Meshuggah - Chaosphere (1998) Reviews
Meshuggah started off with technical thrash in Contradictions Collapse, then they eliminated most of the thrash with a more progressive sound in Destroy Erase Improve. This album, Chaosphere can be considered a transition point between the band's first two albums and their next one, Nothing. Almost completely departing from their thrash style and focusing more on their later poly-rhythmic technical groove sound, yet still haven't invented the genre that would soon be djent.
This is another solid Meshuggah album. Pretty much everything they've done, existent and upcoming, have been thrown together into aggressive technical brutality. Some of their most chaotic material can be found here!
The first track "Concatenation" begins the album in a chaotic bang with barraging staccato riffs and glorious drumming. Then Jens Kidman's vicious vocals come in. Guitar god Fredrik Thordendal pulls off a killer R2D2-like solo. Then it's time for the album's best song, "New Millennium Cyanide Christ", with drummer Tomas Haake's shining lyric writing. Those lyrics aren't as complicated as they are clever. That's my second favorite Meshuggah song behind "Future Breed Machine"!
"Corridor of Chameleons" continues the excellent riffing worth headbanging. Just don't listen to this song at work when listening to music with headphones while working, or else it would be awkward headbanging in business meetings. "Neurotica" has quite a tribal groove, especially in the beat, and it would really get stuck banging in your head. But if that doesn't happen, at least we have "The Mouth Licking What We've Bled", one of the most incredible, heaviest works to listen to. I dare you to listen to this song with speakers at full volume without blowing off the doors and windows of your house or car. The mesmerizing guitar solo clearly establishes Thordendal as a musical genius!
"Sane" is just INSANE, continuing the complex riff-wrath. "The Exquisite Machinery Of Torture" is a different yet gloriously wild experience. And the final track of the original album, "Elastic" is a kick-A closer with one of the best jazz-infused solos the band has ever done, but the strangest thing in the album is that song's outro. The real track ends at 4:13, then it suddenly changes into single hit drums and atmospheric guitars almost following those drum hits. Then it ends right on the 6-minute mark and a weird reverb sound comes in and gets louder and louder, and just when you thought your eardrums were gonna burst...it quiets down, and right when you thought, "Whew, glad that's over," suddenly at 11:18, the FIRST 4 SONGS PLAY ALTOGETHER AT ONCE!!!! And they all keep playing before abruptly stopping at exactly 15:30!!! Now THAT'S chaotic!! Don't ever listen to that if you're hearing-sensitive! At least the Japanese pressing bonus track, "Unanything" is a calm vibe-filled outro after all that ravaging madness.
If you're a metalhead who prefers more technical brutality and wants something extraordinary, Chaosphere is the album for you. But if you're like my mom who refuses to listen to such a chaotic sound, then stay away....
Favorites: New Millennium Cyanide Christ, The Mouth Licking What You've Bled, The Exquisite Machinery Of Torture