Meshuggah - obZen

So I know this album is so totally last year as far as progressive / technical metal goes, but frankly it's one that I haven't been able to get out of my head since the first few spins on WONY last year. Meshuggah's obZen, released in March of 2008, is the latest effort from the Sweedish five piece who bends both bar lines and minds at concerts. I'll go through each track and list my favorite bits and least favorite bits of each.

Don't ask me what the mutilated, bleeding, three-armed meditating guy actually means. I don't know.

1) Combustion: In the running for best track on the album, for sure. Starting off with a classic picked octave Thordendal riff that sounds simple (but is a bitch to play). Haake devolves into his punk roots, bashing out a fast and strong beat that drives the band like rhinocerous on a runaway locomotive. This is definately a nod to the almost mainstream, thrashy sound on Contradictions Collapse, and something that most people who like metal but not necessarily tech can get into. The solo riff gets a bit boring after a while, but the good intent of the buildup is there.

2) Electric Red: Much more a riff that belongs on Catch Thirty Three, almost sounds like Disenchantment at first. If you're into the older, classic Meshuggah this track will probably be in your running. It isn't in mine simply because I don't think it fits the rest of the album very well for some reason. Don't ask me to put my finger on it, because I can't.

3) Bleed: Oh dear Jesus, that kick beat. I still haven't figured it out, what with the million versions of it put on youtube. Of course, Haake's is closest...


The mind-bending combination of polyrhythms and tremolo picking makes me warm and fuzzy inside... Bleed is therefore also nominated for best track.

4) Lethargica: Another nod backwards towards Catch Thirty Three. This song really returns to the band's roots as a groovy drone band, staying on the same lick, but still absolutely KILLING it. These vocals are some of my favorite on the album - I think Jens Kidman's incredible range really shows here. Also, Fredrik and Mårten Hagström really outdo themselves with the riffs after the "clean" breakdown around 3:03.

You know you've made it to the big-time when you can pose for a PR shot and wear your OWN band t-shirt.

5) oBzen: Title track of the album (duh). I love this track because it is probably the heaviest. At least the intro is. The quintessential Meshuggah riff, in fact: the intro is low tuned, aggressive, kick following odd-rhythm guitar picking, snare on odd beats, and features a squiggly solo over top. The rest of the song continues in this fashion, a real crowd-pleaser for the more technical minded fans.

6) This Spiteful Snake: The track came off to me almost as filler material. Its much more ambient than the rest of the album, until around 2:46 in when Haake starts drumming out a real beat (as much as any Meshuggah song has a recognizable "beat") instead of doing tom rolls and cymbal accents. Good for a groove, but not highest on my playlist.

7) Pineal Glad Optics: Carry-over track from Spiteful Snake. They blend pretty well, and now we're getting back towards the incredible continuity of Catch Thirty Three. Again, this features some disjunct riffs and loose, airy drum beats with some really awesome atonal shredding.

8 ) Pravus: What "Bleed" is to kick drum, "Pravus" is to snare. I feel like Haake got tired of people admiring his footwork and wanted to show that his high school marching band days are still with him. The rhythm he taps out during the first 30 seconds of the piece is easy by itself, but mind-bending when you listen to what the rest of the kit is doing. Tomas Haake, you are master of off-beat accents. I bow to you. The other stand-out part of the song is around 3 minutes or so when they bust into a "breakdown" with some sort of modal guitar harmony thing going on. I love it.


UPSIDE DOWN ORB OF POWER!

9) Dancers to a Discordant System: HOLY ATONAL, BATMAN! Guitars = something out of a ten year old slapping around on the fretboard. But the weird thing (and this is why I love Meshuggah), is that they make it sound melodic. I am continually fascinated with how a band can be so atonal and so anti-4/4 and yet be melodic and perfectly rhythmic. Yes, I know half of Haake's beats are in 4/4, stop yelling at me all you closet time signature counters. This song has a blend of all the elements - the atonal riffs, the classic Haake beats, the vocals... and then towards the end goes into this breakdown that slays anything in its path (right about 7:30).

And that, my friends, is oBzen, my nomination for best tech/prog metal album of the year, with Bleed, Combustion, Pravus, and oBzen taking their rightfully earned places at the top of my Meshuggah playlist.

The Damage:



4 out of 5 Mustaches