Jump to content

Metal Thread VI: This One's For the OTTER


Xray the Enforcer

Recommended Posts

Unless you weigh 250 pounds or have an adamantium skeleton, stay away from the pit. I've been to a lot of shows over more than 25 years of being into metal, and the pit for Meshuggah was one of the most dangerous I've ever seen. Not just a bunch of dudes moshing, but a bunch of dudes who clearly did a few cycles of steroids all trying to break some bones and actively targeting those they could hurt (skinny dudes and women). It was fucked up.

That said, Meshuggah put on a great set.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recently tried to get into Meshuggah. I've heard a lot of good things about them. Checked out a few songs on YouTube and liked them (I don't remember which songs). So I picked up their new album, Koloss, and it's just awful. Pretty much every song on it I would call '5 minutes of noise.'

So, what's a good album to start with?

I saw Tommy Karevik back at a Kamelot concert in London, but he was still a backup singer to Fabio Lione. I was really tipsy when he got his solo, Center of the Universe. I didn't know anyone at that concert but I'd befriended a Scottish geologist/garage band dude. I looked blearily up at the stage and went "WTF is that Khan?!?!?!" Of course a moment later I came to my senses, but I got a few laughs from the Scot . Can't wait to see Karevik as the main singer.

I hadn't heard anything from Karevik yet. I actually just went poking around YouTube. Not really any good recordings of him with Kamelot yet. I had to look up some Seventh Wonder songs. He's definately a great singer, but wouldn't say that he sounds anything like Khan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recently tried to get into Meshuggah. I've heard a lot of good things about them. Checked out a few songs on YouTube and liked them (I don't remember which songs). So I picked up their new album, Koloss, and it's just awful. Pretty much every song on it I would call '5 minutes of noise.'

So, what's a good album to start with?

I've been trying to get into Meshuggah for about 10 years. Destroy Erase Improve was the only album of theirs I found tolerable, and even it doesn't get a ton of rotation. I find them a bit frustrating because I can recognize their technical excellence, but the music itself doesn't evoke any emotion for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless you weigh 250 pounds or have an adamantium skeleton, stay away from the pit. I've been to a lot of shows over more than 25 years of being into metal, and the pit for Meshuggah was one of the most dangerous I've ever seen. Not just a bunch of dudes moshing, but a bunch of dudes who clearly did a few cycles of steroids all trying to break some bones and actively targeting those they could hurt (skinny dudes and women). It was fucked up.

Yeah, I know. I've been going to festivals for the last ten years and seen/entered some severely fucked up pits. I have a good rotation, but I'm taking your advice and just enjoy the show from a safe distance.

Meshuggah is a very complicated band to get into, so I see what you mean. I'd say avoid Koloss, and star from Destroy Erase Improve. My favorite is the remastered edition of Nothing. To enjoy their work you first must understand the ideological part of the music, so to speak. It's about repetition, atonality, that sort of stuff. Not easy, but very rewarding once you get used to it. I find it... relaxing. True story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Meshuggah is a very complicated band to get into, so I see what you mean. I'd say avoid Koloss, and star from Destroy Erase Improve. My favorite is the remastered edition of Nothing. To enjoy their work you first must understand the ideological part of the music, so to speak. It's about repetition, atonality, that sort of stuff. Not easy, but very rewarding once you get used to it. I find it... relaxing. True story.

I agree that the best place to start is Destroy Erase Improve, although my favorite is probably ObZen strictly due to the tour de force that is "Bleed." And I'll also echo/reinforce the idea that Meshuggah is not supposed to be an emotive experience at the beginning. It's primarily an intellectual one. Then, if the theory that they're proposing is something you grok, the music gains emotional resonance. This isn't to say that those who don't like Meshuggah are simply "too dumb" (or however one wants to spin that) -- not at all. One could grok the message and still dislike the music. Like all music, some things just come down to individual taste. I find symphonic/European power metal tedious and grating, but enjoy Meshuggah. Others enjoy symphonic/European power metal and find Meshuggah tedious and grating. Such is the beauty of the human condition. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

meshuggah are really really awesome. they are not for everyone. i think xray summed it up well.

and live they are great.

i saw them in 07 opening for ministry. they stole the show. the fans were bestial and violent. i thought it best to stay in the upstairs bar and watch the show and the carnage from a safe vantage point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a musician myself, I can appreciate music strictly for the technicality involved. I was given to believe that Meshuggah is a very technical band. What I found was... repetitive, yes. It sounded like everyone was just grinding out the same riff, over and over, for the entire song, with one guy shouting over it. Now, I was Ok with the shouting; the guy has a good voice for it. It was all the rest that just had no depth. At least, I didn't hear it on my initial listen.

But as I said, I checked out a few random songs first and was into them. So I assumed that I just started with a bad album. Thanks, I'll check out Destroy Erase Improve and see if that works out any better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found Koloss to be the first Meshuggah album that I could enjoy all the way through. obZen I never really 'got.' Some good songs, but I find that 'djenty' guitar sound to be incredibly grating to listen to throughout an entire album. It just left me feeling exhausted near the end.

I may have to give Nothing and Destroy Erase Improve a shot though, just to see if Koloss is a fluke or something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For full-album treatment, might also want to try Chaosphere. That's the one I listen to as a full album most often.

It just left me feeling exhausted near the end.

As mentioned above about grokking the theory...feeling exhausted is actually the point of their music. You're not supposed to feel replenished or entertained; you're supposed to feel like you've just experienced a beatdown (be it physical or psychological). So, in some sense, the music worked. But I totally get that some (most) people are not interested in those kinds of feelings being associated with music or a hobby.

OT: I brought home a sexy haul of vinyl last night.

Lykathea Aflame -- Elvenefris :love: Been waiting to own this for a looooong time.

Appalling Spawn <-- band that predated Lykathea Aflame

Antediluvian/Adversarial <-- crushing split release from two Canadian bands

XINR <-- band from Portland, Oregon that made great rock/metal in the 80s, but disbanded when their singer and guitarist were killed in a motorcycle crash

Prosanctus Inferi <--black/death filth from the Rust Belt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I checked out Destroy Erase Improve, and it's so much better. It didn't leave me feeling drained or beaten-down though. It was just a good album, and I ended up listening through it a couple of times yesterday.

I've also been feeling out some of Opeth's work; that leaves me feeling exhausted.

I'll check out Chaoshere next, and save Koloss for when I'm better adjusted to their style.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Figured it was worth it to post the current MDF lineup in here. Mind, there is still one more round of announcements to be made.

I've bolded the ones I'm especially excited to see, but even the ones that don't make the cut are still great. Just not my style (e.g. Anhedonist, Loss, Sleep). A few I've never heard of before, so I'll be doing some research on those, too.

!T.O.O.H.! (Czech Republic)

ABIGAIL (Japan)

AHUMADO GRANUJO (Czech Republic)

AMBASSADOR GUN

ANHEDONIST

ANTAEUS (France)

AOSOTH (France)

ASTHMA CASTLE

BENEDICTION (UK)

BOLT THROWER (UK)

BROKEN HOPE

CARCASS (UK)

CARPATHIAN FOREST (Norway)

CONVULSE (Finland)

CRUCIAMENTUM (UK)

EXODUS

GLORIOR BELLI (France)

GRIDE (Czech Republic)

IHSAHN (Norway)

INGROWING (Czech Republic)

INIQUITY (Denmark)

INTEGRITY

KOMMANDANT

LOSS

MANILLA ROAD

MIDNIGHT

MORGION

PAGAN ALTAR (UK)

PELICAN

PENTAGRAM

PIG DESTROYER

REPULSION

REVENGE (Canada)

RIGHTEOUS PIGS

SLEEP

SPEEDWOLF

VENOM (UK)

VINTERLAND (Sweden)

WEEDEATER

(I hid them under a spoiler tag so as to not take up too much room on the screen).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've also been feeling out some of Opeth's work; that leaves me feeling exhausted.

Ahh Opeth! I'd recommend Blackwater Park and Still Life to start with. Both those have all the complexity the band is known for, and are both (in my opinion) very accessible to a broad range of tastes at the same time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've tried listening to Deliverance a few times. I only managed to get through the first 2 songs. I liked it; I just didn't have the stamina to keep going.

I'll keep those 2 albums in mind.

Deliverance is the least interesting album they've ever done IMO, so that might explain your reaction. I never listen to it anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...