#416 Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve

Another offshoot of a night at Mike's when I got talking to his metal-loving buddy about his all time favorites. Word is this one is up there.

I don't know metal well enough to be able to say a whole lot here, but that's part of the point of the project, fixing that. What I can say is that this is fast and loud as Slayer or your speedy benchmark of choice, but that it within that framework its a squirely beast. There are extra beats in some places, beats missing in others, sudden time changes, and a dynamism that sometimes lets a keening guitar is allowed to rise over the fray. The songs exist in two modes, a frentic one where complexity is crammed into every corner, the corners are put under shells, the shells are set on fire, and thrown into a jet engine, and a patient one where a stomping metal machine is set in motion, churning out hypnotic sequences that get time to infiltrate your brainstem. This is to say, even change isn't constant on this album.

This album almost certainly would reward repeat listenings, sounding a bit like a much heavier Tool in its obliquely proggy gestures. But it's a beating, exhausting in its relentless restlessness, even more so than a lot of speed/death/heavy metal that has the decency to blur to noise after a while. I don't think its my scene, but I confess to liking it more on a second review-listen than I did the first time through 3.5/5

You might like this if: you want more headphone-ready complexity in your metal or more metal power in your headphone rock.