Meshuggah are back with their first full length album in almost 4 years, “Koloss”. For those of you not familiar with the five-piece Swedish metal group, Meshuggah are a band that don’t really fit into any specific metal genre. In fact, the term “djent” is a sub-genre of metal that was created to describe any band that sounds like Meshuggah (even though most ‘djent’ bands have no business comparing themselves to Meshuggah). Regardless of how you describe their sound (‘Einstein metal’ being my favorite), Meshuggah are gods when it comes to creating viciously tight and complex metal arrangements with lyrics as intelligent and intense as the guitar/bass riffs they layer.
I need to stop describing my unwavering appreciation of this band and get to their new album “Koloss”. This beast of a record begins with “I am Colossus”, which lays out the technical time signature world Meshuggah like to rock in. Then erupts track 2, “The Demon’s Name is Surveillance”, a song with relentless double bass and the brand of Meshuggian palm-muted/note bend riffs that resemble an impending insect invasion.
“Behind the Sun” and “Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave it Motion” (tracks 4 and 7 respectively) are my other 2 favorite tracks on “Koloss”. Besides the obvious technicality of these two songs, they have an eeriness to them that prompts me to continuously look over my shoulder. In “Behind the Sun”, vocalist Jens Kidman adds to a vast collection of intelligent and socio-politally poignant lyrics with, “Illustrious ruler of all things. Wield your razors, cut the flesh of man. Control, govern and lead us into the nightmare of your wishes fulfilled.”
This isn’t the most brutal Meshuggah album, but is rather a well-conceived, brilliant math metal masterpiece.
Artist: Meshuggah
Album: Koloss
Release Date: March 27th, 2012
Label: Nuclear Blast
Stalk Us