Meshuggah

Meshuggah are a Swedish metal band that formed in 1989, pioneering a new style of death metal that has becoming increasingly popular throughout time. They are still active today and are in the process of writing and recording a new album.

Meshuggah's first few releases were a lot more on the thrash metal side, still carrying a sound that had been well established in the metal genre. The None EP (1994) and the Destroy, Erase, Improve LP (1995) were the releases in which Meshuggah had begun to develop a sound that crossed boundaries and simultaneously belonged to none. Their songs became rhythmically complex in a way that is staggering, yet hypnotizing. In addition, Frederik Thordendal's use of obscure jazz fusion elements certainly separated Meshuggah from a typical style.

Nowadays, Meshuggah is considered a legendary band that has become an influence to a majority of current artists. Their approach is highly focused on rhythm, each instrument (including the vocals) being a factor in the multi-layered "groove". Due to the imposition of unaligned rhythmic groupings into a meter, Meshuggah's riffs turn out to have a three-dimensional quality. The full aural experience requires a simultaneous hearing of the intertwined layers of rhythm; this is what creates an entrancing, zen feel. It is similar to the simultaneity required in seeing magic eye images, or solving a Rubik's cube. Before I get too abstract, let's make things more literal with an example. Here's Meshuggah's classic two tracks "In Death - Is Life" and "In Death - Is Life" from their milestone concept album Catch 33.



This is from one of their more experimental release, so it's a bit more dynamic than a lot of other material. I have decided to cover one of Meshuggah's most recognized songs, "New Millenium Cyanide Christ". This is from the 1998 album, Chaosphere.

more Martyr

I have decided to cover one of Martyr's more accessible songs from Feeding the Abscess.




The audio quality is good on this one!

Martyr

Martyr is a French Canadian death metal band that has challenged the genre's standards to an unrivaled extent. Despite their lack of exposure and touring, they are a popular band among the death metal community.

Dan Mongrain is the frontman, lead guitarist, and composer of Martyr. Part of what separates Martyr from other bands are the jazz fusion elements that Dan incorporates into the music. His soloing style especially showcases this aspect, commonly being improvisation over a series of dissonant chords.

The most recent Martyr album, Feeding The Abscess, is a particularly exotic death metal album. What started as a metal band with progressive elements has evolved into a monolith of metal. Song structures, melodies, rhythms, chord progressions...all of these are warped into an unconventional mix of extreme musicianship. Here's a song from their 2nd album, Warp Zone.



..and now, a cover of "Perpetual Healing (Infinite Pain)" from Martyr's latest album.

Gorod

When I blogged about Gojira, I mistakenly posted a Gorod video at the end. For this post, I'll attach the Gojira cover that was meant for the Gojira post.

Gorod are another French death metal band. Their first full-length Neurotripsicks instantly brought them on the map with their mix of groove, melody and brutality.

What's great about Gojira is that they're not afraid to be melodic. There's an ever-growing fear of melody in death metal due to the limiting nature of melody. Gorod take melody and assimilate it into the aggression and groove that metalheads love about death metal. Also, for the first two albums, Gorod featured a female drummer. There you go, dudes. Chicks can be just as brutal.



That's the first track and first song of their album Neurotripsicks. They've changed considerably since then [2005], but the Gorod feel is always there. I covered "State of Secret" from the sophomore album a few weeks ago, and it's included in the Gojira post. In lieu of this inter-French death metal alliance, here's my cover of Gojira's "Remembrance".

more Necrophagist

I've decided to put up another cover of a Necrophagist song. Necrophagist was among the very first death metal bands I listened to, and this is the song that really did it for me. It was a mixture of the monster growls, blazing riffs and awkward song structure that got to me. Nowadays, this song is considered a classic from one of the genre-defining bands in technical death metal. Here's "Fermented Offal Discharge"!