Meshuggah - Obzen Review
Contents |
General Information
Artist: Meshuggah
Album: Obzen
Genre: Progressive/ Technical Metal
Tracklist
01. Combustion
02. Electric Red
03. Bleed
04. Lethargica
05. Obzen
06. This Spiteful Snake
07. Pineal Gland Optics
08. Pravus
09. Dancers To A Discordant System
Sound: 8
While never a big fan of Meshuggah, I think "Obzen" is a big step forward for them. Easily surpassing there efforts prior to this, "Obzen" is a devastating trip through impeccable guitar work, massive bass guitars, virtuoso drumming, and screams straight from the void.
Guitars: 9
From the opening track, straight through the end, It becomes apparent that Meshuggah have mastered there guitar work effortlessly. More complexly layered riffs as always, to the point where it would take a mathematician to properly order them. The guitars are a long trip through, what I think anyway, is there most haunting, dark, and moody record yet. The massive 8 string guitars get put to use, the low detuned riffage beats its away across the album with fast riffs similar to other prog acts such as Nevermore or Dream Theater, even the high 8th string gets put to use in this album, Adding to some slow, serene, clean interludes that are like a ghosts whispering in your ear. The solos, while not so many of them, are just phenomenal. They remind me of space for some reason, A distant, abstract sound forming a melody against a canvas of infinite emptiness, Fantastic performance, and impeccable technique.
Bass: 8
The bass in this album has an undeniable presence throughout the entire album. The song "Electric Red" puts the bass players hands through hell I would imagine, with its strong, heavy laden riffs and subtle melodies that make this album as heavy as possible. In every song, I can hear the increasing presence, and with every song, it gets better. I love the way the bass moves with the guitars in the final song, "Dancers To A Discordant System". Its a demon like combination of John Myung and Alex Webster.
Drums: 10
The drums on this album are without a doubt some of the best I've heard in a long time. Just incredible grooves that carry the album with an incredible foundation. The double bass hits your chest hard, the fills shake your house walls, and the technicality will leave your jaw against the floor. The cymbal work, as odd as it may sound, I really enjoyed. The tone of them really fits the album well, While not loud enough to become annoying, or soft enough to go unnoticed, they fit perfectly in the mix throughout the record.
Vocals: 7
While still awesomely fun to listen to and enjoy, After about the sixth or seventh song, The vocals become a bit stale for me, Monotonous even at times. But in small doses the vocals add an important and dramatic effect to the album, Maybe after time they will grow on me, I think they will. But if your used to the dramatic screams, and over the top performances, then you should enjoy this aspect thoroughly.
Lyrics: 10
Dark, Brooding, Apocalyptic, Hellish, Vivid, but in a strange way beautiful part of this album. Tomas Haake, also the drummer, wrote all the lyrics for this album, and he did an incredible job.
From "Combustion"
No more ifs, no bias, no ambiguity
No wondering whether this is it
Clarity so brightly wrong
The image so painfully absolute
No edges blurred on this awareness
No unknown weight to tip the knowledge scales
Eyes dilated to grasp it all
As every illusion of what we are fails
An unquestionable picture - determined, complete
Its crystalline lines untouched by doubt
So vivid, so deprived of hesitation
Shining in its evil splendor
The burning hatred of man
A million degrees on display
Human voracity delineated
The demons in us all by fumes portrayed
Stare, see, take in, grasp
Comprehend, assimilate, behold your reflection
Its framing - gold plated lies
The canvas - hurting souls caught and weaved
The artist - the human dream
Incinerated, devoured, deceived
From "Bleed"
Beams of fire sweep through my head
Thrusts of pain increasingly engaged
Sensory receptors succumb
I am no one now only agony
My crimson liquid so frantically spilled
- the ruby fluid of life unleashed
Ripples ascend to the surface of my eyes
Their red pens drawing at random, at will
A myriad pains begotten in their wake
- the bastard spawn of a mutinous self
The regurgitation of my micro nemesis
- salivating red at the prospect of my ruin, my doom
Malfunction the means for its ascent
Bloodletting the stringent voice to beckon my soul
So futile any resisting tension
As death-induced mechanics propel its growth
The implement, the device of my extinction
- the terminating clockwork of my gleeful bane
The definitive scourge of its mockery
- the end-art instruments lethality attained
Heed - it commands, heed my will
Bleed - it says, bleed you will
Falling into the clarity of undoing
Scornful gods haggle for my soul
Minds eye flickers and vellicates as I let go
Taunting whispers accompany my deletion
A sneering grin, the voice of my reaper
- chanting softly the song of depletion
From "Dancers To A Discordant System"
Listen to the hidden tune
- The essence of lies in notes defined
As we dance to the dissonant sway
- The choreography refined
Will subdued and shackled
Reason washed aside
Pledging our love to the chains
Our ignorance ever-amplified
Blooded hands lead the waltz
We're trapped in the out of tune swirl
Still we set the show on continue mode
And dance to a discordant system
We accept the nails we're fed
- Lies sharpened to bleed us silent
Muted from the pains
Defiance employed in vain
Any attempts to leave the dance,
Invisibly suppressed
Questions unasked, we learn learn the steps
- Eyes shut like all the rest
Unsuspecting, willing, blind, controllable herd
Pawns in a covert game conducted by hands we trust
Dominated, compliant and deceptable
Confident that we matter - we don't see that we're but dust
Committed to a lie we cannot see, cannot know nor comprehend
We're all asinine drones kept in the dark, kept in line
Confined, Bereft of reason
Withering in toxicity
- The deadly fumes of deceit
And we all reek of complicity
Humbled, brought to our knees
By the weight of our own guilt
Our nescient ways the catalyst
To injustice and inhumanity
We dance - to appease
Compete in stupidity
Obscured faces file our points
- Numbers fed to the machine
Still we stand in line for the next show
The human spine liquefied
What are we, but stupefied
Dancers to a discordant system
We believe - so we're misled
We assume - so we're played
We confide - so we're deceived
We trust - so we're betrayed
Overall Impression: 8
An intense album full of heavy riffs, from both bass and guitar, abstract solos with impeccable technique, the subtle melodies that will haunt your mind all day, Incredible drumming, Dramatic over the top vocals, and an atmosphere you will never forget, Definitely worth the buy!
