Meshuggah
Meshuggah (Hebrew for insane) is a Swedish metal band from Umeå, whose music is difficult to classify in musical categories. It contains elements of various metal styles ( for example, Thrash and Death Metal ) with strong jazz influences (especially in solo passages ). Due to the complex Rhythms and tempo changes, the classification for Progressive Metal is common. The band itself classified as Experimental Metal.
- 3.1 albums
- 3.2 Live albums
- 3.3 EPs
- 3.4 Compilations and remixes
- 3.5 Demos
History
1985-1989: Emergence
The origins of the band lie in the band Metal Lien, which was founded in 1985 by singer Roger Olofsson, guitarists Peder Gustafsson and Fredrik Thordendal, bassist Janne Wiklund, and drummer Örjan Lindmark. After a few demos to Metal Lien dissolved and Fredrik Thordendal played with other cast and under a different name on.
The band Meshuggah was originally founded in 1987 by vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarist Johan Sjögren, bassist Jörgen Lindmark, and drummer Per Sjögren. Jens Kidman left this occupation Meshuggah again after recording some demos and formed the band calipash, together with guitarist Torbjörn Granström, bassist Peter Nordin and drummer Niclas Lundgren.
While the other members of Meshuggah parted, following restructuring even when calipash. Fredrik Granström Thordendal replaced on guitar and together with Thordendal Kidman decided to adopt the name of his original band, Meshuggah.
1989-1995: Contradictions Collapse and Destroy Erase Improve
1989 brought Meshuggah her first recording, a 1,000 piece limited edition 12 " vinyl EP with the name Psykisk test image out and signed a record deal with the German record label Nuclear Blast. Afterwards Tomas Haake took over the drums and thus replaced Lundgren. The first studio album, Contradictions Collapse, was published in 1991.
Jens Kidman focused from now on exclusively on singing and another guitarist was needed. This was found in Mårten Hagström, who had already played in his youth with Haake. 1993 was put on the market in this new constellation, the EP None. In 1994 they started the recordings for the EP Selfcaged, which was not published until 1995 due to two accidents. The carpenter Thordendal had at work the tip of his left middle finger separated and Haake injured his hand by a sander. Under these circumstances, the band could not play for a few months.
At the beginning of 1995 their second album Destroy Erase Improve was recorded and subsequently began a two-month European tour with Machine Head. During this tour, Peter Nordin became ill and had to return to Sweden necessity. Meshuggah decided the tour vierköpfig to play to the end, even though they were offered by Machine Head bassist Adam Duce to step in at short notice. For the bass made on some concerts Thordendal who played or Hagström, who played one octave lower using a pitch shifter his guitar through a guitar rig. In May 1995, Destroy Erase Improve was published. In the autumn of the same year they went with Clawfinger on a short tour of Scandinavia and Germany. The first concerts of the tour they played without bass player since Peter Nordin left the band. Gustaf Hielm jumped For the concert in Hamburg, who had previously played with the Swedish punk band Charter 77. The end of 1995 Meshuggah also went on a month-long tour with Hypocrisy.
1996-2002: Chaosphere and Nothing
Thordendal worked in 1996, almost exclusively for his solo album, which was released in March 1997 under the name Sol Niger Within in Sweden. The True Human Design, the fourth EP, was released in the fall of 1997 after several postponements of the record label. At the same time also Sol Niger Within in America was brought to the market.
In January 1998, Gustaf Hielm finally came into the band after he played more than two years as a live and studio musician for Meshuggah. The album Contradictions Collapse was republished with four bonus tracks from the EP None via Nuclear Blast. In May, started recording for the third studio album Chaosphere, which was released after several postponements by the record label in November of the same year. Following this, Meshuggah went on tour through Scandinavia with Entombed.
At the beginning of 1999, a tour of the United States was announced but later canceled. With Slayer, it still came some time later to a U.S. tour. The American press paid homage Chaosphere and their performances and numerous magazines were aware of the band.
In 2000, the compilation Rare Trax was released after the first rumors about a new album from the band were initially denied. This is a collection of demos and rare recordings, such as the test image Psykisk EP. Bassist Gustaf Hielm left the band in July 2001. Together with Tool Meshuggah went on another tour through the United States, where they played their first concerts in front of more than 100,000 people.
2002 three songs in our own studio with programmed drums were using the Drumkit from Hell, a software synthesizer, recorded and released as a demo. In May started the recordings for the new album. This took about 5 to 6 weeks. Shortly after, the band played back in America on the Ozzfest tour. In August, the fourth studio album Nothing was published. The end of 2002 Meshuggah went again with the band Tool on U.S. tour.
2003-2010: Catch Thirtythree and Obzen
After a short break in 2004 the EP I was released, which consisted of a single 21- minute song. The following year, the fifth studio album Catch Thirtythree, which as it turned out Meshuggahs time being ambitious album followed. Here, the drums were played by drum machine as already in the previously released demo. In 2006, the album Nothing was reissued with a bonus DVD with all-new guitar tracks, and provided some new bass tracks. That same year, the band went back into the studio to record her new album, which was released under the name Obzen in March 2008. This time, however Haake again took over the drums. Following this, the band went on a world tour that began as an opener for Ministry in America and was then continued in Europe, Asia and Australia as a headliner.
2011- today: Colossus
In early 2011 the band went into the studio to record their seventh studio album, which was released on March 23, 2012 under the name Titan. This was followed by a European tour in 2012 and a North American tour in 2013. On 5 February 2013, the EP Pitch Black was released. It contains one of Fredrik Thordendal in Stockholm rehearsed 2003 unreleased track of the same name and a live recording of Obzen tracks Dancers to a Discordant System, which was recorded at Distortion Festival in Eindhoven in the Netherlands on December 9, 2012.
Style
The most striking feature of their style are the unusually complex rhythmic structures, which are referred to in music theory as polymetric, polymetric or as sub-divisions (subdivisions ). While the hi-hat or cymbals by constant strokes form the foundation for a slow but even clock, fast, intricate patterns in the example 3/4- or 5/4-Takt be played on the bass drum and snare. In this context one also speaks of polyrhythms. These patterns are repeated as many times have elapsed to 8, 16 or 32 strokes of the hihat, ie until the clock but ultimately " add up." The strings play mostly the same emphasis as the bass drum, and also the singer fits his words the complex figures to. It is rare to find in the songs of Meshuggah actually through odd time signatures. What is equally striking and typical of genres such as Death and Thrash Metal, the free tonality of the songs. So there are no keys, functional harmonic or modal structures and not ascribable to major and minor guitar riffs.
Since the album Nothing achtsaitige electric guitars are used. These allow the lowest string to F # to vote ( in standard tuning ) but Meshuggah vote yet an additional one to two semitones (F or E) down, nearly or quite an octave lower than usual tuned guitars. Only played the Meshuggah guitarist guitars achtsaitige of Nevborn Guitars, today they only play achtsaitige custom guitars of Ibanez.
Discography
Albums
Live albums
- 2010: Alive