Meshuggah - ObZen review
Band: | Meshuggah |
Album: | ObZen |
Release date: | March 2008 |
01. Combustion
02. Electric Red
03. Bleed
04. Lethargica
05. obZen
06. This Spiteful Snake
07. Pineal Gland Optics
08. Pravus
09. Dancers To A Discordant System
Call it whatever you want, math metal, technical death metal, whatever else you can think of to call this kind of music - but Meshuggah are back in fine form with another album of skull crushing metal. Meshuggah are as heavy as ever before, for anyone unfamiliar with the band they have one of the heaviest sounds out there of any band at the moment - guitars and bass sound like they have as many strings between them as there are in an entire musical instrument shop, and once we have this incredible heavy force it is not straight forward from there. Meshuggah are rhythmically complex, stopping and starting as they do - it is not music that can be easily accessed by newcomers, even more so if they are alien to irregular timings, off-beats and other such progressive elements. To the untrained ear Meshuggah will sound like chaos with no real structure, but rest assure there is one in there.
Meshuggah have not changed their signature style and so "ObZen" stylistically will have no major surprises for fans of the band. The album is methodically paced, not the fastest you have ever heard but it does the job and does it well. Opening track "Combustion" is the fastest you will hear on the album, and with such intensity this song loosens your neck right from the start, as you will find yourself incapable of not headbanging to this gem. Along with the opening track, "Bleed" also demands special attention. This track is the musical equivalent of a nuclear bomb going off for seven minutes, Meshuggah have never been so relentless, you will find yourself unconsciously turning your CD player up as loud as it will go for this one. Title track "ObZen" and "Pravus" also offer themselves as highlights of the album but generally after the onslaught that is "Bleed", the album drifts off somewhat into a land where nothing seems to demand attention quite as much.
For the duration of over fifty minutes the album certainly has its high points, but "ObZen" is not without its flat points either. The album may start to become slightly monotonous to the ear, regardless of the original style Meshuggah has of playing there is a good chance you will become habituated to the style and all of a sudden it becomes a little less interesting. Of course if you are an obsessive fan and give your attention to hear every note that is played, the album is generally reasonably interesting throughout - the problems only come where you listen to this in a casual manner.
These days it is a given expectation that any album will have a great production, and Meshuggah do not let the side down here, the vocal screams are clear over the chaos below, guitars sound like juggernauts marching and it is always a pleasure to hear the twang of the bass. There is not a lot that can be poked at and complained about with "ObZen", the band have given us an album that fits our expectations and also a couple of numbers on this album will surely become classics. It would have been nice to keep the initial boiling intensity going throughout the album, but generally where intensity is lacking they make up with sheer bone crunching heaviness. Indeed, "ObZen" is an album that will please those who await it and also introduce a whole new following of fans.
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