The Djent Thread

Meshuggah - "I" E.P. (2004)

I've just been revisiting this little beauty which is essentially comprised of a single incredibly complex 21 minute title track. Apparently drummer Tomas Haake had to program the drums because there was simply no way he could possibly remember the continuously odd timings. The first 12 or 13 minutes are very solid without having me ever reaching for the higher scores but from there on in it's nothing but pure gold. I've never heard a band that can match these guys for that djent sound & this is a prime example of what can be achieved.

4.5/5

Meshuggah - "Catch Thirtythree" (2005)

Another immensely complex single-track release from the Swedish masters of djent who had tested the waters the previous year with their incredible "I" E.P. & now took things one step further with a full album-length undertaking of the highest quality. The production job is excellent & this time Meshuggah take off in top gear rather than building up over time with the first three (sub)tracks being complete home runs. In fact, I see very little reason to separate them as they're clearly the same track. Then the intensity & quality drops a touch during the middle of the album with a couple of more atmospheric periods breaking things up nicely. The climax comes with a trio of brilliant pieces beating you into submission immediately following the epic 13 minute centrepiece "In Death - Is Death" & the band finishes on a real high.

Overall, I'd suggest that I probably prefer "I" just marginally over "Catch Thirtythree" but there's very little in it. The mid-section possibly just lacks a little in the hooks & melody department if I'm being particularly picky but have no doubt that this is a classic & defining release for the subgenre & Meshuggah once again prove that they can't be touched when it comes to this style of metal. For fans of Kobong, Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects & TesseracT.

4.5/5

For this weekend's top ten list I've decided to do my Top Ten Djent Releases of All Time, a task that was always going to end in an extremely one-sided result.

01. Meshuggah – “I” E.P. (2004)

02. Meshuggah – “Catch Thirtythree” (2005)

03. Meshuggah – “Destroy Erase Improve” (1995)

04. Meshuggah – “Koloss” (2012)

05. Vildhjarta – “Måsstaden” (2011)

06. Skyharbor – “Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos” (2012)

07. Meshuggah – “Alive” (2010)

08. Meshuggah – “Nothing” (2006)

09. Meshuggah – “Nothing” (2002)

10. Meshuggah – “obZen” (2008)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/155

That's a lot of Meshuggah in your list, Daniel! Djent is a really cool heavy subgenre, but I haven't listened to that as much as the rest of progressive metal. Still going by my one-band-per-entry rule, I'll start with a top 5:

5. Born of Osiris - The Simulation (2019)

4. Veil of Maya - Matriarch (2015)

3. Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree (2005)

2. Textures - Dualism (2011)

1. The Contortionist - Exoplanet (2010)

Meshuggah - "None" E.P. (1994)

This five-track E.P. not only marks the point where these Swedes started to find their signature sound but it also represents the birth of the djent subgenre. I'd gotten a fair bit of enjoyment out of Meshuggah's 1991 debut album "Contradictions Collapse" but had never heard anything like "None" at the time & it subsequently sealed the deal for me with this band who have stuck with me ever since. There are a few more external influences on display here than we'd see on some of their later material which was more finely honed. You can easily pick up sections that harness groove metal, progressive metal ("Ritual") & industrial metal ("Aztec Two-Step") but the dominant component is the heavy reliance on rhythmic, atonal bottom-string chugging built around some seriously complex time signatures. All five songs are really solid but there's not any genuinely classic Meshuggah material on offer here so I don't feel that too many punters will be tempted to claim "None" as a lost masterpiece, even if it should be essential listening for all djent nuts.

For fans of Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects, Gojira & Strapping Young Lad.

4/5