The New Meshuggah - obZen

[v2kv]

Oh man I love this album...I've never really been into Meshuggah, but this album somehow got me hooked on them. For one, the riffs on this album are some of their best ever, the solos are great as always, and the breaks (like the one in Bleed for example) are just incredible. This will definitely be on my top 10 for 2008.

 

[DivineMomentsofTruth]

I'm listening to it right now. Pretty solid so far. I haven't really heard much Meshuggah before now, but this inspired me to check out more of their stuff.

 

[Obtuse]

When I first heard about 'Meshuggah' I was worried that they were going to be some second-rate
Disturbed-type hard rock crap. So when I heard obZen I pretty much fell out of my chair.

 

[x_OPETH_x]

I would like to see a prog band or fusion band with the same complexity of time signatures as well. Spiral Architect or Pain of Salvation or something like that is as "complex" I guess but I'm more curious about whether or not anyone else has taken the polymeter thing in that extreme of a direction, the other ridiculous time sigs bands I hear just sound disjointed as the different measures don't "add up" properly and don't have anything else superimposed over them.

for bands that focus on odd-meter, with polyrhythmic lead or drumming, see :


Planet X (or any of Virgil Donati's projects, really..."On The Virg" is brilliant)

Gavin Harrison/05Ric - Drop

Blotted Science - The Machinations of Dementia

Allan Holdsworth

Hiromi's Sonicbloom

1980 - 1980

TesseracT

Coprofago

 

[affinityband]

actually tesseract are a piece of shit. they are a local band and blow to the extreme. check out www.myspace.com/xerath as they are probably one of the better new bands atm.

 

[Awake_In_Animosity]

I am not sure about this new album, It is better than Catch 33 and "I" which were just fillers really imho, It is sure as hell is no Chaosphere or DEI.

 

[Obtuse]

Has the rest of obZen already been leaked?

 

[Tubbs]

^ Like a month ago

 

[belgarath68]

Christ people, I don't like Meshuggah. It was a joke.

 

[Heckelgruber]

I like this album a lot, I agree with the comment that it's more energetic although I don't really agree that it's better than Catch-33 - it just sounds different.

For me, Meshuggah is more about a weird Meshuggah-groove than sounding thrashing or crushing even though superficially they sound like a thrashy band that uses crushing riffs. The groove I get into listening to it is usually feels quite slow, even if on the surface the song is fast. This hasn't changed for me between the two albums I mentioned.

Hope that made sense.

 

[v2kv]

I like this album a lot, I agree with the comment that it's more energetic although I don't really agree that it's better than Catch-33 - it just sounds different.

For me, Meshuggah is more about a weird Meshuggah-groove than sounding thrashing or crushing even though superficially they sound like a thrashy band that uses crushing riffs. The groove I get into listening to it is usually feels quite slow, even if on the surface the song is fast. This hasn't changed for me between the two albums I mentioned.

Hope that made sense.

obZen destroys Catch 33 imo. I can actually listen to the whole thing and enjoy it thoroughly, whereas when I listen to Catch 33 I have to stop less than halfway through...bores the hell out of me.

 

[KjeXXXer]

I love everything this side of DEI. Contradictions Collapse and Sane are shitty.
C33 was my first Meshuggah record, and I love it.
I agree that Meshuggah are all about the groove.

 

[Tash]

Ah, but the 1994 EP "None" is good! At least I think so.

Hmmm...polyrhythmic, or polymetric???

 

[KjeXXXer]

Ah of course, I meant None. Silly me.

I love Sane.

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

Way better than Catch 33 imo, which bores me to tears if I'm not in the mood for it.

 

[Shapeless)))]

I'm gonna be honest here and say that I was expecting more of the experimental stuff they had on Nothing, Catch 33 and I. This new one is, imo, just waaay too simple for meshuggah standards. So that kinda dissappointed me. Don't get me wrong, it's an OK album, and they really shine on some moments, but.... I just miss those experimental passages and more extreme rhythms.

 

[i aint play this]

^i disagree 100%

 

[Brooks]

I sorta feel the same way.

After 2 weeks with the album, I'm quite confident that in the long run, this wont be the record I reach for when I need my Meshuggah fix.


I popped in Contradictions Collapse earlier today actually. Goddamned Sickness.

 

[Ecto]

Actually I think they're recording the same album since... Chaosphere maybe.

 

[EkstatikParataxis]

I think i have to correct my opinion on this album... (wrote a short kind of review a view pages ago...) Now that I listened to it again and again.... I´m really into it. All the weird meshuggah-typical things happen in a more hidden and sublime way on this record... So you definitively need more runs to get into it! Just sit down (or better lay down) with headphones at night and listen to it. The whole album is in 4/4 time, but try using your fingers and count to the beat and you will be scared by all the variations and crazyness going on there....
I just have to say i love it and it kicks me into delirium....