Meshuggah - Koloss (2012)^{Release ID: 2606}

Meshuggah has done a good job mesmerizing metalheads with their musicianship. With their poly-rhythmic structures, brilliant drumming, and diabolical guitars and vocals, they spawned a bigger fan-base and inspired many metal musicians to help develop the djent movement. But what has some of their best originality?

Koloss! A more colossal, cerebral side of Meshuggah has been unleashed. The duplicating musicians think they got everything with the sound and structure, but what they missed is the attitude and intelligently thought-up ideas Meshuggah has. They know when to go slow and when to speed things up with poly-rhythms warping through space and time. All that begins to shine in Koloss.

Starting in a colossal bang is the strong slow groove opener "I Am Colossus". Then it gets much faster charged in "The Demon's Name is Surveillance", bringing the two songs in an equal balance of slow and fast. Do not look away from the slow chugging that continues in "Do Not Look Down". On top of that song's slow groove, there's a really jazzy guitar solo that makes the groove groovier.

The slow chugging riffs keep going again in "Behind the Sun", another good djent song. "The Hurt That Finds You First" is just real charged-up supreme chaos. The trademark guitar moments really turn something aggressive into a work of art. "Marrow" is a song with just predatory eccentricity. "Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion" sums up a lot of the band's signature insanity. It's a nice glimpse of their sound from Nothing, something to be both loved and hated. It's slower, spacey and long, but still gets technical. What's new here is the random time signatures used in a way that's never before heard before, pushing through progressive math metal boundaries.

"Swarm" has a swarm of fast thrash similar to previous albums. Vocalist Jens Kidman's performance is spectacular in "Demiurge", along with that song's ambient intro and outro. The last track, "The Last Vigil" is basically a doom filled ambient clean guitar outro.

So if you thought Meshuggah would become outdated and obsolete around then, take it easy and think again. This album has the most accessibility for Meshuggah, while evolving from the speedy riff-wrath of their previous album obZen. With all that excellent essence that keeps the band's sound alive, Meshuggah would surely be one of my favorite metal bands ever! This is really something to buy, for sure....

Favorites: I Am Colossus, The Demon's Name Is Surveillance, Do Not Look Down, The Hurt That Finds You First, Demiurge