Fredrik Thordendal’s Special Defects

Fredrik does vocals, hence why they sound like crap.

Anything that Meshuggah has done is 10x better then Special Defects.
 
Sol Niger Within is better than anything Meshuggah has released as of yet. Inventive guitarwork that isn't as confined and strict as Meshuggahs' normal guitarwork is. The bass, done by Thordendal as well, is mostly overshadowed by the guitar and keyboard, but when given the spotlight, is impressive. The drumming is allowed to work more in a jazz influenced framework by not only accentuating the other instruments, but also get's a chance to solo on it's own. Great keyboard work as well.

Meshuggah's rigid rhythms and precise structures are impressive and are great as well, but on an emotional level...Sol Niger Within is superior.

I believe I read in an interview that Thordendal spent a good two years to complete this album, so I don't blame him for having not released another solo project since.
 
I hadn't heard of Fredrik's solo work until I saw this thread, so I went and got my hands on "Sol Niger Within.". Its pretty darn good, better than most of Meshuggah's output except Destroy erase improve.

Catch 33 = Not all that