a psychotic stew that encompasses so many rhythms, you'll need a calculator to figure out how they all go together. Lyrics - visceral and highly cerebral all at once - are shouted in rhythmic patterns that act like another instrument, weaving around the others. (I hate death growls, but I don't mind these tortured screams. Go figure.) Melody is simply a fringe element that may or may not happen along the way, apart from an occasional masterful interlude like "Acrid Placidity" or the loopy bridge to "Future Breed Machine." Frederik Thordendal tops things off with the most innovative guitar work I've ever heard in the metal world. He spins out spidery atonal-but-not-really lead lines that I don't even know how to describe. It's always elusive and trying to remember what you've just heard is nearly impossible.

Chaosphere is much louder, faster and more intense; Nothing is slower, more subtle and heavier. And while those two albums are also brilliant, they're probably easier to wrap your gray matter around if you start with Destroy Erase Improve and then follow their progression. As an alternative, the EP I manages to basically consolidate the sound of these three discs in one 21-minute helping, and it also makes a good introduction for the curious. Just be ready for some good brain-pounding whichever way you go.. it may hurt a little, but nobody said evolving was easy.

People who think being heavy means downtuning your guitar, burping into the microphone and ignorantly yelling about Satan and anarachy will be proven dead wrong after hearing this. (Not that I don't like those bands, they just get boring after awhile)The riffs pulse like machine guns yet can actually be classified as music as well. Jens Kidman produces a quality vocal performance which sounds a bit like Kill em all era James Hetfeild done in a more death metal style. The solo's are downright alien sounding and 100% original. I know this is a pretty big statement, but no one out there right now sounds as original as Fredrik Thordendal when it comes to solo's. The rhythem section is solid and keep up with the music, which is a huge compliment right there. Lyrically they focus on abstract stuff that you really have to think about to understand a bit like Tool. I would recommend to this to many people since it is enjoyable on many different levels. If your into intelligent heavy stuff or just want to bang your head, this is the album for you. One of my personal favorites of all time.

I recommend getting Death, In Flames, Opeth, At the Gates, Decapitated and Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects(if you can find it!) in addition to this album.

Having acquired a sampling of their work via BearShare, I gave Meshuggah a good, respectful listen and ended up buying DEI, Chaosphere, and Nothing in short order. Having listened to all three in random rotation, I'm ready to help out new listeners with this review.

Meshuggah is clearly a musician's band. If the fact that Tool, the reigning smart-metal band, asked Meshuggah to open show isn't a clear indication of the direction and quality of the music, then here's your other hint: there really aren't many other bands today, much less metal bands, that can carry the tag "math metal" and mean it.

If you aren't a musician or music theorist, then the odd-time signatures are going to be missed by you. Your idea of fun just may not be to deconstruct everything you hear. The musicians that hear Meshuggah can recognize what's going on, and are impressed. I'm an average listener and awful drummer, so I can only appreciate them viscerally.

Still, the comparison or relation to Tool is apt. This is more of a jazz metal band for lack of a better class; the time is indeed complex and you'll have to accept the fact that the standard guitar solo is never going to make its appearance here. If you hang tight, though, you'll get your payoffs: thundering bass drums, really excellent tempo changes and outro beats, a multitude of well-executed good ideas, and some pretty interesting sounds.

Highlights? Well, the other reviewers delineate them, but my favorite cut from this is "Soul Burn". That "burn!" vocal just fits the Icarian intensity in the music. Yeah, this CD will definitely keep your legs moving if you're on a stationary bike. God help you when the CD is over and your legs have turned to jelly...

From the first listen, Meshuggah's emphasis on jazzy beats, dynamics and lyrical content are right on the money. What other metal (and most pop) bands miss, in my opinion is heard here immediately. Meshuggah paints souls lost, without identity, and trying to find their true selves. The myriad influences, ranging from Rush to Allan Holdsworth to Metallica...are all well integrated without being too obvious. While I understand some people's dislike of Jens Kidman's vocals, his approach works out very well. Fredrik Thordendal may take his tone and feel from Allan (in the lead breaks) but it's pushed further with "otherworldly" sounds and awesome 12-tone runs. Even if you're not a musician or a metal fan, this album has a lot to offer adventurous listeners of every sort. TEN STARS! ;)

I was a little hesitant in buying this album, as I wasn't thoroughly impressed with Chaosphere (although that album is pretty good), but the store had a used copy on sale for $5.99, so I picked it up. Popped it in the truck's CD player, and was hooked immediately. Not a single bad track on here. They even included an acoustic piece, "Acrid Placidity," which isn't the best acoustic segue in metal, but is something new for Meshuggah and effectively displays the band's versatility. As for the best track, well they're all above-average to very good, but standouts are "Future Breed Machine," "Soul Burn," "Inside What's Within Behind," "Suffer in Truth," and "Sublevels." It's not bad lyrically; I'm normally opposed to angst-driven metal, but in this case, I think they've channeled their protests effectively instead of just screaming out over the music.

Meshuggah is definitely not for everyone, especially the folks that think Korn constitutes a heavy metal band. But if you've got an open mind and can see the load of talent that lies within these Swedes, you're going to enjoy this album. It's really fun to blast out of your vehicle's stereo when you drive past a bunch of kids listening to rap. You'll definitely get some laughable reactions. Anyway, it's a good CD to listen to just to listen to something, unless you're trying to sleep, of course. Anyway, get it.