Wow, Meshuggah!

[jonberg]

I borrowed a CD from a friend of mine with Meshuggah (destroy, erase, improve) and I must say that I was shocked, I really liked their music.
The strange thing is that I have heard them before but then I didn´t grasp it...I guess after listening ALOT to planet x and Virgs music you listen to other kinds of music in a totally different way.
There are many similarities between these groups, drumwise they are quite different, Haake and Donati, their approach are not the same but I like them both...
...although that I always will be a Virgil fan, no matter what :D

I have ordered "chaosperic" (I didn´t remember the name exactly ) and I´m looking forward to hearing it!

Virgil rules!
cheers!

[Fede]

Hey Jonberg!

Glad to hear that Meshuggah is catching on!

"Chaosphere" is the name of the album following "Destroy, Erase, Improve". It's quite different from DEI and I must admit that to me it's not anywhere near as good, but still - it's an ok album, with great moments on it. It's more 4/4 and a little more "straight" in many ways....but still not your average prime time pop... :o)

Very hard! Every track starts out with total destruction. DEI is by far their best work and I seriuosly doubt they will ever top that....but there's always hope! :o)

"Nothing" - their latest release (2002) has got great stuff on it too. It's much slower than the other two, but very groovy. Haake's playing on that album is obviously much inspired by Morgan Ågren, who is a friend of the band and can often be seen in the crowd at Meshuggah-concerts. Actually, there is nothing on the "Nothing"-album that cannot be played with only one kick! (But alot of the stuff is played with two - you can hear that from the way it feels....)

My favourite moments on "Destroy, Erase, Improve":

1. Opening track - all of it. Gotta love that. Come to think of it - wonder what would happen if Virgil joined this sort of band!? - That would be too cool to think about any further, I guess... :o)

2. The "drumsolo" in "Soul Burn" starting at 2:58.

3. The mayhem in "Transfixion" starting at 0:48

4. The incredibly ass-kicking riff starting at 1:30 in "Sublevels" (last track)

5. The simple yet genious "snare->crash....snare->crash" phrase in intro-riff of "SoulBurn" (from 0:25 and on).

....and the sound is just in-f**cking-credible! Especially the drums! This is what drums are supposed to sound like if you ask me!

Try putting on "Soulburn", go to the "solo" at 2:58 (or enjoy the beginning of the track, if you'd like) and listen closely on a good set of speakers with a volume that does the thing justice!

Not only does it sound fantastic, what has REALLY got me wondering is: What is the "wooosh" sound at exactly 3:04?!?! IS IT an insane roll down the drums? - or is a sound-effect? It seems almost too well integrated to be something that has been added later on, if you consider the fact that Thomas is not playing anything else right at the exact time of the "wooosh"....but how the **** do you make your toms go "wooosh" like that!?

If that's indeed what is going on - then I would like to see even Virgil try to do that!

If it's a sound effect, then Daniel Bergström (the producer) must be nominated to some kind of prize for 1995's most subtle, tasteful and well executed sound-effect work!

Whatever it is, it sounds amazing.

Well.....enough ranting for now. To anyone that do not fear metal: What are you waiting for?!?! :)

[v1rotate]

Fede,

I agree with ALL the above. ;)

[Milo Porto]

Meshuggah ruuuleezz!!!

[gatedropper]

I have had the fortune of seeing Tomas on his first American
performance in Milwaukee,Wi. I then saw him again a year
later in Peoria, Il. I just went back to Milwaukee a couple
of months back and saw him again. With each performance
I think he gets more incredible. The stuff he is doing on
the new tour supporting the Nothing Cd, sounds more
fucked up and harder to play than the DEI stuff.
But that is just live. DEI is my favorite but all that is
Meshuggah kicks ass. I would have never found
Planet X if it were not for the Meshuggah forum.
mc
Donati still could roll circles around Haake though!:p

[jimi]

does anyone have a haake drum solo or vid clip to share with us??

[DeepThought]

Heres a small audio of Haake going nuts on Future Breed Machine live...

http://209.25.203.234/attachment.php?s=&postid=335173
right click and save as!

Also, heres some pics of his kit.
http://209.25.203.234/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22928&highlight=meshuggah

[Christopher]

I always thought that Tomas had his cymbals pretty low and close to the toms, which is cool. I'm sure it feels cozy in there!

To contribute to this thread, I must say that I also am a fan of Tomas Haake. His drumming on DEI is absolutely amazing. It's nothing super rip-roaring with blazing foot action, but damn, it's amazingly tight!

My favorite track from Meshuggah has to be Soul Burn followed by Concatenation (amazing beginning for a song).

Cheers!

[Fede]

I always felt Concatenation was a bit too chaotic - until I heard them do it live..... Strange, I know - should be the other way around.... :)

[Christopher]

I forgot to mention another OBVIOUS track: Humiliative.

That ending is pretty sick stuff. I love it.

[jimi]

Ok, i'm looking at the pics appear. firstly i notice he has his toms arranged like Virg on his obsessive rhythms vid, and im just after scrolling down, f**k me thats a LOT of cymbals!!!

thanks deepthought, im still laughing at the 'Family Learning Channel' clip and the baby one from the CD you sent:D
i think i joined that forum but i cant remember my username OR password!! ah well:)