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October 12, 2008 |
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01. Autonomy Lost
02. Imprint Of The Un-Saved
03. Disenchantment
04. The Paradoxical Spiral
05. Re-Inanimate
06. Entrapment
07. Mind's Mirrors
08. In Death - Is Life
09. In Death - Is Death
10. Shed
11. Personae Non Gratae
12. Dehumanization
13. Sum
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Is it really necessary to introduce MESHUGGAH? If you think it is, you might want to keep reading this part; otherwise you might as well skip to the next paragraph! MESHUGGAH was founded in 1987 in Sweden. From the original line-up, only Fredrik Thordendal (guitars) & Jens Kidman (Vocals) still remain. Their first release, "Psykisk Testbild", came as an EP on which METALLICA appeared to be a major influence. Joined by Tomas Haake on drums, MESHUGGAH went to studio in order to record their first full album, "Contradictions Collapse", on Nuclear Blast. When Jens Kidman made the decision to focus on vocals, guitarist Mårten Hagström came to the rescue. With a complete line-up, the band recorded a new EP, "None", in 1994. After the release of their next full album, "Destroy Erase Improve", MESHUGGAH went on tour with bands such as MACHINE HEAD (during which Peter Nordin left the band), CLAWFINGER & HYPOCRISY. In 1997 the new EP, "Future Breed Machine", was released.
After Gustaf Hielm joined the band, "Chaosphere" was released in November 1998, clearly getting the attention of the international press; soon afterwards MESHUGGAH went on tour with fellow Swedes ENTOMBED. After Gustaf Hielm left, the band went into the studio to record "Nothing", which marked a turning point in the commercial career of MESHUGGAH, giving them the opportunity to join the North American part of the Ozzfest Tour. Since then MESHUGGAH have been considered one of the most innovative bands in extreme music, dishing out intense aggression and undisputed virtuosity, earning them several articles in guitar & drum magazines.
Now that we're done with the presentations, lets talk about the music itself. I am probably going to make lots of enemies with what this review but I have to be very honest. Even if I won't deny the exceptional level of virtuosity and originality of MESHUGGAH, I just can't get into their music. What's worse is I actually can't even make the difference between the previous album, "Nothing", and their latest disc, "Catch 33". It might be because I've never learned to play any instrument myself, therefore being unable to fully appreciate the musicianship displayed here, or simply because MESHUGGAH have developed their own style over the years without exploring new horizons. It could also be the lack of melodies in MESHUGGAH's material. As the album starts with "Autonomy Lost" and continues on with "Disenchantment", "Imprint Of the Un-Saved", "The Paradoxical Spiral", and "Reanimate", it rather seems like the same stretched song, where only a few variations can be heard here and there.
We have to wait for "Mind's Mirror" in order to get some variety, but here again, it seems to be more about experimenting than really innovating with an extremely long guitar intro which only seems to go somewhere after 3:30 minutes or so, just to head back to the same boring mid-tempo trip on "In Death - Is Life"! And the rest of the material is not going to vary a lot from then on until the closing track, "Sum"!
As you will easily understand, I was glad to have some friends over while I was reviewing this album. What a huge relief! To conclude, I would say that if you do in fact dig the experimental Metal spirit of MESHUGGAH, you would definitely enjoy this album. If not, then I'd pass if I were you.
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