Tuesday, January 15, 2008

7:24 to Awesome-ville

If you’re currently hearing the screams of your favourite bands or musicians it’s because they’ve likely heard what I heard today. If you can’t hear those screams, it’s because you’re not listening closely enough. That or you heard what I heard today and can no longer process the feeble attempts at recorded music your favourite bands or musicians have made in comparison to the new Meshuggah song available to be heard on bravewords.com.
Main page, top left hand-side. Brave Tunes.
Meshuggah – Bleed

This band has consistently evolved and mutated despite maintaining a signature sound that cannot be forged.
Chaosphere to Nothing informed listeners that speed was not a necessary tool in the creation of uneven jackhammer riffage. That slower tempos could open the doors for more complicated polyrhythms and place more focus on the impact of tone, both instrumentally and vocally.
Nothing to I was a trip through the history of the band which transitioned from the violent punishment of their early tendencies to their newer, more patient grinds. They also expanded on the flowing singular characteristics of free jazz and composed rhythms which became increasingly difficult to predict. On previous records, a pattern could have repeated itself several times throughout the course of the 4 count however with “I”, the band would carry a sequence over 8 or more bars.
I to Catch 33 continued with the latter elements of “I” in the sense that things remained slow, heavy, and unpredictable. People made the obvious complaints that the band “wasn’t what they used to be”, that they “lost the focus they had presented on Destroy Erase Improve” and that “they were turning their backs on their fans”. What those people didn’t know was that they were complete idiots who had no concept of why Meshuggah is what it is. Why they have moved beyond the limitations of the Metal genre and are without question one of the most significant recording groups of the last twenty years.

Bleed – Early reports from the band indicated they were composing new material with a brisker edge. You know, the one they’d “lost”. This denseness is without a doubt evident on Bleed however being the band they are, and understanding that in order to satisfy their own creative needs they have been able to remain evolutionary. Yes, the primary riff contains more strikes than all of Nothing and Catch 33 combined and the rhythm stutters in ways of old but the drums (high hat / snare) remain for the most part patient and simplified (bass drums excluded – unreal). That being said I can’t predict what the rest of the record will sound like. It is entirely possible that it may in fact be in the tradition of DEI or Chaosphere. I do doubt it though as they are not a band that takes to being predictable.

Every time this band releases new material they amaze and this is no exception
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