Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason (2016)
Ladies and DJENTlemen, are you ready for THE djent album of 2016? It's the Violent Sleep of Reason! If you've been listening to Meshuggah since Destroy Erase Improve or Nothing, you know the journey. Djent riffs, random time signatures, robotic drums, and Jens Kidman's trademark loud vocals, all in here in a day's work...literally; they recorded it live simultaneously instead of separately! Can you believe it?? Despite most of the members being currently about the same age as my parents (average 50) and their signature sound continuing to be rebuilt, The Violent Sleep of Reason has some of the new elements and possibly the band's violently strongest content in a long time.
I still think Catch 33 is the best Meshuggah album (tied with Destroy Erase Improve). Catch 33 has a special concept of a 47-minute suite, and nothing can push that album off its throne. That's the kind of album that would help stay above the surface of water while swimming you back to the shore right when it ends. Next is obZen, a decent album with obvious highlights but doesn't have the same energy. Koloss, on the other hand, is nothing to worry about. It has good songs, some of them slower in a good groove way. It sounds a little stale, but that's okay because it's enough to really surpass obZen. If you thought a new Meshuggah album was nothing to be hyped about, well you had the wrong fears! This album really overthrows obZen and Koloss as another kick-A album, though Catch 33 is still in the higher competition.
You know how good and brutal the album starts with "Clockworks" as the kick-off. This is my favorite song of the bunch and one of the band's best recent songs. Drumming here is incredible, livening things up with the mechanical snare. The more enjoyable part of the song is the second half, where the djent riffs are more repetitive yet they make the complexity look so easy. It's easy to let the rhythm and energy take over your body. An opening track so good you listen to it on its own! "Born in Dissonance" is more dissonant yet simple, working well enough to get caught up in the game. "MonstroCity" is not totally the best song, but still monstrous with a sludgy thematic sound.
"By the Ton" retains a lot of energy BY THE TON. It's slower but has great riffs and a nice but still tough ending. The title track is filled with violent chaos, shining intensity, and uncertainty fitting altogether. "Ivory Tower" is simpler but still OK. "Stifled" is not at all bad, but not good enough to be a great highlight. However, it's still a nice tune worth headbanging and it has a fantastic clean synth outro. What's not to love about that?
Seguing out of that outro is "Nostrum", one of the album's best songs energetically. The traditional Meshuggah beats are on the loose there! "Our Rage Won't Die" really levels up the rage with a catchy djent riff that keeps playing from the beginning to other parts of the song. "Into Decay" is a fantastic closer; the slowest song yet more powerful. After vocalist Jens Kidman yells the last lyrics of the song at the top of his lungs, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?!?", many of the elements of the album's sound all keep crashing through one another until they finally collapse.
This album shows Meshuggah bringing back what they have to keep their throne as the djent masters. There's more character and life than the previous two albums. The production is similar to those albums, but it's actually more organic and lively due to the live recording technique. Every song keeps building incredible momentum and power without losing them. It's a grand djent experience, though it can't beat the superiority of albums 2-5. DJENT WON'T DIE!!
Favorites: Clockworks, By the Ton, Violent Sleep of Reason, Nostrum, Into Decay