Meshuggah
Encyclopedia
Meshuggah
is an extreme metal
band from Umeå
, Sweden
, formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman
and lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal
, drummer Tomas Haake
, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström
, who joined in 1992. The band has gone through a number of bassists, but the position has been held by Dick Lövgren
since 2004.
Meshuggah first attracted international attention with the 1995 release Destroy Erase Improve
for its fusion of fast-tempo death metal
, thrash metal
and progressive metal
with jazz fusion
elements. Since its 2002 album Nothing, Meshuggah has used downtuned eight-string guitars. Meshuggah has become known for their innovative musical style, complex, polymetered song structures and polyrhythm
s. They were labeled as one of the ten most important hard
and heavy
bands by Rolling Stone
and as the most important band in metal by Alternative Press
. Meshuggah has found little mainstream success as yet, but is a significant act in extreme underground music
.
Nothing and the albums that followed have all charted on the Billboard 200
. In 2006 and 2009, the band was nominated for a Swedish Grammy Award
. Meshuggah's most commercially successful album, 2008's obZen
, peaked at No. 59 and sold 11,400 copies in the first week and 50,000 copies six months after its release in the United States. Since its formation, Meshuggah has released six studio albums, five EPs
and eight music videos. The band has performed in various international festivals, including Ozzfest
and Download
, and embarked on the obZen world tour
from 2008 to 2010.
In 1985, guitarist Fredrik Thordendal
formed a band in Umeå
, a college town in northern Sweden with a population of 105,000. The band, originally named Metallien, recorded a number of demo tapes
, after which it disbanded. Thordendal, however, continued playing under a different name with new band members.
Meshuggah was formed in 1987 by vocalist and guitarist Jens Kidman
, and took the name Meshuggah from the Yiddish word for "crazy". The band recorded several demos before Kidman left, which prompted the remaining members to disband. Kidman then formed a new band, Calipash, with guitarist Thordendal, bassist Peter Nordin and drummer Niklas Lundgren. Kidman, who also played guitar, and Thordendal decided to restore the name Meshuggah for the new band.
In 1989, Meshuggah released the self-titled, three-song EP
Meshuggah
, which is commonly known as Psykisk Testbild (a title that could be translated as "Psychological Test-Picture"). This 12" (30 cm) vinyl EP had only 1,000 copies released, sold by local record store Garageland. The EP's back cover features the band members with cheese doodles on their faces.
After replacing drummer Niclas Lundgren with Tomas Haake
in 1990, Meshuggah signed a contract with German heavy metal record label
Nuclear Blast
and recorded its debut full-length album, Contradictions Collapse
. The LP, originally entitled (All this because of) Greed, was released on October 1, 1991. The album received positive reviews, but was not a commercial success. Soon after, Kidman decided to concentrate on vocals, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström
, who had already played in a band with Haake when they were in the sixth grade, was recruited. The new lineup recorded the EP None
at Tonteknik Recordings in Umeå in 1994 for release later that year. A Japanese version was also released, including lyrics printed in Japanese.
During this period, Thordendal, who was working as a carpenter, severed the tip of his left middle finger, while Haake injured his hand in a grinder accident. As a result, the band was unable to perform for several months. Thordendal's fingertip was later reattached, and he went on to make a full recovery. The Selfcaged
EP was recorded in April and May 1994, but its release was delayed to later in 1995 due to the accidents.
at Soundfront Studios in Uppsala
, with Daniel Bergstrand as a producer. Shortly thereafter, the band went on a European tour supporting Machine Head
for two months. During the tour, Nordin became ill and experienced difficulties with his inner ear balance. Due to the resulting chronic dizziness and vertigo, Nordin was forced to leave the tour and travel to Sweden. Machine Head's bassist Adam Duce offered to cover his absence; however, Meshuggah decided to continue as a four-piece. Sometimes Thordendal played bass, while other times the band performed with two guitars. In this lineup, Hagström would use a pitch shifter to play his guitar at an octave
lower than usual.
Destroy Erase Improve was released in July 1995, with positive response from critics for the "heady tempos and abstract approach". Kidman described the album cover: "The title fits the pictures we cut out and stole from reference books in the library."
In mid-1995, Meshuggah had a short tour with Swedish band Clawfinger
in Scandinavia and Germany. Nordin had to leave the band because of his sickness and was replaced by bassist Gustaf Hielm during the tour. In late 1995, Meshuggah went on a month-long tour with Hypocrisy
.
During 1996 and 1997, Thordendal worked on his solo album Sol Niger Within
, which was released in March 1997 in Scandinavia and in April in Japan. He also hosted Mats/Morgan Band
's debut. In 1997, Meshuggah recorded an unreleased demo, toured occasionally, and played a few concerts in its hometown. In May, Meshuggah moved to Stockholm to be closer to its management and the record industry in general.
The EP The True Human Design
was recorded and released in late 1997. It contained one new song entitled "Sane", and one live and two alternate versions of Destroy Erase Improves opening track "Future Breed Machine". Thordendal's solo album Sol Niger Within was simultaneously released in the United States, and Meshuggah started to plan its next album at the end of the year.
, was reported and recording began. Immediately after recording the album, Meshuggah went on a short US tour, and the album was released later in November 1998. Shortly after the release, Meshuggah toured Scandinavia with Entombed
.
In early 1999, Meshuggah joined Slayer
on their U.S. tour. After the new album and the live performances, Meshuggah was beginning to be recognized by mainstream music, guitar, drum and metal magazines. In mid-1999, Meshuggah performed in several Swedish concerts. The band started to write some new material but reported in mid-2000 that "songwriting isn't that dramatic, but we're getting there slowly". While fans were waiting for the next album, a collection of demos (from the Psykisk Testbild EP), remixes and unreleased songs from the Chaosphere sessions were released as the Rare Trax
album. Hielm left the band in July 2001 for unclear reasons. Meshuggah joined Tool
on a lengthy tour, playing for more than 100,000 people total.
In March 2002, Meshuggah recorded three-track demos with programmed drums in their home studio, which were based on Haake's sample Drumkit from Hell. The upcoming album was recorded in five to six weeks in May and was produced by the band at Dug-Out Studios in Uppsala and at its home studio in Stockholm. The last-minute decision to join 2002's Ozzfest
tour forced the band to mix the album in two days and master it in one. Meshuggah immediately went on another US tour after finishing the recording.
The album Nothing was released in August 2002, selling 6,525 copies during its first week in the US and reaching No. 165 on the Billboard 200
. With this album, Meshuggah became the first band in the history of Nuclear Blast Records to crack the Billboard 200 and also became the first band signed to Nuclear Blast to be reviewed in Rolling Stone magazine. Meshuggah's previous two releases, 1998's Chaosphere and 1995's Destroy Erase Improve, have sold 38,773 and 30,712 copies to that date, respectively. The CD booklet of Nothing has no liner notes, lyrics, or credits, only a hint of one word: ingenting, which is Swedish for nothing. All of this information is available on the CD-ROM. At the end of 2002, the band went on another US tour with Tool and a headlining tour of its own.
In February 2004, bassist Dick Lövgren
joined Meshuggah. The band then recorded and released the I EP
, which contains a single, 21-minute track, released on Fractured Transmitter Records
. Meshuggah spent about six months in total on recording the EP. Catch Thirtythree
, the only album on which programmed drums
have been used, was released the following year in May 2005. Seven thousand copies of Catch Thirtythree were sold the first week, and it debuted at No. 170 on the Billboard 200 chart in June 2005. The video for the track "Shed" was released in June, and the previous album Nothing sold approximately 80,000 copies in the United States to that date, according to Nielsen SoundScan
. Catch Thirtythree earned the band a Swedish Grammy
nomination.
In December 2005, 10 years after inking its first record deal with the publishing company Warner/Chappell Music Scandinavia
, Meshuggah extended its cooperation with the company. In November 2005, Haake said in an interview that the band was not content with the productions of Chaosphere and Nothing, because, being on tour, they had little time to devote to them.
A remixed and remastered version of Nothing with rerecorded guitars was released in a custom-shaped slipcase featuring a three-dimensional hologram card on October 31, 2006, via Nuclear Blast Records. The release also includes a bonus DVD featuring the band's appearance at the Download 2005 festival and the official music videos of "Rational Gaze", "Shed" and "New Millennium Cyanide Christ".
, which was released in March 2008. The band spent almost a year on the album, its longest recording session yet. A significant portion of the year was spent learning to perform the songs they wrote; the recording itself took six months. obZen reached No. 59 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 11,400 U.S. copies in its first week of release and 50,000 copies after six months. With obZen, Meshuggah received more media attention and attracted new fans. The release was followed by a world tour
, which started in the U.S. and proceeded to Europe, Asia and Australia.
In May 2008, Meshuggah published a music video for the song "Bleed", which was produced by Ian McFarland and was written, directed and edited by Mike Pecci and Ian McFarland. Killswitch Productions said: "It's extremely cool to work with a band who is willing to allow the music and imagery to speak for itself and who does not insist on themselves being the prominent focus of the video."
In January 2009, obZen was nominated for the Swedish Grammis
award in the "Best Hard Rock" category. In February 2009, Haake announced that the band was planning a concert DVD and a studio album. In April, Meshuggah was forced to cancel its Scandinavian shows in early 2009, due to Haake's herniated disc
in his lower back, which was causing problems with his right foot when playing. Haake later underwent a surgery and recovered for European summer festivals.
The concert DVD entitled Alive
was released on February 5, 2010 in Europe and February 9 in North America. Thordendal started to work on a second solo album in June 2010 with the Belgian
drummer Dirk Verbeuren
.
On March 31, 2011, Meshuggah posted information on their facebook page about their upcoming album. The release date was announced by the band in Terrorizer as "autumn 2011", but guitarist Hagström, in a more recent interview conducted by Guitar World, suggested that the album should be released closer to March 2012.
Meshuggah's experimentation, stylistic variation and changes during its career cross several musical subgenres. Heavy metal subgenres avant-garde metal or experimental metal are umbrella terms that enable description of the career of the band in general. Extreme metal
crosses both thrash metal
and death metal
(or technical death metal
), which are at root of the sound of Meshuggah's music. The band is often labelled as math metal (for using elements of math rock
) and progressive metal
. Meshuggah also incorporates elements of experimental jazz
. In its review of Nothing, Allmusic describes Meshuggah as "masterminds of cosmic calculus metal—call it Einstein metal if you want". Meshuggah creates a recognizable sonic imprint and distinct style.
Trademarks and characteristics that define Meshuggah's sound and songwriting include polyrhythm
s, polymetered riff cycles, rhythmic syncopation
, rapid key
and tempo
changes and neo-jazz
chromatics
. Hagström notes that "it doesn’t really matter if something is hard to play or not. The thing is, what does it do to your mind when you listen to it? Where does it take you?" A trademark of Thordendal is jazz fusion
-like soloing and improvisation. He is also known for the usage of a "breath controller" device. Haake is known for his cross-rhythm drumming with "jazzlike cadence". The vocal style of Jens Kidman varies between hardcore
-style shouts and "robotic" death metal vocals.
In a typical polyrhythm by Meshuggah, the guitars might play in odd meters such as 5/16 or 17/16, while drums play in normal 4/4. An example of Haake's dual rhythms is a 4/4 and 23/16 rhythm. He keeps the hi-hat
and ride cymbal
in simple 4/4 time but uses the snare
and double bass drums for 23/16 rhythm. On "Rational Gaze" (from Nothing), Haake plays simple 4/4 time, hitting the snare on each third beat, for 16 bars. At the same time, the guitars and bass are playing the same quarter notes, albeit in a different time signature, and eventually both sides meet up again at the 64th beat. Hagström notes about the polyrhythms, "We’ve never really been into the odd time signatures we get accused of using. Everything we do is based around a 4/4 core. It’s just that we arrange parts differently around that center to make it seem like something else is going on."
, is "simpler and more straightforward than their more recent material, but some of their more progressive elements are present in the form of time-changes and polyrhythmics, and Fredrik Thordendal's lead playing stands out". According to Allmusic, the debut album is a relatively immature, but original, release. Double bass drums and "angular" riffing also defined the early work of Meshuggah.
With the groundbreaking Destroy Erase Improve, Meshuggah showed fusion
of death metal, thrash metal, progressive metal and technical polyrhythmic math metal. Allmusic describes the style as "weaving hardcore-style shouts amongst deceptively (and deviously) simple staccato
guitar riffs and insanely precise drumming—often with all three components acting in different time signatures". Thordendal adds the melodic element with his typical lead guitar and uses his "breath controller" device most famously on the opening track "Future Breed Machine".
Chaosphere incorporates typically fast, still tempo changing death metal. Allmusic compares the genre also with grindcore
fathers Napalm Death
. Rockdetector states: "Whilst fans reveled in the maze like meanderings, critics struggled to dissect and analyze, hailing Haake’s unconventional use of dual 4/4 and 23/16 rhythm, Kidman’s mechanical staccato bark and Thordendal’s liberal usage of avant-garde Jazz".
tempos and grooves. The album was intended to be recorded using custom-made Nevborn eight-string guitars, but the prototypes were faulty so Thordendal and Hagström used detuned Ibanez
seven-string guitar
s instead. This technique, which involved keeping the instruments untuned during the sessions, created additional problems. When Ibanez provided Meshuggah with special eight-string guitars with two extra-low strings that worked properly after the initial release, the band re-recorded the guitar parts for Nothing and re-released it in 2006. Hagström notes that this allowed the band to go lower sonically and to attain bass sounds on guitars.
The I EP contains a single, 21-minute song of complex arrangements and was a hint of the forthcoming album, 2005's Catch Thirtythree. The EP, which was never played live by the band, was written and recorded during jamming sessions of Haake and Thordendal. On Catch Thirtythree, Meshuggah again used eight-string guitars, but utilized programmed drums for the first time also for the release, with the exception of two songs from 2001's compilation Rare Trax. The album was self-produced by the band and was recorded at the studio that Meshuggah shares with Clawfinger. Hagström notes, "The eight-strings really have given us a whole new musical vocabulary to work with. Part of it is the restrictions they impose: you really can't play power chords with them; the sound just turns to mush. Instead, we concentrated on coming up with really unusual single-note parts, new tunings and chord voicings. We wanted to get as far away from any kind of conventions and traditions as we could on the album, so the guitars worked out beautifully."
Catch Thirtythree is one 47-minute song divided into 13 sections. It is more mid-tempo guitar riff based, and a more straightforward and experimental full-length album than Chaosphere or Nothing. Nick Terry of Decibel Magazine describes the album as a four-movement
symphony
. Some songs still use Meshuggah's "familiar template combining harsh vocals and nightmarish melodies over coarse, mechanically advancing, oddball tempos", while others explore ambient sounds and quieter dynamics. The first part of Catch Thirtythree centers around two simple riffs. In the song "In Death - Is Death", the band uses a combination of noise and silence, which is in contrast with the atypical melodies on "Dehumanization". On "Mind's Mirrors", Meshuggah used electronics, programming and "robotic voices". "Shed" incorporates tribal percussion and whispered vocals.
For obZen, Haake returned to the drum kit most notably with his performance on the song "Bleed". In an interview for Gravemusic.com, Haake stated, "['Bleed'] was a big effort for me to learn, I had to find a totally new approach to playing the double bass drums to be able to do that stuff. I had never really done anything like that before like the fast bursts that go all the way through the song basically. So I actually spent as much time practicing that track alone as I did with all of the other tracks combined. It's kind of a big feat to change your approach like that and I'm glad we were able to nail it for the album. For a while though we didn't even know if it was going to make it to the album." Hagström also stated, "obZen is one of the most highly technical offerings the band has ever put to tape". Revolver magazine confirms this statement: "At first listen, obZen seems less challenging to the listener than some of the band’s other records, and most of the songs flow smoothly from one syncopated passage to the next. However, careful examination reveals that the material is some of the group’s most complicated".
Meshuggah has become known for its innovative musical style that evolves between each release and pushes heavy metal into new territory, and for its technical prowess. Hagström comments: "We try never to repeat ourselves." Rockdetector stated about Destroy Erase Improve: "[T]he band...stripped Metal down to the bare essentials before completely rebuilding it in a totally abstract form". Official Meshuggah biography criticizes Chaosphere with: "Some fans felt that Meshuggah had left their dynamic and progressive elements behind; while others thought they were only progressing naturally and focusing on their original sound" and Nothing with: "[I]t displayed a very mature and convincing Meshuggah, now focusing on groove and sound...Meshuggah once again divided their fans into the 'ecstatic' and the 'slightly disappointed'". The polyrhythms can make the music sound cacophonous, like band members are playing different songs simultaneously. Listeners perceiving a polyrhythm often either extract a composite pattern that is fitted to a metric framework, or focus on one rhythmic stream while treating others as "noise".
Rolling Stone labeled Meshuggah as "one of the ten most important hard and heavy bands", and the Alternative Press named it the "most important band in metal." Meshuggah has been described as virtuoso or genius-bordering musicians, "recognized by mainstream music magazines, especially those dedicated to particular instruments". In 2007, Meshuggah earned an in-depth analysis by the academic journal Music Theory Spectrum
. Meshuggah has found little mainstream success but is a significant act in extreme underground music
and an influence for many modern metal bands. According to guardian.co.uk
, Meshuggah coined the onomatopoeic term "djent
", describing an "elastic, syncopated guitar riff", that later gave a name to the microgenre.
Except for when Hagström needs a soloist, he and Thordendal rarely record together. Both play guitar and bass while composing. Haake says about his songwriting, "Sometimes I’ll sample guitar parts, cut them up, pitch-shift and tweak them until I’ve built the riffs I want, just for demoing purposes. But most of the time I’ll just present the drums, and explain my ideas for the rest of the song, sing some riffs."
Approximately once a year, Haake writes most of the band's lyrics, with the exception of finished tracks. His lyrical inspirations are derived from books and films. Although Meshuggah does not record concept album
s, the band prefers strong conceptual underpinnings in the background.
Often esoteric and conceptual, Meshuggah's lyrics explore themes such as existentialism
. Allmusic describes Destroy Erase Improve's lyrical focus as "the integration of machines with organisms as humanity's next logical evolutionary step". PopMatters' review of Nothing singles out the lyrics from "Rational Gaze": "Our light-induced image of truth—filtered blank of its substance / As our eyes won’t adhere to intuitive lines / Everything examined. Separated, one thing at a time / The harder we stare the more complete the disintegration." Haake explains that Catch Thirtythree's cover, title and lyrics deal with "the paradoxes /negations /contradictions of life and death (as we see it in our finest moments of unrestrained metaphoric interpretation)".
The main theme of obZen is "human evil", according to Haake. The title is a play on the words "obscene
" and "Zen
"; in addition, "ob" means "anti" in Latin. Therefore, the title suggests that the human species has found harmony and balance in warfare and bloodshed. Revolver Magazine finds the lyrics of the title track from obZen representative of the entire album: "Salvation found in vomit and blood/Where depravation, lies, corruption/War and pain is god." However, Haake claims, "We don't dwell on hate and bad feelings as people. But with these songs, I think we really wanted to paint a picture lyrically that might be seen as a cautionary tale. We're going, ‘Heads up. Here's what some of the parts of being human are about, and this is what we can be at our worst.’ So it’s more about being aware of negative feelings than actually living them all the time."
Former members
Videos
is an extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
band from Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman
Jens Kidman
Jens Kidman is the vocalist and former guitarist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He is famous for his very aggressive shouts and screams and for his "mean" stage presence.-Musical career and style:...
and lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal
Fredrik Thordendal
Fredrik Thordendal is the lead guitarist and a founding member of the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah.He, along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström were rated #35 by Guitar World in the top 100 greatest heavy metal guitarists of all-time.-Musical career:Under the name...
, drummer Tomas Haake
Tomas Haake
Tomas Haake is the drummer and main lyricist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah.-Musical career:Haake is noted for his technical abilities; his drumming style is characterized by heavy use of polyrhythms while often maintaining a steady 4/4 beat. This signature style has become one...
, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström
Mårten Hagström
Mårten Hagström, , is the rhythm guitarist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band after the release of their first album, which allowed Jens Kidman to focus on his vocal performances. He is known for his strong and complex rhythm guitar playing...
, who joined in 1992. The band has gone through a number of bassists, but the position has been held by Dick Lövgren
Dick Lövgren
Dick Lövgren is the bassist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band in 2004 as Meshuggah's third bass player.-Biography:...
since 2004.
Meshuggah first attracted international attention with the 1995 release Destroy Erase Improve
Destroy Erase Improve
-Personnel:Meshuggah* Jens Kidman – lead vocals* Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, synthesizers * Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar* Tomas Haake – drums, voices...
for its fusion of fast-tempo death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
, thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
and progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
with jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
elements. Since its 2002 album Nothing, Meshuggah has used downtuned eight-string guitars. Meshuggah has become known for their innovative musical style, complex, polymetered song structures and polyrhythm
Polyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.Polyrhythm in general is a nonspecific term for the simultaneous occurrence of two or more conflicting rhythms, of which cross-rhythm is a specific and definable subset.—Novotney Polyrhythms can be distinguished from...
s. They were labeled as one of the ten most important hard
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and heavy
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
bands by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and as the most important band in metal by Alternative Press
Alternative Press (music magazine)
Alternative Press is an American music magazine based in Cleveland, Ohio. It generally provides readers with band interviews, photos, information on upcoming releases, and music charts. It was founded in 1985 by Mike Shea, who is the current president....
. Meshuggah has found little mainstream success as yet, but is a significant act in extreme underground music
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
.
Nothing and the albums that followed have all charted on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. In 2006 and 2009, the band was nominated for a Swedish Grammy Award
Grammis
The Grammis Awards are the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards. The awards ceremony is generally held each year in February in Stockholm.The awards were established in 1969 and awarded until 1972 when they were cancelled....
. Meshuggah's most commercially successful album, 2008's obZen
ObZen
obZen is the sixth full-length studio album by Swedish band Meshuggah. It was released in Europe on March 7, 2008, and in the U.S. on March 11, 2008. It contains nine tracks, and a total length of 52 minutes and 25 seconds...
, peaked at No. 59 and sold 11,400 copies in the first week and 50,000 copies six months after its release in the United States. Since its formation, Meshuggah has released six studio albums, five EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
and eight music videos. The band has performed in various international festivals, including Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
and Download
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
, and embarked on the obZen world tour
ObZen Tour
The ObZen World Tour is a concert tour by Swedish Metal band Meshuggah. It was in support of the band's 6th studio album obZen. It is the biggest tour the band has done to date; and the band has travelled to places around the world they previously have not performed in...
from 2008 to 2010.
Formation and Contradictions Collapse (1987–1994)
Fredrik Thordendal
Fredrik Thordendal is the lead guitarist and a founding member of the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah.He, along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström were rated #35 by Guitar World in the top 100 greatest heavy metal guitarists of all-time.-Musical career:Under the name...
formed a band in Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
, a college town in northern Sweden with a population of 105,000. The band, originally named Metallien, recorded a number of demo tapes
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
, after which it disbanded. Thordendal, however, continued playing under a different name with new band members.
Meshuggah was formed in 1987 by vocalist and guitarist Jens Kidman
Jens Kidman
Jens Kidman is the vocalist and former guitarist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He is famous for his very aggressive shouts and screams and for his "mean" stage presence.-Musical career and style:...
, and took the name Meshuggah from the Yiddish word for "crazy". The band recorded several demos before Kidman left, which prompted the remaining members to disband. Kidman then formed a new band, Calipash, with guitarist Thordendal, bassist Peter Nordin and drummer Niklas Lundgren. Kidman, who also played guitar, and Thordendal decided to restore the name Meshuggah for the new band.
In 1989, Meshuggah released the self-titled, three-song EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Meshuggah
Meshuggah (EP)
-Personnel:* Jens Kidman – lead vocals, rhythm guitar* Niclas Lundgren – drums* Peter Nordin – bass* Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, vocals...
, which is commonly known as Psykisk Testbild (a title that could be translated as "Psychological Test-Picture"). This 12" (30 cm) vinyl EP had only 1,000 copies released, sold by local record store Garageland. The EP's back cover features the band members with cheese doodles on their faces.
After replacing drummer Niclas Lundgren with Tomas Haake
Tomas Haake
Tomas Haake is the drummer and main lyricist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah.-Musical career:Haake is noted for his technical abilities; his drumming style is characterized by heavy use of polyrhythms while often maintaining a steady 4/4 beat. This signature style has become one...
in 1990, Meshuggah signed a contract with German heavy metal record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
and recorded its debut full-length album, Contradictions Collapse
Contradictions Collapse
-Meshuggah:* Jens Kidman − rhythm guitar, lead vocals* Fredrik Thordendal − lead guitar, backing vocals* Peter Nordin − bass* Tomas Haake − drums...
. The LP, originally entitled (All this because of) Greed, was released on October 1, 1991. The album received positive reviews, but was not a commercial success. Soon after, Kidman decided to concentrate on vocals, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström
Mårten Hagström
Mårten Hagström, , is the rhythm guitarist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band after the release of their first album, which allowed Jens Kidman to focus on his vocal performances. He is known for his strong and complex rhythm guitar playing...
, who had already played in a band with Haake when they were in the sixth grade, was recruited. The new lineup recorded the EP None
None (EP)
-Credits:* Jens Kidman – vocals* Tomas Haake – drums* Peter Nordin – bass* Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals* Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar, backing vocals...
at Tonteknik Recordings in Umeå in 1994 for release later that year. A Japanese version was also released, including lyrics printed in Japanese.
During this period, Thordendal, who was working as a carpenter, severed the tip of his left middle finger, while Haake injured his hand in a grinder accident. As a result, the band was unable to perform for several months. Thordendal's fingertip was later reattached, and he went on to make a full recovery. The Selfcaged
Selfcaged
Selfcaged is an EP by Swedish metal band Meshuggah, released in 1995 through Nuclear Blast.-Track listing:-USA version:-Personnel:* Jens Kidman – vocals* Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer* Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar...
EP was recorded in April and May 1994, but its release was delayed to later in 1995 due to the accidents.
Destroy Erase Improve (1995–1997)
In January 1995, Meshuggah undertook a short European tour organized by its record label Nuclear Blast. Afterwards, the band returned to the studio to record the album Destroy Erase ImproveDestroy Erase Improve
-Personnel:Meshuggah* Jens Kidman – lead vocals* Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, synthesizers * Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar* Tomas Haake – drums, voices...
at Soundfront Studios in Uppsala
Uppsala
- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...
, with Daniel Bergstrand as a producer. Shortly thereafter, the band went on a European tour supporting Machine Head
Machine Head (band)
Machine Head is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California. Formed on October 12, 1991, the group was founded by Robb Flynn and Adam Duce. There have been 4 member changes since their inception. The current lineup of the band comprises Flynn , Duce , ex-Vio-Lence guitarist Phil Demmel ,...
for two months. During the tour, Nordin became ill and experienced difficulties with his inner ear balance. Due to the resulting chronic dizziness and vertigo, Nordin was forced to leave the tour and travel to Sweden. Machine Head's bassist Adam Duce offered to cover his absence; however, Meshuggah decided to continue as a four-piece. Sometimes Thordendal played bass, while other times the band performed with two guitars. In this lineup, Hagström would use a pitch shifter to play his guitar at an octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
lower than usual.
Destroy Erase Improve was released in July 1995, with positive response from critics for the "heady tempos and abstract approach". Kidman described the album cover: "The title fits the pictures we cut out and stole from reference books in the library."
In mid-1995, Meshuggah had a short tour with Swedish band Clawfinger
Clawfinger
Clawfinger is a rap metal band from Sweden and was one of the earliest bands to adopt this sound. Clawfinger is known for aggressive but melodic music and tackling political and anti-racist themes in their songs.-Band history:...
in Scandinavia and Germany. Nordin had to leave the band because of his sickness and was replaced by bassist Gustaf Hielm during the tour. In late 1995, Meshuggah went on a month-long tour with Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy (band)
Hypocrisy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.Musically, the band started off with a traditional death metal sound on their first albums, and soon drifted to become a melodic death metal band. The lyrics in their early stages -...
.
During 1996 and 1997, Thordendal worked on his solo album Sol Niger Within
Sol Niger Within
-Credits:*Mats Öberg - church organ, synthesizer *Jonas Knutsson - saxophone *Jerry Ericsson - bass guitar *Kantor Magnus Larsson - church organ *Victor Alneng - yidaki *Morgan Ågren - drums...
, which was released in March 1997 in Scandinavia and in April in Japan. He also hosted Mats/Morgan Band
Mats/Morgan Band
Mats/Morgan Band is a band that features Morgan Ågren and Mats Öberg. Morgan is a drummer and composer and Mats is a keyboard player and composer. The band is a showcase for their virtuosic skills on their respective instruments as well as their compositional skills...
's debut. In 1997, Meshuggah recorded an unreleased demo, toured occasionally, and played a few concerts in its hometown. In May, Meshuggah moved to Stockholm to be closer to its management and the record industry in general.
The EP The True Human Design
The True Human Design
The True Human Design is an EP by Swedish metal band Meshuggah. It was released through Nuclear Blast on August 19, 1997 in Europe, and in the United States on November 25, 1997...
was recorded and released in late 1997. It contained one new song entitled "Sane", and one live and two alternate versions of Destroy Erase Improves opening track "Future Breed Machine". Thordendal's solo album Sol Niger Within was simultaneously released in the United States, and Meshuggah started to plan its next album at the end of the year.
Chaosphere and Nothing (1998–2002)
Hielm officially joined the band in January 1998 after more than two years as a session member. Nuclear Blast re-released Contradictions Collapse with the addition of songs from the None EP. In May 1998, the title of the next album, ChaosphereChaosphere
-Re-release bonus tracks:-Personnel:Meshuggah* Jens Kidman - lead vocals* Gustaf Hielm - bass* Tomas Haake - drums, vocals * Mårten Hagström - rhythm guitar...
, was reported and recording began. Immediately after recording the album, Meshuggah went on a short US tour, and the album was released later in November 1998. Shortly after the release, Meshuggah toured Scandinavia with Entombed
Entombed (band)
Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
.
In early 1999, Meshuggah joined Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
on their U.S. tour. After the new album and the live performances, Meshuggah was beginning to be recognized by mainstream music, guitar, drum and metal magazines. In mid-1999, Meshuggah performed in several Swedish concerts. The band started to write some new material but reported in mid-2000 that "songwriting isn't that dramatic, but we're getting there slowly". While fans were waiting for the next album, a collection of demos (from the Psykisk Testbild EP), remixes and unreleased songs from the Chaosphere sessions were released as the Rare Trax
Rare Trax
Rare Trax is a compilation album of rare songs by the Swedish technical metal band Meshuggah. It compiles the three songs from the bands first 1989 release, Psykisk Testbild, on CD format, as well as other rare songs that the band had recorded but never released.The CD-ROM also contains the music...
album. Hielm left the band in July 2001 for unclear reasons. Meshuggah joined Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
on a lengthy tour, playing for more than 100,000 people total.
In March 2002, Meshuggah recorded three-track demos with programmed drums in their home studio, which were based on Haake's sample Drumkit from Hell. The upcoming album was recorded in five to six weeks in May and was produced by the band at Dug-Out Studios in Uppsala and at its home studio in Stockholm. The last-minute decision to join 2002's Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
tour forced the band to mix the album in two days and master it in one. Meshuggah immediately went on another US tour after finishing the recording.
The album Nothing was released in August 2002, selling 6,525 copies during its first week in the US and reaching No. 165 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. With this album, Meshuggah became the first band in the history of Nuclear Blast Records to crack the Billboard 200 and also became the first band signed to Nuclear Blast to be reviewed in Rolling Stone magazine. Meshuggah's previous two releases, 1998's Chaosphere and 1995's Destroy Erase Improve, have sold 38,773 and 30,712 copies to that date, respectively. The CD booklet of Nothing has no liner notes, lyrics, or credits, only a hint of one word: ingenting, which is Swedish for nothing. All of this information is available on the CD-ROM. At the end of 2002, the band went on another US tour with Tool and a headlining tour of its own.
I and Catch Thirtythree (2003–2006)
In 2003, Hagström hinted at the direction of the band's next album by saying, "There's only one thing I really feel that is important. We've never measured our success in terms of sales, because we're quite an extreme band. It's more that people understand where we're coming from. I get more out of a fan coming up and saying that we've totally changed their way of looking on metal music, than having like 200 kids buy it. I mean, it would be nice for the money, but that's not why we're in it. So what I'd like to see is that we keep progressing. Keeping the core of what Meshuggah has always been, but exploring the bar, so to speak. Destroy Erase Improve was like exploring the dynamics of the band, Chaosphere was exploring the aggressiveness, the all-out side, and Nothing is more of a sinister, dark, pretty slow album, actually. So honestly, now I don't know where we're going. It might be a mix of all of them."Dick Lövgren
Dick Lövgren is the bassist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band in 2004 as Meshuggah's third bass player.-Biography:...
joined Meshuggah. The band then recorded and released the I EP
I (EP)
-Personnel:* Tomas Haake – drums* Mårten Hagström – electric guitar* Jens Kidman – vocals* Fredrik Thordendal – guitar, bass guitar...
, which contains a single, 21-minute track, released on Fractured Transmitter Records
Fractured Transmitter Recording Company
Fractured Transmitter is a record company started by Jason Popson around the time he departed from Mushroomhead in 2004.-Bands Signed:Pitch Black ForecastThe Alter BoysAmerican WerewolvesAsleepDisengageIntegrityJeff WalkerMeshuggah...
. Meshuggah spent about six months in total on recording the EP. Catch Thirtythree
Catch Thirtythree
-Meshuggah:* Jens Kidman – vocals, guitar, bass, drum programming, mixing* Fredrik Thordendal – guitar, bass, drum programming, mixing* Mårten Hagström – guitar, bass, drum programming, mixing...
, the only album on which programmed drums
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
have been used, was released the following year in May 2005. Seven thousand copies of Catch Thirtythree were sold the first week, and it debuted at No. 170 on the Billboard 200 chart in June 2005. The video for the track "Shed" was released in June, and the previous album Nothing sold approximately 80,000 copies in the United States to that date, according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
. Catch Thirtythree earned the band a Swedish Grammy
Grammis
The Grammis Awards are the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards. The awards ceremony is generally held each year in February in Stockholm.The awards were established in 1969 and awarded until 1972 when they were cancelled....
nomination.
In December 2005, 10 years after inking its first record deal with the publishing company Warner/Chappell Music Scandinavia
Warner/Chappell Music
Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company, and a division of the Warner Music Group. The company traces its origins back to 1811 and the founding of Chappell & Company, a music publishing company and instrument shop on London’s Bond Street that, in 1929, began a rapid...
, Meshuggah extended its cooperation with the company. In November 2005, Haake said in an interview that the band was not content with the productions of Chaosphere and Nothing, because, being on tour, they had little time to devote to them.
A remixed and remastered version of Nothing with rerecorded guitars was released in a custom-shaped slipcase featuring a three-dimensional hologram card on October 31, 2006, via Nuclear Blast Records. The release also includes a bonus DVD featuring the band's appearance at the Download 2005 festival and the official music videos of "Rational Gaze", "Shed" and "New Millennium Cyanide Christ".
obZen (2007–present)
Meshuggah returned to the studio to record obZenObZen
obZen is the sixth full-length studio album by Swedish band Meshuggah. It was released in Europe on March 7, 2008, and in the U.S. on March 11, 2008. It contains nine tracks, and a total length of 52 minutes and 25 seconds...
, which was released in March 2008. The band spent almost a year on the album, its longest recording session yet. A significant portion of the year was spent learning to perform the songs they wrote; the recording itself took six months. obZen reached No. 59 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 11,400 U.S. copies in its first week of release and 50,000 copies after six months. With obZen, Meshuggah received more media attention and attracted new fans. The release was followed by a world tour
ObZen Tour
The ObZen World Tour is a concert tour by Swedish Metal band Meshuggah. It was in support of the band's 6th studio album obZen. It is the biggest tour the band has done to date; and the band has travelled to places around the world they previously have not performed in...
, which started in the U.S. and proceeded to Europe, Asia and Australia.
In May 2008, Meshuggah published a music video for the song "Bleed", which was produced by Ian McFarland and was written, directed and edited by Mike Pecci and Ian McFarland. Killswitch Productions said: "It's extremely cool to work with a band who is willing to allow the music and imagery to speak for itself and who does not insist on themselves being the prominent focus of the video."
In January 2009, obZen was nominated for the Swedish Grammis
Grammis
The Grammis Awards are the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards. The awards ceremony is generally held each year in February in Stockholm.The awards were established in 1969 and awarded until 1972 when they were cancelled....
award in the "Best Hard Rock" category. In February 2009, Haake announced that the band was planning a concert DVD and a studio album. In April, Meshuggah was forced to cancel its Scandinavian shows in early 2009, due to Haake's herniated disc
Spinal disc herniation
A spinal disc herniation , informally and misleadingly called a "slipped disc", is a medical condition affecting the spine due to trauma, lifting injuries, or idiopathic, in which a tear in the outer, fibrous ring of an intervertebral disc allows the soft, central portion A spinal disc herniation...
in his lower back, which was causing problems with his right foot when playing. Haake later underwent a surgery and recovered for European summer festivals.
The concert DVD entitled Alive
Alive (Meshuggah video)
Alive is a concert film by Swedish heavy metal band Meshuggah. The film was released as a double album through Nuclear Blast on 5 February 2010 in Europe and 9 February 2010 in North America....
was released on February 5, 2010 in Europe and February 9 in North America. Thordendal started to work on a second solo album in June 2010 with the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
drummer Dirk Verbeuren
Dirk Verbeuren
Dirk Verbeuren is a heavy metal drummer for Swedish melodic death metal band, Soilwork, French melodic death metal band, Scarve , French melodic death metal band, Phaze I, Dutch death-thrash metal band, Anatomy of I, and American thrash metal band, Powermad...
.
On March 31, 2011, Meshuggah posted information on their facebook page about their upcoming album. The release date was announced by the band in Terrorizer as "autumn 2011", but guitarist Hagström, in a more recent interview conducted by Guitar World, suggested that the album should be released closer to March 2012.
Genre and typical traits
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
crosses both thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
(or technical death metal
Technical death metal
Technical death metal is a musical subgenre of death metal that focuses on complex rhythms, riffs and song structures. Technical experimentation in death metal began in the late '80s and early '90s by bands such as Death, Atheist and Cynic...
), which are at root of the sound of Meshuggah's music. The band is often labelled as math metal (for using elements of math rock
Math rock
Math rock is a rhythmically complex guitar-based style of experimental rock that emerged in the 1980s and that was very influenced by progressive rock like King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage...
) and progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
. Meshuggah also incorporates elements of experimental jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
. In its review of Nothing, Allmusic describes Meshuggah as "masterminds of cosmic calculus metal—call it Einstein metal if you want". Meshuggah creates a recognizable sonic imprint and distinct style.
Trademarks and characteristics that define Meshuggah's sound and songwriting include polyrhythm
Polyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.Polyrhythm in general is a nonspecific term for the simultaneous occurrence of two or more conflicting rhythms, of which cross-rhythm is a specific and definable subset.—Novotney Polyrhythms can be distinguished from...
s, polymetered riff cycles, rhythmic syncopation
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
, rapid key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
and tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
changes and neo-jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
chromatics
Diatonic and chromatic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony...
. Hagström notes that "it doesn’t really matter if something is hard to play or not. The thing is, what does it do to your mind when you listen to it? Where does it take you?" A trademark of Thordendal is jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
-like soloing and improvisation. He is also known for the usage of a "breath controller" device. Haake is known for his cross-rhythm drumming with "jazzlike cadence". The vocal style of Jens Kidman varies between hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
-style shouts and "robotic" death metal vocals.
In a typical polyrhythm by Meshuggah, the guitars might play in odd meters such as 5/16 or 17/16, while drums play in normal 4/4. An example of Haake's dual rhythms is a 4/4 and 23/16 rhythm. He keeps the hi-hat
Hi-hat
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in R&B, hip-hop, disco, jazz, rock and roll, house, reggae and other forms of contemporary popular music.- Operation :...
and ride cymbal
Ride cymbal
The ride cymbal is a standard cymbal in most drum kits. It maintains a steady rhythmic pattern, sometimes called a ride pattern, rather than the accent of a crash...
in simple 4/4 time but uses the snare
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
and double bass drums for 23/16 rhythm. On "Rational Gaze" (from Nothing), Haake plays simple 4/4 time, hitting the snare on each third beat, for 16 bars. At the same time, the guitars and bass are playing the same quarter notes, albeit in a different time signature, and eventually both sides meet up again at the 64th beat. Hagström notes about the polyrhythms, "We’ve never really been into the odd time signatures we get accused of using. Everything we do is based around a 4/4 core. It’s just that we arrange parts differently around that center to make it seem like something else is going on."
Early work, Destroy Erase Improve and Chaosphere
The early work of Meshuggah, influenced mainly by MetallicaMetallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, is "simpler and more straightforward than their more recent material, but some of their more progressive elements are present in the form of time-changes and polyrhythmics, and Fredrik Thordendal's lead playing stands out". According to Allmusic, the debut album is a relatively immature, but original, release. Double bass drums and "angular" riffing also defined the early work of Meshuggah.
With the groundbreaking Destroy Erase Improve, Meshuggah showed fusion
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
of death metal, thrash metal, progressive metal and technical polyrhythmic math metal. Allmusic describes the style as "weaving hardcore-style shouts amongst deceptively (and deviously) simple staccato
Staccato
Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...
guitar riffs and insanely precise drumming—often with all three components acting in different time signatures". Thordendal adds the melodic element with his typical lead guitar and uses his "breath controller" device most famously on the opening track "Future Breed Machine".
Chaosphere incorporates typically fast, still tempo changing death metal. Allmusic compares the genre also with grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
fathers Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
. Rockdetector states: "Whilst fans reveled in the maze like meanderings, critics struggled to dissect and analyze, hailing Haake’s unconventional use of dual 4/4 and 23/16 rhythm, Kidman’s mechanical staccato bark and Thordendal’s liberal usage of avant-garde Jazz".
Nothing, I and Catch Thirtythree
On Nothing, Meshuggah abandons the fast tempos of Chaosphere and concentrates on slow, tuned downMusical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...
tempos and grooves. The album was intended to be recorded using custom-made Nevborn eight-string guitars, but the prototypes were faulty so Thordendal and Hagström used detuned Ibanez
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass produce...
seven-string guitar
Seven-string guitar
A seven-string guitar is a guitar with seven strings instead of the usual six. Some types of seven-string guitars are specific to certain cultures . The standard 7-string guitar tuning is BEADGbe...
s instead. This technique, which involved keeping the instruments untuned during the sessions, created additional problems. When Ibanez provided Meshuggah with special eight-string guitars with two extra-low strings that worked properly after the initial release, the band re-recorded the guitar parts for Nothing and re-released it in 2006. Hagström notes that this allowed the band to go lower sonically and to attain bass sounds on guitars.
The I EP contains a single, 21-minute song of complex arrangements and was a hint of the forthcoming album, 2005's Catch Thirtythree. The EP, which was never played live by the band, was written and recorded during jamming sessions of Haake and Thordendal. On Catch Thirtythree, Meshuggah again used eight-string guitars, but utilized programmed drums for the first time also for the release, with the exception of two songs from 2001's compilation Rare Trax. The album was self-produced by the band and was recorded at the studio that Meshuggah shares with Clawfinger. Hagström notes, "The eight-strings really have given us a whole new musical vocabulary to work with. Part of it is the restrictions they impose: you really can't play power chords with them; the sound just turns to mush. Instead, we concentrated on coming up with really unusual single-note parts, new tunings and chord voicings. We wanted to get as far away from any kind of conventions and traditions as we could on the album, so the guitars worked out beautifully."
Catch Thirtythree is one 47-minute song divided into 13 sections. It is more mid-tempo guitar riff based, and a more straightforward and experimental full-length album than Chaosphere or Nothing. Nick Terry of Decibel Magazine describes the album as a four-movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
. Some songs still use Meshuggah's "familiar template combining harsh vocals and nightmarish melodies over coarse, mechanically advancing, oddball tempos", while others explore ambient sounds and quieter dynamics. The first part of Catch Thirtythree centers around two simple riffs. In the song "In Death - Is Death", the band uses a combination of noise and silence, which is in contrast with the atypical melodies on "Dehumanization". On "Mind's Mirrors", Meshuggah used electronics, programming and "robotic voices". "Shed" incorporates tribal percussion and whispered vocals.
obZen
With 2008's obZen, Meshuggah moved away from the experimentation of 2002's Nothing and 2005's Catch Thirtythree to return to the musical style of its previous albums, such as Contradictions Collapse, Destroy Erase Improve and Chaosphere, while still maintaining its focus on musical and technical innovation. The album loses some of the mathematical-like rhythmal quick changes of past releases and the melodic orchestration of Catch Thirty-Three and uses "angular" riffs, mid-tempo and common 4/4 beats. The album is a culmination of the band's previous work. Meshuggah decided to self-produce because it sought to retain artistic control over the recording and mixing process.For obZen, Haake returned to the drum kit most notably with his performance on the song "Bleed". In an interview for Gravemusic.com, Haake stated, "['Bleed'] was a big effort for me to learn, I had to find a totally new approach to playing the double bass drums to be able to do that stuff. I had never really done anything like that before like the fast bursts that go all the way through the song basically. So I actually spent as much time practicing that track alone as I did with all of the other tracks combined. It's kind of a big feat to change your approach like that and I'm glad we were able to nail it for the album. For a while though we didn't even know if it was going to make it to the album." Hagström also stated, "obZen is one of the most highly technical offerings the band has ever put to tape". Revolver magazine confirms this statement: "At first listen, obZen seems less challenging to the listener than some of the band’s other records, and most of the songs flow smoothly from one syncopated passage to the next. However, careful examination reveals that the material is some of the group’s most complicated".
Legacy and reception
Rolling Stone labeled Meshuggah as "one of the ten most important hard and heavy bands", and the Alternative Press named it the "most important band in metal." Meshuggah has been described as virtuoso or genius-bordering musicians, "recognized by mainstream music magazines, especially those dedicated to particular instruments". In 2007, Meshuggah earned an in-depth analysis by the academic journal Music Theory Spectrum
Music Theory Spectrum
Music Theory Spectrum is a peer-reviewed, academic journal specializing in music theory and analysis. It is the official journal of the , and is published by University of California Press in Berkeley, California. The journal was first published in 1979 as the official organ of the SMT, which had...
. Meshuggah has found little mainstream success but is a significant act in extreme underground music
Underground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
and an influence for many modern metal bands. According to guardian.co.uk
Guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
, Meshuggah coined the onomatopoeic term "djent
Djent
Djent is a heavy metal music subgenre that emerged as a spin-off from progressive metal. Coined by the band Meshuggah, it was popularized through the internet by Periphery, specifically guitarist Misha Mansoor. The word "djent" is an onomatopoeia for a heavily palm-muted, distorted guitar chord...
", describing an "elastic, syncopated guitar riff", that later gave a name to the microgenre.
Songwriting, recording and lyrics
Meshuggah's music is written by Thordendal, Hagström and Haake with assistance from Kidman. During songwriting, a member programs the drums, and records the guitar and bass via computer. He presents his idea to the other members as a finished work. Meshuggah typically adheres to the original idea and rarely changes the song afterwards. Hagström explains that each member has an idea of what the others are doing conceptually, and nobody thinks exclusively in terms of a particular instrument. Kidman does not play guitar in the band anymore, but he is involved in writing riffs.Except for when Hagström needs a soloist, he and Thordendal rarely record together. Both play guitar and bass while composing. Haake says about his songwriting, "Sometimes I’ll sample guitar parts, cut them up, pitch-shift and tweak them until I’ve built the riffs I want, just for demoing purposes. But most of the time I’ll just present the drums, and explain my ideas for the rest of the song, sing some riffs."
Approximately once a year, Haake writes most of the band's lyrics, with the exception of finished tracks. His lyrical inspirations are derived from books and films. Although Meshuggah does not record concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
s, the band prefers strong conceptual underpinnings in the background.
Often esoteric and conceptual, Meshuggah's lyrics explore themes such as existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
. Allmusic describes Destroy Erase Improve
The main theme of obZen is "human evil", according to Haake. The title is a play on the words "obscene
Obscenity
An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
" and "Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
"; in addition, "ob" means "anti" in Latin. Therefore, the title suggests that the human species has found harmony and balance in warfare and bloodshed. Revolver Magazine finds the lyrics of the title track from obZen representative of the entire album: "Salvation found in vomit and blood/Where depravation, lies, corruption/War and pain is god." However, Haake claims, "We don't dwell on hate and bad feelings as people. But with these songs, I think we really wanted to paint a picture lyrically that might be seen as a cautionary tale. We're going, ‘Heads up. Here's what some of the parts of being human are about, and this is what we can be at our worst.’ So it’s more about being aware of negative feelings than actually living them all the time."
Members
Current members- Jens KidmanJens KidmanJens Kidman is the vocalist and former guitarist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He is famous for his very aggressive shouts and screams and for his "mean" stage presence.-Musical career and style:...
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
(1987–present), rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
(1987–1992) - Fredrik ThordendalFredrik ThordendalFredrik Thordendal is the lead guitarist and a founding member of the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah.He, along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström were rated #35 by Guitar World in the top 100 greatest heavy metal guitarists of all-time.-Musical career:Under the name...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
(1987–present) - Tomas HaakeTomas HaakeTomas Haake is the drummer and main lyricist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah.-Musical career:Haake is noted for his technical abilities; his drumming style is characterized by heavy use of polyrhythms while often maintaining a steady 4/4 beat. This signature style has become one...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, spoken word vocalsSpoken wordSpoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
(1990–present) - Mårten HagströmMårten HagströmMårten Hagström, , is the rhythm guitarist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band after the release of their first album, which allowed Jens Kidman to focus on his vocal performances. He is known for his strong and complex rhythm guitar playing...
– rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1992–present) - Dick LövgrenDick LövgrenDick Lövgren is the bassist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band in 2004 as Meshuggah's third bass player.-Biography:...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2004–present)
Former members
- Peter Nordin – bass guitar (1987–1995)
- Niklas Lundgren – drums (1987–1990)
- Gustaf Hielm – bass guitar (1995–2001)
Discography
Studio albums- Contradictions CollapseContradictions Collapse-Meshuggah:* Jens Kidman − rhythm guitar, lead vocals* Fredrik Thordendal − lead guitar, backing vocals* Peter Nordin − bass* Tomas Haake − drums...
(1991) - Destroy Erase ImproveDestroy Erase Improve-Personnel:Meshuggah* Jens Kidman – lead vocals* Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, synthesizers * Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar* Tomas Haake – drums, voices...
(1995) - ChaosphereChaosphere-Re-release bonus tracks:-Personnel:Meshuggah* Jens Kidman - lead vocals* Gustaf Hielm - bass* Tomas Haake - drums, vocals * Mårten Hagström - rhythm guitar...
(1998) - Nothing (2002)
- Catch ThirtythreeCatch Thirtythree-Meshuggah:* Jens Kidman – vocals, guitar, bass, drum programming, mixing* Fredrik Thordendal – guitar, bass, drum programming, mixing* Mårten Hagström – guitar, bass, drum programming, mixing...
(2005) - obZenObZenobZen is the sixth full-length studio album by Swedish band Meshuggah. It was released in Europe on March 7, 2008, and in the U.S. on March 11, 2008. It contains nine tracks, and a total length of 52 minutes and 25 seconds...
(2008)
External links
OfficialVideos
- Meshuggah - The Movie, Behind The Scenes Footage - The Life of Meshuggah, official Meshuggah channel on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Interview with Mårten Hagström and Tomas Haake, 2008, Nuclear Blast: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4